This is a question I heard yesterday while having a cup of coffee at a cafe.

"What is the difference between advertising and promotion?"

The dictionary definition of advertising (廣넓을 광, 告고할 고) is to make something widely known or to do something,

It is stated as an intentional activity to widely inform consumers about a company's products or services through various media.

Then what about promotion?

The dictionary definition of promotion (弘넓을 홍, 報알릴 보) means to make something widely known, or to announce or report something.

Looking at it this way, in the dictionary definition, promotion has a tendency to announce or report something, focusing on the act of making something known, and has a strong tendency to convey or spread, while advertising is mainly about being conveyed through media, and the difference is that it requires payment of advertising fees.

So, how is the definition of advertising and promotion used in foreign countries?

First, advertising is called Advertisement, which is abbreviated as AD. Generally, advertising is similar to what it means in Korea.

But promotion is a little different.

Promotion is Public Relations, a compound word of 'public' + 'relations', referring to activities or tasks that provide information about a particular person or organization to the public in order to create a favorable impression of that person or organization. It has a strong tendency to make something known to others rather than to oneself.

You might think, "Isn't it the same thing?" but the meanings of the words are slightly different, so you need to be careful when using them.

Advertising first pays advertising fees to the media, uses it as if it were its own, and puts corporate profits first. Therefore, it tends to focus on direct conversion and numbers.

However, promotion emphasizes relationships, so it feels more cautious and focuses on the story, rather than directly speaking out, but rather indirectly through other people, media, or channels.

I once talked with people who work for a PR company or team, and I saw a lot of work on pictures, press coverage, and so on to make the brand look good, so I had frequent meetings with media companies.

Of course, they also create good things like social contribution activities, it's like offering things to people...

Advertising, like other agencies around us, is always about discussing things like conversion rates and click-through rates with numbers, and mainly talks about performance. Personally, it feels too nerve-wracking.

If I mix my personal thoughts with advertising and promotion,

Advertising has a clear result value because it is paid and measured, so the good or bad performance is clear, but promotion is strongly branding-oriented, so it is often ambiguous.

Of course, there are some advertisements, such as outdoor advertisements, that are ambiguous in terms of measurement, and there are also areas that can be measured in promotion because online views and user behavior tracking sources are developing day by day.

Regardless of what is good or bad, it seems important to use the words according to the nature of the work I have to do.