On Tuesday, Cision presented the Future of Media: Radical Integration, a 60 minute virtual event examining the new marketing mix and how social media is fueling the integration of paid, earned and owned media. Thirty media, marketing and public relations influencers from brands such as PepsiCo, Southwest Airlines to agency executives like Ashley Swartz of Digitas and Brian Solis of Altimeter Group, answered 15 questions about the future of media, the concepts of radical integration and the changing roles of marketers. Each speaker was given two minutes to answer one question.
Questions included:
- The radical integration of traditional marketing silos has changed the business landscape with the boundaries between paid, earned and owned media in a state of flux. What is the new marketing mix today and what will look like three years from now?
- It’s been 10 years since the Cluetrain Manifesto declared the death of advertising. Why hasn’t it died? How has paid media evolved as marketing has truly become a conversation, especially as earned media and corporate owned content have increasingly facilitated that conversation?
- Is earned media playing a larger role alongside paid advertising and corporate-owned content in the new marketing mix? If so, why? If not, why not?
- How important is owned media in the mix? What does it mean that every company is now its own publisher? Is that true?
- How does owned content mesh with traditional paid advertising and earned media?
- How much listening to the customer is really going on in marketing today? Who does the listening and how in the realms of paid, earned and owned media? Will listening be radically integrated in tomorrow’s marketing mix or will it be left behind? How will this evolve over the next five years?
- How has social media changed our concept of paid advertising?
- How has social media changed our ability to generate earned media?
- How credible is social media when actually owned media, managed and directed by the corporate marketer, and used to influence consumer behavior?
- How specifically is the role of earned media evolving?
- What do PR people understand that other marketers traditionally haven’t?
- What do other marketers understand that PR people traditionally haven’t?
- What do journalists understand that PR people and other marketers traditionally haven’t?
- How can the people responsible for PR, advertising and owned content collaborate more effectively?
- What does success look like in the era of radical integration? How do we measure the ROI of paid, earned and owned media both independently and as components of the integrated marketing mix?
Some takeaway points:
“News no longer breaks, it Tweets.” – Amanda Miller Littlejohn, Founder of Mopwater Social Public Relations
“So that’s really what it is, the new elevator pitch. So what’s the elevator pitch in your company, that message that you want to deliver and does everybody understand it and know how to deliver it? I think that’s very critical for business.” – Jeff Hayzlett, author of The Mirror Test
“What you need are communicators who know how to find, build and tell stories about your organization.” – Linda Rutherford, Vice President of Communication and Strategic Outreach for Southwest Airlines
“There is no one size fits all success metric. While things like fans and followers matter online—without them, you’re just talking to yourself—network size along doesn’t equate to success. Similarly, if you’re working on an advertising or PR campaign, don’t just measure eyeballs or impressions.” – Heather Whaling, President of Geben Communication and author of prtini.com
“It goes beyond building relationships with the press you want to build relationships with the public, with the customer.” – Aliza Sherman, founder of MediaEgg
And a favorite tweet: “Everyone is now a publisher, especially when an earthquake happens.” – Andrew Shipp. Which was derived from this quote “Everyone who’s walking around on the street outside today is a publisher and if not a publisher today, then certainly a prospective publisher tomorrow.” – Todd Defren, Principal of SHIFT Communications.
The event is now available to watch at your convenience as an on-demand video. Just register to begin watching!
This post is part of the Future of Earned Media series.
