my aim is to become a marketing public relations manager?

All firms seek to promote and sell their products and services profitably. In many small companies, the owner or chief executive officer must assume all responsibilities for sales, marketing, advertising, promotions, and public relations. Large firms have an executive vice president to direct these areas for the firm’s products and services, which they may offer nationally or internationally. They also employ managers in each of these areas to coordinate the many factors of marketing strategy, including market research; public relations activities; and product development, advertising, sales, promotion, and pricing.
Managers direct advertising and promotion staffs, which are rarely large, except in the biggest firms. Many small firms contract out their advertising and promotional functions, and the manager will frequently be the liaison between the firm and the advertising or promotion agency. Advertising managers in large firms supervise creative, in-house account, and media services departments. The account executive has three main roles: to manage the account services department, to evaluate advertising needs, and, in advertising agencies, to maintain clients’ accounts. The creative director oversees the copy chief, art director, and related staff, while the creative services department develops the topics and presentation of advertisements. The media director manages planning groups that choose how to publicize advertising, through radio, television, newspapers, magazines, Internet, outdoor signs, or other means.
Promotions managers, with the assistance from the promotion specialists they supervise, work to increase sales through programs that blend advertising and purchase incentives. These promotional programs aim to tighten contacts with purchaser (dealers, distributors, and consumers) through direct mail and telemarketing; television and radio commercials; catalogs and newspapers inserts; banners on Web sites; exhibits and special events; and in-store displays or product endorsements. Promotional departments may seek to entice customers through discounts, samples, free gifts, rebates, coupons, sweepstakes, and other incentives.
Marketing managers and their subordinates, who include product development and market research managers, develop detailed marketing strategies for a firm. In doing so, they analyze the demand for the firm’s products and services. They also identify competitors and potential markets such as businesses, retailers, wholesalers, government, and the general public. Marketing managers aim to maximize the firm’s market share and profits by developing effective pricing strategies, all while maintaining customer satisfaction. They also collaborate with managers in sales, product development, and other departments to monitor trends indicating a need to develop new products and services. They would then oversee appropriate product development. Marketing managers team up with various managers to attract consumers by promoting the firm’s products and services.
Public relations managers, who oversee public relations specialists, direct publicity programs. They tend to specialize in a particular field, such as crisis management, or industry, such as healthcare. In their efforts to target a specific audience, they use every communication medium available, because the organization’s success depends on this group’s continued support, be they consumers, stockholders, or the general public. In one possible scenario, public relations managers might explain or defend their firm’s position on environmental issues to a special interest group.
Public relations managers play a critical role in protecting and improving a firm’s image. They monitor social, economic, and political trends that could affect the firm, looking for ways to enhance the firm’s image based on such trends. They also look out for the interests of top management by evaluating advertising and promotion plans to verify compatibility with public relations efforts.
Public relations managers may meet with financial managers to draft company reports and with labor relations managers to write internal company communications, such as newsletters about employee-management relations. Public relations managers help company executives draft speeches, set up interviews, and maintain other types of public contact; they help organize company archives; and they respond to requests for information. Some are responsible for special events management—directing charity tournaments, organizing parties to unveil new products, and working on other events that can help indirectly promote the firm.
Sales managers lead sales programs for the firm. Their primary responsibilities include assigning sales areas, setting sales objectives, and helping sales representatives improve their performances through recommendations and training programs. Sales managers keep in regular contact with dealers and distributors, and in large, multi-product firms, they oversee regional and local sales managers and staffs. With their staff, they strive to maximize profits and identify potential product-development needs by gathering and analyzing sales statistics and other vital information, which they use to calculate sales potential and inventory requirements and to monitor customer preferences.