The Body Shop is a huge best-selling brand, while Pets.com has vanished into thin air. Both of these brands were first in their category and had a good chance to succeed in sales, but still developed differently. What is the reason for the outcome of those brands? To cut a long story short: The Body Shop relied on public relations to attract publicity, while Pets.com launched an expensive advertising campaign.
When it comes to branding (the building of a brand), many companies rely first and sometimes only on advertising. However, as of today, advertising has lost its former credibility and has turned into an art form. This has two reasons: Consumers feel bombed with empty promises during commercials, and advertising agencies fight for awards for the creativity of their developed ads.
The solution to this is clever PR. Public relations influences third parties (newspapers, TV shows, etc.) to publish favorable articles about the brand. Because PR itself is invisible and many people do not recognize it is there, public relations still has what advertising lacks: tons of credibility. However, most companies still rely on advertising to make their brand sell. This happens because public relations is difficult to control, while advertising can be developed exactly how planned. Nevertheless, companies need to understand that nowadays, advertising’s role has switched and should only be used for brand maintenance—years after the brand has been built through slow publicity by PR. Before that, advertising is mostly just money poured down the drain.
Table of Contents
1. Abstract
2. A Branded World: The Importance of Public Relations Over Advertising in Brand Building
Objectives and Themes
This paper examines the evolving landscape of brand development, arguing that traditional advertising has lost significant credibility and effectiveness in the modern consumer market. The research highlights the superiority of public relations (PR) in establishing new brands by fostering genuine credibility through third-party endorsements, while positioning advertising as a tool better suited for brand maintenance rather than initial brand building.
- The decline of advertising credibility in the modern consumer era.
- The role of public relations in generating favorable, credible publicity.
- Comparative analysis of brand success stories (The Body Shop vs. Pets.com).
- The strategic shift from "big-bang" advertising campaigns to long-term PR-led brand establishment.
- Defining the functional boundaries between PR and advertising for corporate strategy.
Excerpt from the Book
The first association of advertising is commercials.
In people’s minds, advertising has been the one important way to sell a product. However, according to Al and Laura Ries, advertising has nowadays turned into an art form. Advertising agencies frame their most successful ads and put them on the wall, and the most reminiscent feature of a good commercial is more often not the brand, but the entertainment value (“Fall” 17-18). What advertising agencies most focus on today is the creativity of the ad: Is it new? Interesting? Does it move people? Sometimes this takes overhead. Commercials lose their use of selling products. Apparently, they have turned into an art form. A good example for this is Pets.com.
In the mid-1990s, during the so-called “.com boom,” entrepreneur Greg McLemore launched the website as the first page to sell pet products online. In the beginning, Pets.com had a good start, caught people’s attention and created some favorable publicity by being the first online store specialized on pets. As similar websites were launched (among them PetsMart.com and Petstore.com), McLemore financed a nationwide advertising campaign featuring a sock puppet. The ad ran during high-audience slots such as the Super Bowl and made the puppet famous. However, Pets.com’s sales decreased, forcing the web page to close business in 2000 (Haig 188-192). Pets.com shows that it takes more than great advertising to make a brand successful. As creative as the ads were, people could not distinguish to which brand the puppet belonged. If Pets.com’s campaign created a brand, then it was the brand of the sock puppet. Although sales of the puppet over the web page went up, the company still spent more money on advertising than it actually made through sales. The company would probably have had a better chance of staying in business if it would have focused more on PR and waited to add advertising until it was known as a brand.
Chapter Summaries
Abstract: Provides an overview of the thesis, contrasting the failure of Pets.com’s advertising-heavy approach with the success of The Body Shop’s PR-focused strategy.
A Branded World: The Importance of Public Relations Over Advertising in Brand Building: Explores the historical shift in consumer culture and argues that companies must prioritize PR over advertising to successfully establish new brands in a skeptical market.
Keywords
Public Relations, Advertising, Brand Building, Consumer Culture, Credibility, Publicity, Marketing Strategy, Brand Maintenance, The Body Shop, Pets.com, Corporate Communication, Brand Image, Consumer Trust, Media Influence, Commercials.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this paper?
The paper focuses on the decreasing effectiveness of traditional advertising in building new brands and advocates for the prioritization of public relations to gain consumer trust.
What are the primary themes discussed?
The themes include the loss of advertising credibility, the shift toward a consumer-driven culture, the power of third-party validation, and the distinct roles of PR versus advertising in a product's lifecycle.
What is the author's central argument?
The author argues that public relations is essential for building a brand from scratch, whereas advertising is an expensive and often ineffective tool for new brands that should be reserved for maintaining established ones.
Which methodologies are analyzed?
The paper utilizes a qualitative comparative approach, examining industry case studies—specifically The Body Shop and Pets.com—to contrast different branding strategies.
What does the main body address?
The main body examines the evolution of the term "brand," the "artistic" but often futile nature of modern commercials, and the strategic importance of PR in avoiding costly marketing failures.
Which keywords characterize the work?
The work is characterized by terms such as Public Relations, Brand Building, Credibility, Consumer Trust, and Strategic Communication.
Why did Pets.com fail according to the author?
Pets.com failed because it prioritized expensive, high-visibility advertising that focused on entertainment value (the sock puppet) rather than establishing a clear, trusted brand identity through public relations.
How does The Body Shop serve as a counter-example?
The Body Shop succeeded by leveraging PR and positive third-party publicity to build a loyal customer base for its natural, ethical cosmetic products without relying on traditional advertising.
What is the "two-way communication" mentioned regarding PR?
It refers to the ability of PR to create a dialogue between the brand and the consumer, where the company reacts to consumer needs, whereas advertising is typically a one-way broadcast of a company's message.
Why is advertising considered "invisible" in contrast to PR?
Actually, the author notes that PR is often "invisible" to the consumer because it lacks the overt branding of a paid advertisement, which is precisely why it carries more credibility.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Romina Müller (Autor:in), 2011, A Branded World -The Importance of Public Relations Over Advertising in Brand Building, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/174950
