Advertising is an important aspect of public relations. In order to arouse positive interest in an organization or product, you need to advertise it to the right audience in the right places in the right way. If these things are done correctly, you will hopefully have a happy client.
In one of my advertising classes last year, my professor started talking about the common theory that advertising is dying and that now, it is all about word of mouth.
“This is wrong,” he said. Then he went on to give us an example. Imagine if a distant acquaintance and a close friend were standing in a room together. If you walked into that room, who would you gravitate toward? The answer is the close friend. This study by Robert Cialdini, one of Arizona State’s Psychology professors, is known as the familiarity principle.
This means that when something is shown to you in a positive light over and over, you begin to like it more. In a sense, the more someone sees a product or company advertised, the more they will subconsciously like it. So if a customer debates between your brand and someone else’s unknown brand, you’re more likely to be the winner.
Social media has become the reason why the “word of mouth” theory has become so popular. Now people are looking to create a buzz amongst a certain group of people to get them talking. Public relations has taken this medium of communication and expanded on it, but the familiarity principle still stands true. Advertising to the subconscious mind still has a powerful effect; one that social media can’t always fulfill.
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