Advertising is the Wind. PR is the Sun.

By -

Al Reis & Laura Reis (The Fall Of Advertising & The Rise of PR)

In one of Aesop’s fables, the wind and the sun had a dispute over who was the stronger of the two.

                Seeing a traveler walking down the road, they decided to settle the issue by trying to make the traveler take off his coat. The wind went first, but the harder the wind blew, the more closely the traveler wrapped his coat around him.

                Then the sun came out and began to shine. Soon the traveler felt the sun’s warmth and took off his coat. The sun had won.

                You can’t force your way into the prospect’s mind. Advertising is perceived as an imposition, an unwelcome intruder that needs to be resisted. The harder the sell, the harder the wind blows, the harder the prospect resists the sales message.

                Advertising people talk about impact. Spreads, inserts, foldouts, and full color in print ads. Frenetic actions, crazy angles, and jump cuts in television commercials. Turning up the volume in radio spots. But these are exactly the attributes that say to the prospect, don’t pay any attention to me, I’m an advertisement.

                The harder an advertisement tries to force its way into the mind, the less likely it will accomplish its objective. Once in a while a prospect drops his or her guard and the wind will win. But not very often.

                PR is the sun. You can’t force the media to run your message. It’s entirely in their hands. All you can do is make sure your publicity material is as helpful as possible.

                Nor does the prospect perceive any force in an editorial message. It’s the opposite. Prospects think that media are trying to be helpful by alerting them to a wonderful new product or service.