Paid Media versus Upaid!
By Harish Bijoor
The brand manager is in a dilemma
today. In the old days, all media was paid for. Today, you have yet another
avatar on the rampage, “earned media”. While paid media is what you buy as
advertising in every form, earned media is what you earn as coverage in media
that is viral, editorial in guise, and C2C (consumer to consumer) in reach,
credibility and consumer buy-in terms.
The dilemma is simple and complex
at the same time. The simple dilemma point is which one to back? Which one
gives your brand the bang for the buck? Which one is trusted more? Which one
delivers sales? Which one delivers image? And which one damages the brand more,
when push comes to shove?
The complex part of the dilemma
is measurement of efficacy. How do you know which avatar of media did what for
your brand? How do you know what paid media did for you as opposed to earned
media? And how do you plant your marketing bucks on each? In what proportion?
And how deep must you be in earned media?
The dilemma of the brand manager
will continue. I will however put my weight behind paid media for now. I do
believe paid media works better for brands in today’s context. Paid media is
specific, controlled by the brand to the point of a science, is dished out with
consistency which a consumer is used to, and by and large, credibility of paid
mediums remain reasonably intact to date.
Yes, advertising is being trusted
less and less by consumers. Yes, advertising is seen to be something that promises
the stratosphere and offers the sky. However, advertising is yet to reach the
bathos point in India in terms of credibility and credulity norms. To that
extent, all paid mediums are still trusted, except paid PR. Paid PR sadly has
hit the bathos point in India with consumers switching off any communication
that looks overtly paid for in PR terms.
Advertising on the other hand
does not suffer that status and stigma as yet. Consumers are aware that all
advertising is paid for by the brand, and this paid-for status is overt and in
the eye. There is no subterfuge. The consumer does believe today that it is the
right and privilege of the brand to advertise itself overtly. In many segments,
advertising is seen to be a form of public service as well, as it is
informative and disseminates what is wanted to be learnt by the consumer.
Earned media is however a tough
cookie to understand today. It is totally amoebic and totally un-solicited.
While in the early days, what you earned through such media exposure is
considered “editorial” in nature and “use-centric” in output, a little while
down the road, there is consumer distrust here as well. As tales of brand
interventions in “earned media” space gain grounds, and as consumers understand
that many a tweet and many a Facebook mention and LinkedIn message could be “bought” as well, the USP of
earned media dies.
My point is a simple one. The
consumer loves brands as of now. He/she understands and appreciates the role,
power and utility of paid-for advertising that is overt. He/she distrusts paid
PR fundamentally because it is not overt, and hides behind editorial material
that looks part editorial and part paid-for. The consumer hates being cheated.
The consumer is fine being told clearly that this is a paid medium and this is
not. On the other hand, when it comes
to earned mediums, the consumer is today not very convinced that what is
“earned” is really earned, and what seems earned is really not paid for as
well! Touche!
At the end of it all, lets
remember, the consumer is not a moron. She is your mistress, if not your wife!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The author is a brand-strategy specialist & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.
Twitter @harishbijoor
