Mobile Youth TV have done a pretty good round up explaining the value of earned media over paid media. Earned media, being a relatively young phenomenon in which brands are creating assets that our interactive, web-engrossed, ultra-connected youth markets want to share and disseminate themselves, is playing a bigger and bigger role in public relations.
I could repute any number of their examples, like Levi ‘scratching their heads’ as to what to do with their youth market after they’ve just run an incredible grass-roots influence to ATL campaign with the coolest of London’s East End Cool. But I won’t – instead, I’m going to share my opinion on the very near future of brand communication and leave you to make up your minds.
Where as only a few years ago, a brand only had to generate news and campaigns that were interesting enough to pass print and broadcast editors’ approval before gracing their column inches and airtime – now brands must consider a new tier of approval; the consumer themselves.
Coined by Ad Age all the way back in 1993, the famous Generation Y are already the mainstream target demographic for everything from sports wear and fad fashion to FMCG and mid-to-high-end holidays. Generation Y definitely still read the weekend papers, listen to the radio and watch TV but Generation Y also live lifestyles of hyper-connectivity. From just idle emailing from their deadend desk job to checking in on foursquare – we are all talking. Constantly.
We still live in a society obsessed with brands [and long may it last] but we are rapidly approaching a mainstream consciousness of this obsession. And, like learning the hidden workings of an illusion and its magician, once a consumer is aware of just how brand-influenced their life is, their expectations of brands irreversibly change. Suddenly it isn’t just the journalists, editors and producers brands and PRs need to seduce with stories, innovation and aspiration – it is everyone.
(Image via AdClassix)
No one would disagree that social is growing in importance and value for brands but, contrary to a lot of social media pioneers [including Mobile Youth]; advertising and PR across print press, TV, radio, and outdoors is not going to become any less important either. They are all still hugely valuable mediums for brands to reach their consumers – the only thing that will change is their messaging and tone.
Following from an example in the video, Pepsi can no longer simply tell consumers to drink Pepsi. Pepsi has to give consumers something positive to talk about and [at least appear to] leave the rest to them.
Be Sociable. Have a Pepsi.
