All too often people mistake public relations and publicity as one in the same. From a business standpoint, it is crucial that the ability to identify appropriate media markets is well known in order to achieve success.
Public relations is defined as the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc. Publicity is formally defined as information, articles, or advertisements issued to secure public notice or attention.
The number one objective within public relations is getting the “right message” to the “right people”. In a society filled with more than two hundred nationalities and billions of different individual needs and wants, public relations is used to influence perception, enhance an image, build reputation, establish credibility, and influence behavior. The term public relations and publicity are often misconstrued as one in the same. Close enough; publicity is indeed one of the many aspects of public relations but the two play completely different roles in effective communication. While public relations focuses on the big picture, publicity is a small piece of the puzzle that is used to get attention through traditional media outlets. In a sense, publicity lives through public relations. On the other hand, public relations without publicity is like a pen with no ink—it’s useless. The two go hand in hand.
