Hey Whipple, Squeeze This, 6th Edition

9VIRAL, NAUGHTY, AND RONG^®: GETTING NOTICED, GETTING TALKED ABOUT.

“IN THE FUTURE, ADVERTISING WILL be like sex. Only losers will pay for it.”

Jon Bond, the founder of Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners, made this prediction way back in 2010 and he was right. Today, thanks to the internet, social media, and all the easy-to-use content creation tools found on every device, brands have returned to the oldest form of advertising of all: word-of-mouth (or, to reflect our digital era, “word-of-mouse”). The holy grail of word-of-mouse is having a brand idea “go viral.” Clients dream of having a viral hit because their message can be seen by millions of people and they don't have to spend a dime on paid media.

Paid media is just one of three terms you may hear when industry people discuss how ideas reach customers: paid media, owned media, and—every client's favorite—earned media.

Paid: This is the kind of media Jon Bond predicted that, like sex, “only losers pay for.” It includes buying everything from TV commercials to online display ads. Paid media still plays a role when we want to reach new customers or ensure immediacy and scale. Obviously, it won't go away entirely, but brands are becoming less dependent on it.

Owned: Owned media are channels that belong to the brand: websites, blogs, the company Twitter feed, Instagram, and the so on. Owned media primarily serves existing customers or people who have sought it out. The good things are it's cost-efficient, flexible, and enduring. ...