By Ikechukwu Prince

INTRODUCTION Marketing and advertising campaigns that do not connect with the

target audience in anyway tend to bring little or no results in terms of

ROI and hence gradually kills a brand’s image, reduce consumer loyalty,

drop sales volume and so on. Bad right? Sure it is, that is why popular

brands even new brand entrants that have designed their

communication plans and messages need to understand the need for

EARNED MEDIA as a tool for promoting brands image, building brand

love, increasing consumer loyalty and it goes on and on

By Ikechukwu Prince

MEDIA IS IN 3 FORMS

OWNED MEDIA

PAID MEDIA

EARNED MEDIA

By Ikechukwu Prince

WHAT ARE THEY?

OWNED • Media owned by a

brand such as a company’s website or social media pages, blogs, TV networks, OOH boards etc.

PAID • Media that is paid for • Includes digital

campaign ads, TVC, radio commercials, print ads, billboard ads, hypes, influencer recommendation etc.

EARNED • Consumers reaction to brands

(Can be Positive or Negative) • Includes reviews, word of

mouth, shares, news mentions, stories etc.

By Ikechukwu Prince

Why Earned Media? Earned media is key in building an emotional connection with the

consumers. Advertising campaigns developed with great consumer

insights can be used to generate campaigns (and contents) that will

thrill consumers and produce that “WOW” effect that will also draw

the attention of the media. That way a brand will not have to spend so

much on advertising (Paid Media) and would rather get an added

benefit of consumer loyalty.

By Ikechukwu Prince

Example of Earned Media- Share A Coke

The Share a Coke Ad Campaign won the hearts of many as well as the media attention as it was introduced into the Nigerian market. The frenzy of consumers scampering in stores in search of their names was hilarious. The campaign has now been extended to “Share a Feeling” campaign which is also a major hit.

By Ikechukwu Prince

Other Examples Around The World- Dove Campaign For Beauty

This campaign broke barriers in the advertising world, using deep insight from an extensive research. They observed that only 2% women think they are beautiful and they used that insight in creating a campaign that drew attention from the media and also won the hearts of consumers

By Ikechukwu Prince

Other Examples Around The World- Red Bull Stratos

Red Bull Stratos killed it with a stunt they pulled called “Mission To The Edge Of Space” The stunt wasn’t actually an advertising campaign per se as claimed by the Red Bull Spokeswoman Patrice Radden but it attracted not only the media (Radio, TV, Press, Blogs, Websites etc.) but won the hearts of consumers. The mission involved a man in a suit who dived from out of space into earth with a remarkable speed. By Ikechukwu Prince

Summary and Recommendation As much as we have seen about Earned media and its core relevance in media let’s note this points: 1. Earned media is that buzz consumers generate about a brand, hence,

brands have to find a way to develop, design and implement campaigns in order to achieve this buzz in a positive way. A failed campaign idea can destroy a brand’s image and generate negative stories, reviews and word of mouth, which invariably means the downfall of the brand

2. Earned media may not be entirely successful in most cases without strategically utilizing paid and owned media. In actuality they work hand in hand to establish a media convergence

3. Great consumer insights are the prerequisites for developing a great advertising campaign

By Ikechukwu Prince

By Ikechukwu Prince