Advertising and Marketing
We all like to think we are immune to the persuasive powers of advertising and marketing, but in reality we are not. Just think of the amount of exposure you get daily, through advertising material on a daily basis. Billboards, TV, radio, magazines, direct mail, websites, shop front displays all influence our decisions when purchasing clothes, food, cars, music and everyday items. Even our holiday destinations are influenced by advertising.
 
The functions of Advertising and Marketing are to communicate the benefits of products to us, the consumers. Successful advertising should grab our attention, stick in our minds and most importantly influence us to buy the product.
 
Although many people think of "Marketing" and Advertising as one and the same, they are not. Advertising is simply one of the business activities that constitute Marketing.
 
A company that produces a product or a service firstly decides what its potential customer desire. It then proceeds to build the product or service based on those needs and desires. Marketing involves a lot of research into customers’ likes, dislikes and preferences. Marketing also identifies who exactly should be the customer. That is, what groups within society should particular products be aimed at.

Marketing strategies are then used to advertise and package these products in user friendly ways that appeal to its target consumer group. Market research is also extensively used to seek out the 'image' which appeals to us, the consumer. The pair of jeans, the mobile phone, the holiday abroad, the car are often purchased based on their image and on how they make us feel as much as anything else.
 
The introduction of digital TV, along with the growth of mobile and internet communication means that Marketing is fast becoming an international activity. The increased use of communications technology in our lives has definitely increased the potential of Irish companies to sell their products or services to a massive global market. But the existence of technology has also increased competition from companies around the world. 

Public Relations
Public relations is the discipline that looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour.

In essence, it’s the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill between an organisation and the audiences that are important to it. These audiences – also called publics – include existing and potential customers, employees, investors, the media, government, suppliers and opinion-formers.