A few weeks ago I noticed a half-page ad in a print newspaper placed by a public relations agency. The ad touted the PR industry awards that the agency recently won.

I swooned.

The irony of advertising agencies going after awards has been discussed many times before. The marketing value of winning industry awards is mainly in the public relations. A peer-reviewed award lends credibility to an organization or a product.

Ad agencies rarely if ever advertise their actual products or services to promote themselves. They go after awards, and they then not strive for media coverage of their winning an award. It’s as if they know that public relations is a better marketing tool than advertising.

PR agencies have their own irony. It seems that the only time I read about a PR agency is through an advertisement that it has placed . . . touting the awards that it’s won. How many PR agencies have a PR plan? Probably about the same percentage as there are advertising agencies with advertising programs.

I would be interested to hear from anyone with an advertising or PR agency who knows that their company has a formal plan that deploys its own expertise.