There's something about the new media landscape that reminds me of a word jumble - can you find the Paid, Owned, and Earned media within this massive mess of media?
Or, maybe, I am really thinking about the Magic 8 Ball, and wondering if Paid, Owned, and Earned could be made answers so that media planners would have a source to look to for guidance.
At the very least, my students in Principles of Marketing and I could use the Magic 8 Ball. We’ve been doing Social Media audits in class this week, and the distinction between Paid, Owned, and Earned media has
been pretty tricky.
I’ll start with my take on the three “types” of media and
then present some visuals from other sources that might clear up the
distinction (or at least give us something to think about).
Paid
Paid media is the clearest and easiest of the three, I
think, because it refers to traditional forms of advertising media. Back in the day before the internet and
specific social media existed, brands could only
use paid media. They would produce
an ad and then buy time or space in a media through which to deliver it to
audiences.
Owned
With the onset of the interent age, the potential for brands
to own their own media platforms emerged.
Brands could create websites as part of their marketing communications
efforts. The website became a
vehicle through which to reach audiences – and it was 100% controlled by the
brand. This is the key benefit of
owned media.
Earned
The key to distinguishing earned media from the above is to
consider who is able to produce the messages through the medium. That is, on TV (a PAID medium), only
the networks get to produce messages.
In terms of advertising, Networks agree to air the ad on behalf of brands
(for a very lucrative fee of course!!).
Similarly, on the brand's website (an OWNED medium), only the brand gets
to produce content. In earned
media people – like you and me – get to produce content and, in essence, say
anything we want through the medium.
So, while a brand may “own” its Facebook page because it sets it up and
maintains it, it cannot own what we say.
What we say on Facebook is earned, and thus, Facebook and other social
media platforms are EARNED media.
Seeing is Believing…
Geoff Livingston provides two great visuals that illustrate
the differences between (visual 1) and the convergences among (visual 2) the
three forms of media.
 |
| Visual 1 |
 |
| Visual 2 |
This second visual is most
awesome because it includes the concept of convergence. All three forms of media are starting
to blend together in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. Marketers – specifically those charged
with communication duties – need to not only be in the moment in terms of media
trends, but actually one step ahead of the trends so that they can engage
consumers in the places and in the ways they feel most comfortable with.
Lauren Drell illustrates the
“new next” of paid, owned and earned media in her post for Social Media
Today. Notice how it is not as
clear cut as I implied in my initial definitions of each form. For instance, I wouldn’t put social
media in the owned category at all.
So, Who’s Right?
It’s not really a question of
“right,” but rather one of perspective.
It seems as if Ms. Drell is using “control” as an important definitional
factor for the media. Paid and
Owned provide the most control of message for the marketer. Owned and Earned provide far less
control, with earned perhaps allowing for no control at all.
The key point is that Owned
becomes a sort of middle ground which exhibits characteristics of both paid
(controlled) and earned (uncontrolled) media. Different “forms” of media deliver on different objectives.
- Paid media will operate traditionally – primarily working towards brand awareness and brand preference.
- Owned media provides information and may stimulate preference and purchase, along with providing after sale servicing.
- Earned media is about relationship building and hardcore branding.
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