Why PR Is The Most Effective Branding & Marketing Tool

Let’s say you read an ad for an attorney in your local newspaper.  The ad tells you how wonderful the attorney is, what she specializes in, what services she offers, and how to contact her.  Now let’s say you read an article about that same attorney.  The article profiles her and tells you about a case she just won and the impact that case had.  Both pieces you read are in the newspaper.  Both have to do with the same attorney, but which one would impress you the most, which would you pay more attention to, the ad or the article?    My bet is the article.

Why?  The ad is informative, but it’s paid for by the attorney.  So, do we completely trust the information?  We are aware that whatever the ad says was either written by the attorney or someone hired by the law firm and the informaiton is being controlled.  The article is a news story.  It is a third person account.  It has been vetted by a writer and an editor.  That doesn’t necessarily make the article more factually accurate than the ad, but it is perceived differently.   The media’s job is to tell a story and to give the reader information, whereas the ad is meant to sell.

For that reason the article offers the attorney more validation and credibility.  People tend to trust an expert who has been featured in the media more than one they see in an ad or a commercial.  In a nutshell it’s the ability to offer that credibility to give the reader that sense of trust that makes PR is the most effective form of marketing and branding available.