We talked about making communications viral in a previous post which met with much approval. A simple, but distinct, difference between advertising and PR is the degree of viral success. How many ads do you forward to your friends or colleagues? Maybe two or three a year, and those have to really catch your eye because they are funny, or dumb, or applicable to something else.
Now think how many times A WEEK you might forward articles to the same number of people. We forward articles to share thoughts, stay in touch, and basically to start and engage in meaningful conversations with people who we respect. We also do it to spread news to others, sometimes for the purpose of influencing opinions, thinking and developing new ideas on a topic.
PR has been viral since the first news story was written. Prior to the internet, we used to clip articles or make copies and mail/fax them to friends and colleagues to stay in touch, make a point, reconnect. With the presence of the web, the viral component of PR continues to grow steadily. Now with social media, viral messaging is growing exponentially. Not sure how reliable the actual messaging is, but the viral component is certainly growing faster than messages are created.
Advertising will always hold the back seat on this one. Paying for placements may grab attention and raise awareness in the long run, but unless it is an ad campaign that is exceptionally creative, it will not hold much viral value.