(Submitted by Patrick Dengel, Business Development Specialist, Small Business Development Center and Adjunct Instructor, University of Rio Grande MBA Program/OSU South Centers Collaboration, OSU South Centers)
1. ADVERTISEMENT – Bringing your product or service to the attention of potential and current customers such as: newspapers, brochures, signs, commercials, etc.
2. PROMOTION – Keeps the product or service in minds of customers and helps stimulate the demands for the product such as on-going advertisement, publicity, promotional, technology and specific time of year promotions.
3. MARKETING – Activities to make sure you are meeting the needs of your customers. Can include: market research, what potential customers are available, what their needs are, what products they use, what the competition is, finding the market niche, pricing of your products, and promoting them through advertisement.
4. PUBLIC RELATIONS – Ongoing activities to insure your company has a strong public image.
5. PUBLICITY – Companies who get mentioned, but have little say as to what is said about them.
Examples of each:
Paint a sign on an elephant “circus coming to town” that is advertisement.
Walking the elephant through town, that is promotion.
Elephant tramples on mayor’s flower that is publicity.
Mayor laughs that is public relations.
If people attend the circus – that is sales.