Advertising is one of the tools employed by PR. An organisation or media may use house-ads which are designed by the PR. Then there are public service announcements. In addition, there is cooperate advertising to build corporate image or propogate corporate viewpoint.

Publicity is another tool used by PR. Here PR uses various techniques to get media coverage about a company or a brand. Media relations is one important function of the PR. There are news releases to deliver PR messages. Stories are circulated in the media. There are press conferences and media tours.

Publications are the third important tool of PR. These publications could be pamphlets, brochures and annual reports.

Amongst other tools, audio-visual material, books and videos are used. They engage speakers and use photos. They use exhibits. Special events and tours are arranged.

Online communication makes use of Internet and social media. Both internal and external communication is used.

PR establishes and maintains relationships with public. PR programme on the basis of relationships include:

Media relations: PR maintains contacts with media, and manages publicity.

Cause marketing: A company associates itself with a cause and provides assistance and support.

Fund raising: A company raises fund or collects donations for NGOs, hospitals, museums and channelises these funds to them.

Employee relations: Here it provides information to its employees. It is also called internal marketing.

Financial relations: It provides information to stock exchanges, investors and business analysts. It makes financial statements, which are attractive and informative, available to all.

Public affairs: It maintains relationships with the government and informs the public on issues related to regulations and government dealings. It may provide information to parliamentarians and legislators. This is called lobbying. It tries to influence the public policy.

Recruitment: PR professionals work with HR to recruit certain key professionals.

Apart from the relationships, the focus is on certain key functions.

Corporate reputation management is one such function. It builds trust in the organisation. This is done by doing community related work. It is called corporate social responsibility. (CSR).

Crisis management: Here possibility of a disaster is anticipated. There is a plan ready to deal with it. You must prepare for a potential crisis. There should be a quick response. There is a plan to avoid the crisis and deal with it when it occurs.

PR communication campaigns are used to influence public opinion. Here they counter the unfavourable arguments.

Marketing PR is a combination of marketing and PR. Here PR is used to generate sales and to contribute to consumer satisfaction. It is different from general PR. It includes both the brand and sales. It supports marketing.

Both PR and advertising help build brand perceptions. They complement each other. However, the approaches are different. Advertising message propagated through media develop consumer awareness and persuade them to buy the brand. PR addresses the stakeholders and builds corporate image and reputation . This creates favourable public attitudes. PR establishes a relationship between the organisation and the public it deals with. PR is thus broader in its outlook. PR and advertising use media differently.

Advertising buys media time and space. PR uses media gatekeepers. These are anchors, writers, news broadcasters, talk show comperes, editors, producers. PR uses media and it is labelled as publicity. Publicity means favourable media coverage without paying for it. Even when PR uses paid media, its focus is not on the sale of individual brands but on the whole organisation.

PR thus depends on gatekeepers. The story the PR produces may be edited by the media. In contrast, advertising runs as the client wants it to run. Thus PR and advertising differ in control aspects of media.

Besides, media coverage by PR is trusted more than advertising. PR is considered as transmission of information, rather than an attempt at salesmanship. Thus PR has greater credibility.

An organisation comes in contact with a wide variety of people. It has to communicate with them and touch them. This communication should be such that generates goodwill for the organisation. By definition, public relations establishes and maintains relationships which are beneficial between the organisation and the public. By public we mean the people or groups with which an organisation interacts — employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, investors, lending institutions, government, local communities, pressure groups, trade unions and the society at large. In other words, all those who have a stake in the organisation or stakeholders. It could be a financial or non-financial stake.

An organisation may have an in-house PR department or may avail of the services of an outside professional PR agency. PR is both tactical and strategic. It enables an organisation to build a corporate image tactically. As a function of management it enables to maintain favourable relationships with audiences to create corporate reputation. It deals with both the internal and external publics.

PR is defined by the ( British ) Institute of Public Relations ( IPR ) as the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain good and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.

Planned and sustained effort implies that PR is organised as a campaign / programme and is a continuous activity. Its aim is to ensure that organisation is understood by others. Beyond understanding it achieves specific objectives which involve solving communication problems—converting negative attitudes into positive attitudes. It brings about change. Publics are those groups of people with whom an organisation communicates either internally or externally. Such groups could be community, employees—existing and potential, suppliers, investors, distributors, consumers and opinion leaders.

Propaganda is the means of gaining support for an opinion, creed or belief. It concentrates on matters of heart and mind. These are spiritual, emotional or intellectual topics. Propaganda benefits the propagandist, but not necessarily the recipient. Propaganda may be used for good, bad or indifferent causes.

Organisations have to do some public relations, a major portion of which is the media relations. Publicity is the coverage we get for our organisation and product range in the media. Media can cover our products in a favourable manner. This endorsement by third party, say a journalist or feature writer or an editor, carries more weight than direct advertising, which is paid for.

We can pass on our literature and press releases to the editors and talk show producers. We can also keep in touch with the trade publications. Our write-ups should have a hook  which gives it news-value.

A company can think of building appropriate values in the product itself to make its publicity credible. Publicity and advertising must support each other.

A PR professional has to arrange press conferences, video releases and satellite feeds. Media tours of the plant and offices can be arranged. A presentation is the best way to get good coverage. Publicity is on the look out for topical ideas that can be linked with their product.

Sponsorships and  special  events having high visibility may be chosen by some companies as the central point of promotion to which other elements of promotion are tied up