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Overview of The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR
by Al Ries
 
Al Ries is one of the world's most respected marketing strategists. He coauthored the best-selling book "Positioning" as well as several volumes of Immutable Laws of marketing and branding.
Public Relations (PR) has credibility. Advertising doesn't.
In the past, companies relied on advertising to tell their target audience about new products and services. More and more, these advertising campaigns fail because advertising lacks credibility. Advertising is the noise of a company tooting its own horn.
By contrast, PR lets the news media tell your story. By sending press releases to magazine and newspaper editors, and having your story printed by the experts who work for these publications, your story gains credibility with your prospects.
Don't limit yourself to the traditional press. The authors report, "When Tony Soprano told his psychiatrist, on the HBO series The Sopranos, that he liked Sun Tzu's The Art of War, the book jumped to No. 6 on USA Today's best-seller list. The publisher had to print another 25,000 copies of the twenty-four-hundred-year-old book."
In the world of software, you have to get the attention of bloggers and newsletter publishers, too. Be careful of software portals. While there are some high-traffic software portals that could attract serious software buyers, many portals are run by kids who are looking for free copies of your software, or by bulk emailers who harvest and sell email addresses.
How software developers might benefit from Al Ries'
The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR?
This book is not particularly about the software industry. You have to translate their principles into your day-to-day business practices.
The authors believe that advertising can be used effectively to defend your brand. But ads won't let you build your brand. You need third-party endorsements to effectively launch a new application.
Public relations is not without its flaws: When you send press releases, you can't control the content or the timing of your message.
In addition to contrasting the effectiveness of advertising and PR, the book also deals with choosing product and company names, line extensions, creating new product categories, doing brand maintenance, and dozens of other marketing topics.
Should Software Authors Read The Fall of Advertising?
Many consumers find out what software is best by asking what other people are using. They pay attention to what they read in magazines and newspapers, and they listen to what their friends and colleagues tell them.
People know that if newspaper and magazine editors devote valuable space to a product, it must be special. Advertising lacks credibility. You have to create buzz in the press to get noticed.
The authors believe that advertising no longer gets the job done. Instead, use PR to engage your prospects emotionally and intellectually, and let them understand how your product will make their lives better.
This 300-page book is an easy read, and full of useful information about launching new products.
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