Between marketing and public relations – introduction We often wonder what are the relationships between marketing, advertising and public relations (PR). Connection between marketing and advertising seems to be easy to explain, as advertising is one of the promotion tools, which in turn is a part of the marketing-mix, i.e. one of the 4Ps. It is however much more difficult to differentiate between areas of marketing and PR. In small organizations public relations department is often combined with the marketing department. Philip Kotler and William Mindak (1978, p. 13-20) distinguish fi ve types of such connections: • PR and marketing are different areas; • some areas of the two fields overlap; • marketing is a dominant branch; • public relations is a dominant branch; • public relations and marketing are equivalent areas. This means that it is not easy to answer the question, which of the fields is dominant. The authors of this monograph are claiming that these are two different areas, but strongly interrelated. Some of the areas are very similar, especially with respect to various objectives of marketing and public relations. Sometimes it so happens that in marketing there are used some of the tools which are typical for the public relations area. Nevertheless, mere categorization or classification is not as important as a coherent strategy and action plans in these two areas, because only then is it possible to achieve synergy in operation. Thus, the consistency of marketing and PR instruments can determine the success or failure of the company in the market. This study is aimed at serving students and persons associated with the activities of marketing and PR as a guide to the theoretical foundations, but above all providing a kind of a practical roadmap. Much of the emphasis is put on the practical aspect of each of discussed problems in the area of marketing and public relations. The reader will also fi nd a lot of examples and have an opportunity to test the theoretical and practical knowledge by studying questions placed at the end of the book. In order to master the skills and put into practice the knowledge gained, it is advisable to prepare assignments which include most of the problems discussed in the monograph. Therefore, we present to the readers a monograph which is divided into two main parts, the first of which is devoted to the issues of marketing, including its definition, history, marketing-mix and the four basic strategies (product, price, distribution and promotion), marketing strategy, marketing research, and basic issues related to marketing services with special attention paid to marketing in tourism and leisure services, as well as the basics of international marketing. A separate chapter is devoted to advertising, as the most important component of promotion. The second part of the monograph concerns fundamental issues related to public relations and presents different definition approaches, public relations functions, objectives and models as well as classic and modern methods, tools, and strategies. Subsequent chapters are devoted to the principles of creating information, media relations, crisis communication and types of organization image.