Dispute about Public Relations - Between Social and Marketing Communication

Ever since the Kotler’s promotion-mix concept based on the most traditional model of four pillars - advertising, public relations, sales promotion and direct sales has become commonly known, PR has been treated as one of many, typically marketing, impact tools. This perception is particularly characteristic for the science of marketing management and publication. Meanwhile, it is often forgotten that public relations is the management of communication, which may be used in marketing communication, however it is a much broader meaningful concept, giving greater perspectives of use. This article refers to defining a place of public relations between two asymmetric areas of communication - social and marketing one. Basing on literature analysis, the authors define key factors differentiating both perspectives, they also evaluate the proposals for introducing new concepts into the media and communication terminology, indicating the distinctiveness of both conceptual categories.