Advertising and PR: The Perfect Martini

By Michael Willard

Some say advertising is from Mars and public relations from Venus, and never the twain should meet. Having had lengthy careers in both, I beg to differ.

I look at it as the mixing of a great Martini. The secret is in how well the disciplines fit together.

It can either be a donnybrook of battling egos or a collective experience. The former can be disastrous — the latter, well, a beautiful waltz. Both professions are evolving. Advertising emerged centuries ago with the first handbill to sell…