PCG Blog

In a recent conversation featuring a few corporate communication heads and startup founders, someone mentioned securing “200 media coverages for a mere Rs. 25,000”. The person insisted that this was not a press release, nor a newswire coverage but asserted that the outlets had published the story verbatim as provided.

The individual claimed to invest approximately the same budget every month in similar engagements, and expressed dissatisfaction with the outcomes. The reason? Potential customers rarely encountered the articles, and those who did dismissed them as lacking substance. Mainstream media remained oblivious to the brand, compelling ongoing monthly expenditures to sustain even superficial momentum.

Upon clarification that these efforts constituted advertorials or paid digital content rather than genuine PR, the founder expressed bewilderment. He maintained that “an agency” had orchestrated the placements, guaranteeing a fixed number of features in fixed publications each month. 

Paid digital content has always existed in India. It particularly had a prominent role in the heydays of ‘SEO’ since such placements generated backlinks and had other benefits towards SEO. 

As the practice of Public Relations evolves in India, such ‘paid content’ is now being offered as a ‘cheaper alternative’. Masquerading it as PR undermines the discipline's integrity and erodes trust among stakeholders. True PR augments advertorials and paid placements, yet it cannot be supplanted by them.

Credibility Can’t Be Bought

PR fundamentally diverges from advertorials and paid content in its capacity to forge authentic credibility.

When a journalist chooses to write about a company, it signals credibility. It means the story is newsworthy - which adds validation to the brand.This process entails rigorous pre-interview research, followed by deeper scrutiny post-conversation.

Discerning audiences, including B2B decision-makers, investors, and savvy consumers, intuitively distinguish earned media from sponsored fare. They may not articulate it, but earned media (via PR) carries more weight and trust.

The "GEO" Factor

Today’s search engines and user search behaviour work on ‘Generative Engine Optimisation’. 

A small but critical note: Search algorithms rely on the E-E-A-T framework: Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. Advertorials, which often lack the genuine experience and expertise of independent editorial content, are down-ranked because they don't meet these stringent quality standards.

Editorial media pieces are considered trustworthy.

Traditional SEO targeted keyword rankings. GEO prioritises authoritative, contextually rich content that AI models cite in synthesised responses, drawing preferentially from credible, earned sources over sponsored material. 

Every paid content piece typically has hidden tags that tell AI if it is an organic piece or an advertorial. 

Storytelling, Not Selling

Advertorials, or paid content pieces, quite often read like product pitches. Their narratives fails to captivate experts such as investors, competitors, or customers.

Often, this is because no effort has gone behind the storytelling and shaping it to suit the audience and the publication. PR is about narratives — milestones, impact, leadership, vision, and category creation. These stories make you stand out not as just another brand, but as a market leader or innovator.

Many startups, especially those that are seeking investment, often look for this ‘mass package’ approach. Sadly, they fail to realise that their investors fall among the ‘expert’ group and can quite easily identify the masquerading content vs the genuine media story. 

Access to Organic Editorial Opportunities

A hallmark of professional PR, whether via specialised agencies or in-house communications teams, lies in cultivating enduring relationships with journalists and editors. These networks position brands to integrate seamlessly into organic coverage of industry trends, sectoral analyses, and breaking stories—without per-article payments, a feat unattainable through paid-only tactics.

The advantage Communication Agencies have over in-house teams is the access to wider networks and datasets. Journalists often reach out to agencies for their requirements. 

For example: A journalist writing about “The Impact of Tariffs on Sector XYZ” will quote 3–4 founders. A stream of advertorials in the same publication still cannot get you visibility in this story - which means your peers are quoted there, but you lose out. That's high-ROI visibility that advertorials can’t buy.

Long-Term Perception Management

PR isn’t just one article — it’s about reputation - which is built over time; perception - which needs to be constantly managed; and recall - which is also built over time (Longer times in these days of Attention Deficits) across multiple touchpoints: features, interviews, panel opportunities, LinkedIn thought leadership, etc.

With true PR, you don't just get a link — you build brand equity.

You need to amplify this with paid content, not the other way around. 

Better for Fundraising, Talent, and Partnerships

Investors, senior hires, and large B2B clients often Google you before deciding. Seeing a strong body of earned coverage — with real journalist bylines — gives them confidence. Paid articles, while useful, don’t create the same “buzz” or legitimacy, especially when they do not see editorial mentions.

TL;DR

Advertorials buy space. PR earns it.

One is visibility; the other is credibility and leadership.

Use both — but if you want to be talked about, not just talking about yourself, PR is essential.

About The Author: Amulya Nagaraj is the co-founder and Executive Director at PCG. In her career that spans nearly two decades, she has worked as a journalist / photojournalist for various publications like Reuters, Deccan Herald, Conde Nast Traveller etc as well as a commercial photographer before she co-founded PCG. As a lifelong technology enthusiast, she constantly explores new technologies like AI and its impact on the field of communications.