Image Source: mphrural.comOn Defining Silos

Liz Hawks is an SVP in Fleishman-Hillard’s Kansas City office and is co-chair of the firm’s marketing to moms practice group, FH Moms. Her personal blog is View from the Hawks Nest. http://viewfromthehawksnest.blogspot.com

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Who are we?

The question commands attention. It’s one of the first questions we in PR consider in helping a client develop its voice, its message points, its public perception. It’s a question all of us (if even subconsciously) have considered in our personal and family lives. Who are we? Who do we want to be? Who are we perceived to be?

In our industry, it’s easy for the answer to become blurry. Often times, who we are is defined by what we do. But in today’s marketing landscape, when traditional and social… earned and paid… online and offline… all defer to the consumer to determine what is most relevant - most resonant - we have no choice but to chip away at the silos that used to neatly organize and package us all up into easy (or at least easier) to understand compartments. I’m talking about us agencies. The PRs and the advertisers.

The differences used to be easier to understand. [Enter social media.] Now, not so much. In this space, we find ourselves reminding others of the differences between earned and paid media, as lines have blurred and the question is asked: is social media ‘earned’ or ‘paid’ media? Is it a space for PR or advertising?

The truth is, with the shift in consumers’ – and particularly moms’ – media consumption habits driving how we do what it is that we do, all of us are presented with new opportunities. Consider this: if social media is about authentic conversation between consumers, is that an appropriate space for ‘paid’ media? Authenticity is earned, right? Can it still be authentic when the conversation started around a product that was pitched, without any sponsorship? Can conversation be “sponsored,” among the same people, with the same messages, with an expectation of the same results? Even with full disclosure, can a sponsored post retain authenticity? Which is ‘earned’ and which is ‘paid?’

It’s too easy to be confused. The purpose of this post is not to take sides, but rather to help define the differences.

‘Earned’ media (what we PR folk do) is publicity in which other people talk about a brand, product or service that was pitched to them. It is editorial – written by the blogger or journalist in his or her own voice – that shows up in his or her own articles or blog posts, without monetary exchange.

‘Earned’ media is not scripted. It does not purchase real estate within an existing medium (be it paper publication, TV show, radio waves, or blog site) for the purpose of espousing a commercial message.

‘Earned’ media does not have any control over the message. Yes, it attempts to guide the message with certain angles or points relayed in email, news release or via spokesperson, but ultimately, from an ‘earned’ perspective, what a blogger does with her space is her voice and her editorial – her opinion. The idea here is to get other people to talk about your brand, product or service – not to talk about it yourself.

‘Paid’ media is advertising, or publicity in which the brand shares its own messages about itself, its product or service within a space owned by someone else. ‘Paid’ media requires the exchange of money and hands control, real estate and voice over to the entity paying. ‘Paid’ media involves an element of control – of the message, the medium, the sentiment, the call to action. It’s an opportunity to talk about your own brand, product or service in the way you want to talk about it, but in a space outside of your own.

If you are a blogger who has accepted product to review or share via your own blog, or who has attended an expenses-covered event and has blogged authentically about the experience without giving any control or editing of your post over to anyone else, that’s ‘earned’ media (PR). If you are part of an ad network and required to draft a post about a specific topic, including (or excluding) certain words, phrases or brand names, linking to a specific site and receiving cash in exchange, that’s ‘paid’ media (advertising).

Now, as new and bigger opportunities for blogging moms manifest in free product to review and share, sponsored posts, expenses-paid company trips, spokesblogger relationships, conference sponsorships, contests and more, do bloggers and micro-bloggers need to care that there are still silos to think about – that there is still a difference between paid and earned media?

I think the drive for authentic conversation in social media commands careful consideration of these questions. Who are we? Who do we want to be?

Do your readers care?

Do you care?