I’ve been using the term advertising when speaking about online-videos that promote a product. But is it that, or is it public relations (PR)? Is it marketing or something else?

This MediaPost article by Alan Schulman of IMC2 (an interactive agency) reminded me that it’s about marketing not advertising. Says the creative director:

Advertising will remain a critical component of the marketing continuum, but here in the digital world, it’s really not the core of the business anymore.

When I was at Johnson & Johnson I worked in the new media group that happened to live in the public relations department. There was a similar group in the J&J advertising group. The way we thought and behaved about the online media was often quite different. If you’re in PR you’re looking at the blogosphere and transparancy. If you’re in advertising you’re generally looking at paid media and how to construct campaigns that break throught he clutter.

I’ll always content that the online expertise in any company should live in one place. The marketing group. The closer it is to “inline” marketing the better it will be.