Challenging the Earned, Owned, and Paid Media Model

After +15 years in advertising & marketing, I've seen many changes. Yet, one model that's been around for a long time is the Paid, Owned, and Earned (POE) media model, this model is struggling to keep up with the rapid evolution of digital marketing. And today, it's not working as well as it used to. Here's why, and what we can do about it.

Why We Need a New Approach

The lines between earned, owned, and paid media have not just blurred – they're disappearing. Consider these eye-opening statistics:

• 93% of marketers now use influencer marketing*, a hybrid of paid and earned media
• Organic reach has plummeted to just 5.2%*, brands to pay to promote their "owned" content
• By 2025, 80%* of marketing executives expect to be using AI-generated content

1. Everything is Blending Together Influencer marketing: Is it paid or earned? Social media: We now pay to show our own content. Influencer marketing is neither purely paid nor earned.
2. AI is Changing the Game AI will create content and is already buying ads. Will AI-created content really be considered as "owned" media?
3. Privacy is a Big Deal New laws are changing how we use data. We need to rethink how we target ads. GDPR was just the beginning. As 65% of the world's population is now covered by privacy regulations* (Gartner, 2023), marketers have pivot to first-party data strategies.
4. People Want Real Connections Consumers care about authenticity. User-generated content is powerful and 8.7 times* more impactful than influencer content.
5. New Tech Will Not Fit Old Categories Virtual reality, voice search: Where do these fit? Voice search is set to drive $40 billion in retail sales by 2024. By 2030, 30% of businesses will have metaverse offerings. How do we categorize a virtual fashion show for example? It's not so simple...
6. Too Much Content, Too Little Time. People see thousands of ads every day, it's harder to get noticed. We're drowning in content. 6,000 to 10,000 ads per day, per person! And attention spans? Down to 8 seconds. It's harder to stand out than to find a quiet café in Paris during lunch hour...
7. Experiences Matter More Than Ads People prefer engaging experiences over traditional ads. It's no longer about interrupting people; it's about creating moments they want to be part of.
8. Brands Need to Stand for Something Consumers care about a company's values. More and more brand are taking a stand, creating new forms of earned media. Now, the whole industry is catching up.

A New Way Forward: The EDGE Approach (Engagement-Driven, Growth-Enabled)

It's not a complete departure from POE. It's not perfect, but it's a start. Here's the essence:

• Owned Media → primarily maps to Content Creation
• Paid Media → primarily maps to Channel Optimization
• Earned Media → primarily maps to Audience Interaction
• Data-Driven Refinement is a new category that enhances all aspects of the previous model

In essence it has four parts:

1. Content Creation Make valuable content that your audience wants. Use AI to help, but keep the human touch.
2. Channel Optimization Find where your audience spends time. Use the best mix of free and paid strategies for each platform. Each platform is unique. Optimize for engagement, not for arbitrary categories of "paid" or "owned".
3. Audience Interaction Listen to what people are saying about your brand. Create two-way conversations, not just one-way messages. Focus on real, meaningful interactions. Listen, respond, engage.
4. Data-Driven Improvement Use data to make better decisions, Keep testing and improving.

This Framework allows for clear investment comparison and allocation:

Instead of dividing investments into earned, owned, and paid media, we'll allocate it across the four components

1. Establish baseline KPIs for each component.
2. Use a weighted scoring system to evaluate performance across metrics.
3. Calculate standardized ROI for each component.

Why This New Approach Works

1. It's flexible and can adapt to new technologies
2. It looks at all our marketing efforts together, not separately
3. It focuses on what our audience wants
4. It uses data to keep improving
5. It's simple enough for any organization to understand and use

Let's Talk About It

What do you think about this new approach? The key is to view these investments not as isolated expenditures, but as interconnected elements of a holistic strategy.

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Stats *

• 93% of marketers now use influencer marketing (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub, 2023 )
• Organic reach on some social platforms has plummeted to just 5.2% (Source: Hootsuite, 2023 )
• By 2025, 80% of marketing executives expect to be using AI-generated content (Source: Gartner, 2023 )
• AI-driven programmatic advertising now accounts for 72% of all digital display ad spending (Source: eMarketer, 2024 )
• 86% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and support (Source: Stackla, 2023 )
• User-generated content is 8.7 times more impactful than influencer content Source
• Voice search is set to drive $40 billion in retail sales by 2024 (Source , 2023).
• Nearly 8 out of 10 people say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions (Source )

Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.