Be Careful In The Classroom – PR and Advertising

It would be safe to say that the class room is a place for learning. Some people say that the classroom is a place to absorb information. I’m here to say,  ”Be Careful.”

The class room is a place to learn, but learning isn’t done just through absorbing information and spitting it out onto a scantron sheet. Instead, learning should also be about analyzing, discussing and challenging some of the things you hear in the classroom. I believe this goes for all classrooms and areas of study (although I’m not going to get into an argument over the laws of physics).

Today in my marketing class my professor asked, “what is advertising?” Now, as a public relations major I’ve often been asked the same questions about public relations. One student replied that advertising is a paid form of promotion. On some levels, that is absolutely true. But the public relations student in me couldn’t resist, so I had to raise the point that just because it is paid doesn’t mean it is advertising, because public relations isn’t free either. What I heard next from my professor should hurt any public relations professional’s ears, “PR is basically free.”

Woah, woah! Hold on! Free? Yes, a PSA costs less and yes, you didn’t have to pay for the coverage you got in the newspaper because of your press release, but at the very least it took time (time=money) and you are likely paying someone to produce those materials. Public relations is not free. But public relations isn’t even close to being defined in those simple parameters anymore. So then, I had to asked, “where would social media fall under?” And the answer I got was essentially, I don’t know. What do I think? I think social media is public relations all the way! It should be about creating a brand and relating to and interacting with consumers. Check out this article to see Why PR should win social media turf war with advertisers.

Unfortunately, the conversation didn’t get to continue on much longer because my professor had to get back to the lecture (which is slowly killing creativity in the classroom) but I did make sure to throw in a couple punches for the public relations people of the world.

Now, don’t bail on me yet advertisers, I’ve still got some love for you! You can see the real beauty of advertising, marketing and public relations is when they all come together through IMC. When there is seamless connection between what is on the TV, radio, social media sites, in newspapers, the community and the stores, I really start to get excited. So don’t fret! Let’s work together to be better.

To bring it all back in, today I learned a lot in my marketing class. By challenging and discussing what what we were learning about, I learned something about what I really believe about the industry. Learning is not best achieved just by listening, but by listening first and then interacting.

To show my love, I will leave you with a couple great videos. Some newer, some older. Enjoy!

- Reed Pankratz