How media fragmentation and audience behaviour changes have paved the way for multi-platform, integrated communications strategies
The exciting part about PR & Marketing is that it is always changing. The stories we tell, tactics we use, and strategic direction of our campaigns are forever guided by a shifting media landscape, emerging digital media, and changing consumer behaviours. Recently Brittany had the opportunity to share her insights with a group of Year 3 Communications students at Ulster University about how disruption to the media and communications landscapes have paved the way for the rise of integrated communications agencies and strategies.
From as far back as my undergraduate days I have had an interest in emerging media and media convergence (add Henry Jenkin’s Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide to your Christmas reading list). So, when I was approached by Conor McGrath, Lecturer in Public Relations at Ulster University, about speaking with some of his students, I jumped at the chance to share my viewpoint. In an industry marked by change, the opportunities to think outside the box are endless. But in the midst of a recession and economic uncertainty, clients continue to look for maximum return on their PR investments. How do we ensure we are making the most of these myriad possibilities whilst honouring conservative budgets? Enter multi-platform storytelling.
Media fragmentation and disruption
Media fragmentation really took off during the recession of the mid-noughties, which saw major closures and consolidation in television, radio, and print media outlets around the world. The decline in the number of media outlets and publications was compounded by reduced staff within those that survived, meaning fewer opportunities for eager PR practitioners to get a client’s press release landed.
Add in recent trends like the emergence of subscription-based television services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, niche YouTube-based news channels and content creators, streaming music services like Spotify, an overall decreasing public trust in traditional media, and the number of opportunities continues to shrink when it comes to placing client stories within traditional media. Gone are the days of ‘winging out’ a mass press release and waiting for the coverage to roll in.
This doesn’t necessarily make it impossible to get your big news published within the page of a national daily newspaper, but it does mean that you should ensure your PR team has a detailed knowledge of the media landscape, abundant press contacts and pitching abilities, and is able to develop a story that cuts through the ‘noise’ of your favourite editor or journalist’s inbox.
Whilst it may have become more challenging to tell your brand’s story through earned coverage in traditional media channels, new media has continued to boom, with a steady flow of trendy newcomers and the establishment of online powerhouses including web-based news sites, a growing assortment of social media platforms, and a constant rotation of influencers keen to share your news, products, or campaigns with their followers.
Audience behaviour changes
As the on and offline opportunities to land a client placement continue to change and evolve, the behaviours of consumers and clients’ public audiences also continue to shift. Trends like content grazing (where a media consumer uses two or more screens to access separate types of content at the same time), investigative spider webbing (consuming two pieces of related content on two or more devices at the same time), social spider webbing (making content consumption a social activity, for example joining in a trending hashtag for your favourite TV show), quantum content consumption (using screens to complete tasks in a goal-oriented fashion), and device stacking (consuming content across multiple platforms at once) have all resulted in a chaotic climate for content consumption with the consumer’s attention being spread across multiple devices at once.
What do these changing ways of consuming content mean for brands trying to get their stories, products, and messages in front of their target audiences? Overall, audience attention is more divided, but there are also more opportunities to reach your audience with various forms of engaging content – as long as it connects to the audience through the appropriate, relevant platform.
Why multi-platform storytelling is the way forward
Keeping in mind those stretched budgets, reduced traditional coverage opportunities, and increasing ‘new media’ expansion, it is more important than ever that brand stories are told in a 360-degree manner, utilising all of the platforms available to a brand, company or organisation to the greatest extent.
At Impact PESO model of communication guides our approach to multi-platform storytelling. PESO funnels content opportunities into four key categories: Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned. The content we create for our clients including written articles and press releases, videos, photography and designed assets is carefully crafted, adapted and implemented across as many of these channels as possible to ensure our client gets the most for their investment.
For example, an engaging television commercial which tells a story about a brand’s rich heritage in its market can be pushed out through broadcast and VOD placements and adapted into shorter edits to be shared across the brand’s owned channels including social media, website, and subscriber e-zines. This repetition of brand messages and content style resonates more heavily with consumers when it is encountered on multiple platforms in a way that is tailored for the platform.
The paid and owned content could then be supported by a news-worthy angle for the brand which draws on its heritage by highlighting a recent investment, expansion, or development. A newsworthy press release, interview and feature opportunities could be pitched to key media with interest in the client’s sector or industry for earned coverage, with key messages used to inform additional social media and web-based content, with adapted content leveraged for shared channels including those of project stakeholders, partners, industry peers and industry peers as well as tapping into supportive online influencers to share the story to their established audiences.
This brief example of a client story and the wide range of potential opportunities for usage presented by a broad on and offline media landscape and full usage of the PESO model is just one example of how an integrated communications team skilled at multi-platform storytelling can ensure a brand’s story not only reaches but also resonates with the largest audience possible. Whilst we work in challenging times highlighted by constant change and continued awareness of stretched PR & marketing budgets, utilising all the channels available to you is the best way to get the most bang for your Communications buck.