Many consumers might be confused by business jargon such as marketing and public relations. They may be under the impression and marketing and public relations are the same thing, but this is not the case. Marketing is defined as the management process of planning and executing the promotion, distribution, and pricing of goods and services. Additionally, it encompasses consumer identification along with the anticipating and satisfying customer requirements. Public relations, on the other hand, involve the strategic management of a company's reputation. Public relations are sometimes referred to as 'branding' because it involves customer's feelings towards a company in general as opposed to a specific product or service that they offer. Clearly, the two terms are not synonymous, although most marketing firms also offer public relations services. Large companies, such as multi-national corporations are able to hire their own in house marketing and public relations teams. Smaller businesses may have to hire a local marketing consultant and public relations firm in order to meet their needs. Some larger companies choose to hire local marketing consultants and public relations firms simply to gain an unbiased assessment of their business practices and advertising plans. This often occurs when a huge corporation notices that its sales are down, it's losing out to its competitors, or gets bombarded with negative press. Public relations focuses on promoting the company itself, which is something well known companies spend lots of doing in order to stay relevant.
