Traditionally, marketing practice tells us there are four “P’s.”
It’s a pneumonic device for remembering four strategies: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. The man who suggested Public relations is the fifth “P” is Philip Kotler, a marketing professor and author. In a widely-cited article in Harvard Business Review, he notes:
“Public relations takes longer to cultivate, but when energized, it can help pull the company into the market.”
There are two particular reasons Kotler’s statement catches my eye as I work on a clear definition of “what I do.” The first is the specific use of the word “energized.” Energized in this context suggests public relations practice approached with active power, strength, potency, spirit, efficacy, vibrancy, health, and animation, can shift marketing dynamics in significant ways.
The second, is his description of “pulling” the company into the market. This term denotes a receptive dynamic, as opposed to pushing, a projective dynamic. In the profession, this distinction is sometimes made as the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. In spiritual terms, this may be described as “yin,” or “feminine,” instead of “yang,” or “masculine.”
Thomas Harris, in his book, The Marketer’s Guide to Public Relations, calls the phenomenon MPR, or “Marketing Public Relations.”
Synonymous terminology within the public relations and the “spiritual” marketing movement to define the same “pulling” phenomenon may be found in the realm of “attraction marketing,” or “magnetism.” Today, most individuals in the Western world who would describe themselves as “spiritual,” have seen or been exposted to “The Secret,” within the past decade, and understand the basic universal principles of attraction marketing from a broad spiritual perspective presented in that work.
What does your experience with Law of Attraction, manifestation or magnetism suggest to your approach to marketing your business as we begin 2017? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
An earlier version of this piece originally appeared on the Professional Moneta blog in 2011.
