Marketing and PR Are Two Different Words that Live Side by Side to One Another

Andy Goldsworthy is brilliant when combining PR & Marketing

“Marketing is what you pay for; PR is what you pray for.” — Unknown

Understanding the Difference: Marketing vs. PR in the Arts

In the world of creative careers and gallery business, confusion often arises when people use the terms “marketing” and “public relations” interchangeably. While both are vital to building visibility and reputation, they serve different roles in your success as an artist, gallerist, or cultural institution.

What Is Marketing?

Marketing is the set of actions you take to promote and sell your work or services. This includes everything from:

• Email newsletters
• Social media ads
• Paid promotions
• Booth banners at art fairs
• Website landing pages
• SEO optimization
• Paid media placements

In simple terms, marketing is controlled, measurable, and promotional.

Example from Serious Play:
When Ivan Barnett helped reframe Claire Kahn’s public identity, part of the strategy involved paid digital campaigns to elevate her profile around major exhibitions. The goal was to drive traffic to her website, increase email signups, and generate direct sales. This was marketing: strategic, intentional, and aimed at measurable business outcomes.  This was very successful year after year, eventually resulting in numerous pre-exhibition “red dots,” sales, that her gallery had never seen before in its twenty-year history.

Steve Jobs Knew that His Yearly Product Introductions Changed The Face Of Marketing.  Images By Doug Meneuz, Photo By Ivan Barnett.

What Is Public Relations (PR)?

Public Relations is the earned attention and reputation that surrounds your work. It’s about shaping the story people tell about you—without you directly paying for the coverage. This includes:

• Press coverage
• Interviews
• Editorial features
• Word-of-mouth
• Speaking invitations
• Museum or institutional recognition

PR is how you build long-term credibility, emotional resonance, and cultural relevance.  It’s the hardest to acquire and when you do “get it” it’s gold!  Although never guaranteed, always “mana from heaven.” 

A Decade of Claire Kahn Promotion-Tied to Her Gallery.  Image by Ivan Barnett

Example from Serious Play:
Ivan helped position Claire Kahn not just as a jewelry designer and maker but as a conceptual artist and design philosopher. Through PR strategies, Claire landed features in American Craft Magazine, Editable Magazine, Art Jewelry Forum Magazine, and KLIMT02, just to name a few.  She had her work reviewed and discussed extensively in art and design publications.  These weren’t paid placements—they were the result of sustained, thoughtful relationship-building and narrative framing, with trusted editorial connections that were nurtured and developed over many years.  That’s PR.

Why “And & Both” is Needed

In today’s art world, marketing gets you noticed, but PR makes you remembered.

• Marketing drives your clients and collectors to an opening.
• PR gets the local, regional and national press to write about why your exhibition or event matters.
• Marketing boosts your social media status.
• PR encourages an art critic to share and review your personal and business social feed.

At Serious Play, Ivan Barnett weaves and maneuvers the two together, rooted in decades of hard-earned, legendary dot connecting and credibility. He has cultivated deep media relationships, museum connections, and institutional trust that many artists or galleries simply don’t have on their own. He doesn’t just talk about PR and marketing—he’s lived them.  Look at some of the business case studies on the serious-play.co site.

Artist’s Muses Still Attract Huge Attention in the Press.

The Claire Kahn Case Study: PR & Marketing in Action

Claire Kahn’s transformation is a prime example of blending both disciplines:

• Marketing Tools Used:
  • A branded visual identity and website
  • Curated newsletter series timed with product drops
  • Professional photography for online promotions
• PR Strategies Applied:
  • Positioning her artistic voice and unusual story beyond “jewelry designer”
  • Pitching her story to editors as “the artist who designs and fabricates works of art, unmatched worldwide.”
  • Invitations to speak at institutions and contribute essays

The result? Increased collector interest, greater institutional inquiry, and long-term financial growth.

Common Missteps in the Arts’ Careers and Businesses

Many artists and galleries:

• Rely only on word-of-mouth, believing good art “sells itself” (it doesn’t).
• Spend on ads but ignore their press presence.
• Focus on short-term promotion (marketing) and neglect long-term story telling and narratives (PR).
• Use social media as a substitute for strategy when it’s really only part of the process.

Natural Charisma Will Always Overshadow the Written Word.  Image Isa Barnett, Photo by Ivan Barnett

What Serious Play Offers

At Serious Play, Ivan Barnett works alongside artists and gallerists to:

• Build foundational marketing plans that actually convert
• Craft compelling artist statements and bios that fuel PR that is not forgotten
• Create pitch decks for media and institutional engagement
• Position your works for lasting impact, not “one off” moments
• Develop event and exhibition rollouts that integrate both approaches that elevate the importance of your creative brand

Final Thoughts

Marketing is the engine that keeps the car moving. PR is the paint, the legacy, the emotional pull—the reason people remember the ride.

If you want to sell more now, you must understand and utilize both. Ivan Barnett and Serious Play can help you do exactly that.

“If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.” — Bill Gates

© 2025 by Ivan Barnett