Launch Without Ads? Absolutely.

Abstract: Public relations is the nail, advertising is the hammer. Find out how this approach will help launch your brand.

Public relations is the nail, and advertising is the hammer.

This a constant theme in The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR by branding gurus Al and Laura Ries. The authors use the nail/hammer analogy to explain how companies should use public relations to launch and build brands followed by advertising to maintain brands over time. The nail (public relations) makes the first impression and then is driven into material by the hammer (advertising).

This theory runs counter to conventional marketing wisdom that says advertising leads the way, while public relations plays a supporting role. Here are a few examples the Rieses cite to show that this wisdom doesn't automatically translate into results:

• Chevrolet outspends Ford by 39 percent in advertising. Ford outsells Chevrolet by 33 percent.
• Kmart spent $542 million on US advertising in 2001. Wal-Mart spent $498 million and had four times the sales in its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. The average Sam's Club makes $56 million in revenues and spends little on advertising.
• Pets.com generated only $22 million in sales after spending nearly four times that on advertising.

To further illustrate the point, many well-known companies such as The Body Shop and Starbucks have built brands without advertising. Starbucks has only started advertising in recent years to maintain its global brand.

Why is public relations so successful helping to launch brands?

1. Public relations is credible, while advertising has little credibility is today's mass media environment. Effective public relations is founded in unbiased sources (reporters, opinion leaders, etc.) who choose to share information about a product or service. Advertising cannot match the validity and credibility of third-party endorsements.
2. Advertising is expensive, public relations is not. Al and Laura Ries make the point that most advertising lives for brief moments in time that must be repeated constantly to be effective. By contrast, effective public relations, such as a well-placed story, can have a long history in the minds of target audiences.

Read more about The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR at Amazon.com.