Marketing is the quick shag, PR is the long-term relationship

In doing a video interview with Niall I uttered something like the title of this blog post. He has promised to edit the video to make me look like a tool. Minutes in the editing suite so… I don’t know is that statement correct.

From what I can see people look at marketing in terms of campaigns, short sharp jousts with the world and then they’re over and done with. Cigarette time. Look at all those “micro” and “mini” sites that are out there from marketing campaigns and they’re just gathering web dust now. Such a waste really. It’s all lust with these interactions.

Then we have the idea of PR being about building relationships between companies and individuals or people with authority and/or influence. Building those kind of relationships takes more work and time but if we keep with the analogy, don’t a lot of long-term relationships become rather boring? Even when the lust turns to love? Will a mistress pop up from time to time? Will there be a divorce?

Surely though with the web and the always-on, always some kind of connection to people vibe, the fun and energy of the marketing jousts can be worked into something longer term and into relationship territory. I’m looking at the brilliant marketing concepts from Burker King of late and again and again they bring something fun out and people are anticipating them. Yet, where is the central hub for fans of Burger King campaigns? They could actually gain super fans if they so wanted by creating that hub. What powers Apple fans and the anticipation of a new product could actually be applied to BK’s odd marketing and bring it under the wing of PR.

"Lingua" by Jim Sanborn
Photo owned by dbking (cc)

5 thoughts on “Marketing is the quick shag, PR is the long-term relationship”

  1. I’d see marketing as something that should be practiced with a long term view (and I’d use buzzwords like “lifetime value of a customer”). To me what you’re describing is the difference between advertising and marketing.

    But I suppose it doesn’t matter what definition you use, as long as you know what you’re talking about!

  2. Agree with others that it’s advertising which is the quick shag. ‘Marketing is everything’ (McKenna in Harvard Business Review,early 90s) http://tinyurl.com/8shm76
    Bad marketers, advertisers, sales and even PR people adopt a short term quick buck mentality. Better marketers (all of the above) think and look at what’s happening and see where they can fit and make an impact (with best ROI). Excellent marketers do such a good job you don’t realise you’re being marketed to e.g. FB, google etc. i.e. cashing in on the Zeitgeist. Drucker another marketing head said ‘the purpose of marketing is to make selling superfluous’ which sums it up. Use a range of integrated tools and tactics to succinctly communicate your message. Final note, William Burroughs in his prologue of The Naked Lunch said heroin was the ideal product because you didn’t have to upgrade your product or service, just denigrate the consumer by giving him worse deals, making him wait, mixing it etc. because he ‘needed’ the product. Obviously we can’t use highly addictive illegal substances as case studies or benchmarks but it does bring it down to earth – in the end of the day all marketers are only interested in profit – financial or non financial i.e. getting more back that you put in and all marketers will use a range of techniques to get their message out whether that’s a one night stand, fling or meaningful relationship!

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