A Racy Interpretation

See an interesting guide of illustrations aimed at portraying the differences between marketing, public relations, advertising and branding.

My interpretation of the images (see article for actual illustrations):

Marketing – In this illustration, it is more of a form of direct marketing, with the man directly telling the woman (his audience) that he is a great lover. Marketing is often thought of as the broad spectrum for all types of promotion/communication. With marketing, and in this image, the sender of the message is exchanging an offering for something that has value to the audience they’re targeting (in this case, a great lover). Marketing, the umbrella term, clearly and directly states the overall message: “I’m a great lover.”

Public Relations – This image portrays a woman telling another woman “Trust me. He’s a great lover.” It is more word-of-mouth news, or aka: “Did you hear…?” The most important part of public relations that is emphasized in this image is the third party credibility. Although the message is ultimately created by the same party, its flow through a trusted source garners more support and makes the message seem more credible.

Advertising – Advertising is very pervasive, and is best characterized by repetition. You turn on the TV for two hours and you are almost guaranteed to see the same commercial at least two or three times. Same for other forms of advertising. In this picture, the man repeats his message “I’m a great lover” over and over again to his audience. A party (the man in the picture) bombards you with the message they want you to hear. It is paid for, and aimed at the masses.

Branding – Branding is not necessarily a channel of communication, but more the resulting effect of other forms of communication (marketing, PR, adv, etc.). Branding ensures that all messages coming out of a party are the same (aka, integrated marketing) and results in the party having a certain place in consumers’ minds based on values and ideals. The party creates and repeats a message through various channels of communication so that people start to identify when they see the product or message. In this example, the consumer (the woman) sees the product (the man) and immediately identifies with the message she has been hearing/seeing (that he is a great lover).

What’s your interpretation? I thought it was ultimately a creative and effective attempt at portraying the similarities and differences between the different channels.