So, let's starts by defining what each one is. Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics. Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. With that said let's look into how they are related and what they do. Marketing is generally a proactive activity that communicates value to a customer and builds the image a marketer wants. The goal of marketing is generally considered the drive to increase sales and therefore profits. Marketing includes actions in the four P's: product, price, place, and promotion. Public relations is more reactive and tries to manage the relationships that people have with a company. Public relations is about forming a relationship with the public with the implied goal of making the company image better. Public relations manages publicity as well as relationships. They both function as something a company needs in order to promote itself. I think that PR and marketing are closer to each other than they have been in the past. For instance, Scott Stratten in UnMarketing has the viewpoint that managing relationships through social media is marketing. This really blurs the line of what marketing and public relations are. They both serve as a communication channel between the consumers and businesses and both require close attention in order to achieve great results.
Regardless, the need for both marketing and public relations is more apparent than ever. I really never considered public relations much in my marketing thoughts, but now I believe that it serves a very important purpose that definitely requires consideration. When used in tandem they can really shape the way that people view either your business or product.