Blurring the Lines Between Marketing and PR

A new study finds increasing overlap between public relations and marketing. One of the study's co-sponsors, Paul Holmes, says:

PR has the opportunity to move aggressively into paid content, an arena long dominated by advertising but that will require investment and training. The bigger challenge for the profession and for society is what happens when consumers no longer know the source or the nature of the information they receive, and how that impacts the credibility of that information.

And that's both a plus and a minus for marketing in general and society at large. 

The three key developments fueling this trend are (1) social listening, (2) digital storytelling, and (3) real-time marketing.

As a top official of ANA states: "Digital has put PR front and center, as it allows immediate outbound communication and inbound feedback."

PR's traditional function has been to "listen" to the interests and concerns of an organization's publics (consumers, community members, and other stakeholders) and allow for response through programs or other means. PR also explains the organization's position to the publics and helps protect reputation, both reactively and proactively. So in a real sense, PR has been an integral element in the marketing plan from the beginning.

With the rise of product placement and influencer marketing, among other techniques, consumers are increasingly surrounded by content that they can't as easily evaluate in terms of source (paid? spontaneous? stunt?). This is where transparency becomes critical.

Ranking Top Brands

Who's #1?

No two brand rankings are alike, which is why sometimes Apple is the world's top brand, sometimes Google, sometimes another brand. Year to year, the exact brand rankings can change, but usually the same group of well-known brands stays in the top tier.

Here are three brand rankings published during the past year:

• According to Forbes, Apple is the world's most valuable brand, followed by Google, Microsoft, Coke, and Facebook.  (published 2016)
• According to Interbrand, Apple is the world's best brand followed by Google, Coke, Microsoft, and Toyota. (published 2016)
• According to Brand Finance, Google is the world's most valuable brand, followed by Apple, Amazon, AT&T, and Microsoft. (published 2017)

Even the very top brands like Google actively integrate their names and logos into entertainment viewed by millions. Google Earth played a pivotal role in the movie Lion, for example, showcasing its functionality and features. Apple is a perennial placement favorite in movies, too. Keeping a high profile adds to the image and the value of brand equity.

Dino-Sized Marketing Deals for Jurassic World

Jurassic World, the latest summer blockbuster movie sequel to Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park novel, has some dino-sized marketing deals with brand partners. Just click to the store on the Jurassic World site, for instance, and you'll see Hasbro's tie-in toys, LEGO's new tie-in sets, and a closet-full of T-shirts for sale.

Critics aren't just talking about the plot--they're also talking about the product placement. For instance, the movie's website displays authorized Mike and Ike candies, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant on the island, and of course a 5-star Hilton hotel plug. Triumph motorcycles are prominently featured in the movie, as are Mercedes cars. Oh, and in-park shopping shown on the big screen? Lots of familiar logos there (Columbia Sportswear, Brookstone, and Oakley, to name just a few).

By the way, the official FB page has, on the movie's opening day, more than 400,000 likes (it's classified as "travel/leisure") and some fun comments that are very much in keeping with the idea of the sudden disaster that befalls the park. The Jurassic World Twitter account was opened 3 years before the movie's debut. The Instagram page has 90,000+ followers.

Whether or not movie critics love it, this movie sounds like a dino-sized marketing bonanza for all the brands involved.

UPDATE: Jurassic World broke box-office records, becoming the first movie to exceed $500 million in opening weekend receipts!

The Samsung Selfie Seen Round the World

Sunday night's Oscars telecast included one of the most widely retweeted photos ever: Ellen DeGeneres using a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to take selfies with other celebrities in the audience. Here's one shot of the Twitter post...missing the Samsung phone which is in Bradley Cooper's outstretched hand. But the audience watching at home saw the whole thing, and the distinctive Galaxy phone.

Can you read the number of retweets? More than 3.1 million as of two days later, and more than 1.7 million favorites. Enough retweets to briefly crash Twitter. A new record in retweets, as of this moment. This is social media marketing at work during one of the most widely-seen telecasts of the year, doing what it does best: encouraging sharing of positive marketing-related messages (from a group of well-known opinion leaders, no less).

Samsung publicly says it didn't actually stage the stunt, even though it was a major advertiser during the telecast (to the tune of $20 million). Yes, the company provided the Galaxy phones and showed Ms. DeGeneres how to use them. Then the company stepped back and let the improv flow, touching off a viral firestorm that added to the product's high profile. Not exactly product placement, not exactly advertising, but definitely smart marketing.

Apparently the star also used an iPhone to tweet during the show. Still, Samsung was so happy with the results of the selfie seen round the world that it later donated $3 million to charities of Ms. DeGeneres's choice.

Tuning into Product Placement

In the US, product placement has long been commonplace all over the TV dial, in broadcast and cable programs. American Idol's deal with Coke might be the most prominent example; Bravo's Top Chef is another good example, according to Product Placement News. Brands want the halo of being associated with popular programs and seen by millions of viewers.

In the UK, however, product placement was outlawed in TV programs, because of concerns about 'editorial independence' and quality. Now that ban is expected to be lifted (except for BBC programming and all kids' shows on all channels), which could lead to lots of new placement deals in UK entertainment.

Some consumer advocates on both sides of the Atlantic worry that product placement may interfere with program integrity...or be misunderstood. The creator of the UK reality program Big Brother says that product placement should be done in a transparent way, adding:

"But you have to trust the consumer. If it's overdone or tasteless, viewers will switch off."