Marketing or Advertising and Public Relations? Understanding the Difference

Why These Courses Are Often Confused

Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations all deal with communication, audiences and organisations, but they are not identical fields.

Marketing

Marketing has a broad market-oriented focus. It considers customers, products, pricing, distribution, sales, research, promotion, branding and strategy. Advertising can be one component of a wider marketing plan.

Advertising and Public Relations

Advertising is more specifically concerned with paid promotional communication designed to reach an identified audience. Public Relations focuses more on managing communication and relationships between an organisation and its various publics.

Where the Three Areas Meet

A company launching a new product may use Marketing research to understand the market, advertising to communicate a paid promotional message and Public Relations activities to manage public communication and relationships around the launch.

For students choosing among related programmes, the useful question is not simply which name sounds more attractive. It is which type of work and subject area they want to study more deeply. The actual course structure should also be checked at the institution being considered.