Hats off to Jonah Bloom, editor of Advertising Age, for his perceptive recent column bemoaning "The Cultural Gulf That Separates Marketing & PR."

Bloom cites several reasons why corporate PR and marketing departments should be speaking the same language:

1. “A company’s corporate reputation, often seen as the domain of the PR department, is inextricably linked to its ability to sell stuff and build brands, usually seen as the domain of the marketing department.”

2. “Marketing executives who focused more on unique selling points, brand messages and recall are now starting to talk about trust and transparency, long watchwords of the PR mavens.”

3. “Many companies’ PR executives, who once massaged other people’s messages and left most content creation to the marketing department, are now building and populating websites, social networks, message boards, blogs, vlogs and podcasts.”

But, Bloom points out, corporate marketing and PR departments, despite their “convergence of purpose,” are still “separate and isolated fiefdoms.” His examples:

1. “Lots of PR people…have little knowledge of what’s happening in their marketing departments.”

2. PR is commonly “controlled by a corporate communications chief, while advertising (and) direct marketing…are under the auspices of the CMO.”

3. “The two departments are moving in opposite directions when it comes to…consumer control….Marketers are all talking about giving up some degree of control of their messages (while) PR teams are becoming ever more officious controllers of the message.”

Bloom says the reasons why corporate PR and marketing remain separate despite their merging goals is often cultural - with marketing executives typically “offense-minded” and PR executives “reactive and defense-minded.”

If we could find one fault with Bloom’s column, it’s that he never considers how outside PR counsel can bridge this “cultural gulf.”

One of the strengths a PR agency offers vs. internal PR departments is our ability to close the gap – by demonstrating through results how an “offensive” PR strategy will actually support a company’s marketing goals.