Public Relations Agency

There is great confusion between what can be considered a public relations firm and what can be considered a public relations agency. This is due in part to the profession's use of both terms interchangeably. Typically speaking, although not necessarily a concrete differentiation, public relations firms develop publicity campaigns in a more traditional manner, while public relations agencies develop publicity campaigns alongside marketing research and advertising campaigns. In a basic sense, public relations firms are more focused than public relations agencies.

Some in the profession have even suggested that, based on the needs of the last 10 years and the type of society we live in today, that no difference should be seen between the firm and the agency, as both often combine elements of the other. This is primarily based on the interactivity available to the general public and its increasing demand for more complete and immersive experiences. Publicists today have the ability to create a single message and provide that message to the general public through many different media. However, in order to do this, the publicist must be able to adapt the message to each medium. This is something that has traditionally been seen as an agency job.

The public relations agency, then, is a public relations firm that incorporates marketing and advertising to create a complete campaign that crosses most media. In the current business climate, this amounts to a large savings on the part of any single company seeking more complete media coverage. It is with the aid of the public relations agency that many companies have found full public coverage and some of the most powerful opinion-shaping methods.

Of additional importance is the role an agency plays when interacting with internal elements of a company. Often, a company will outsource their public relations needs to an agency after already having hired a public relations counselor. An agency's ability to communicate with that counselor results in an even flow of information that will increase the agency's effectiveness in providing corporate-level public relations to the client.