{"id":916,"date":"2019-05-29T08:31:58","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T15:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gordonbenzie.com\/blog\/?p=916"},"modified":"2023-06-24T12:35:08","modified_gmt":"2023-06-24T19:35:08","slug":"how-pr-has-changed-the-advertising-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gordonbenzie.com\/blog\/how-pr-has-changed-the-advertising-model\/","title":{"rendered":"How PR has Changed the Advertising Model"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If the worlds of PR and marketing are set to further converge over the next five years, we should start to see evidence that this shift has begun (see related article). The viral sensation surrounding the recent Game of Thrones Starbucks coffee cup<\/a> incident is a great data point that validates this transformation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What struck me was what an amazing PR and awareness opportunity this became from a blurred, barely visible image shown for a split second on a television show. The way brands get promoted and recognized today certainly has changed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

For those of you who are not Game of Thrones fans, or are not familiar with what I am referencing, a still shot taken during a meal scene in a recent episode revealed what appeared to be a coffee cup sitting on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The infamous Starbucks cup that made a cameo on the Game of Thrones. The image was brightened to show it more clearly <\/strong>(source<\/a>).<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This prop was clearly out of place for a scene that was\nintended to portray a dinner party in the middle ages. Personally, I can\u2019t\nbelieve the image was even seen. Even though I knew it was coming up, I\nrepeatedly tried to find it and I couldn\u2019t! Note the above image was lightened\nto reveal the cup. Nonetheless, someone did, which started the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What followed was an amazing publicity campaign for\nStarbucks. If you do a Google search on this topic, you will see 145,000\nresults in the \u201cnews\u201d category. These are just the placements Google defines as\na \u201cnews source.\u201d Examples include USA Today, The UK Telegraph, CNBC, Mashable, and\nCBS News, just to name a few. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redefining Audience Sizing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From a media buying perspective, the traditional advertising\nmodel suggests the rate you pay is directly tied to the \u201ceyeballs\u201d or audience\nthat could see your message. This metric used to be easy to capture, either\nbased on verified subscriber counts or unique website visitors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a media buyer that wants to speak to this audience, you\nhave several options. Three examples are to place an ad, sponsor content (e.g. advertorial),\nor submit a thought leadership article that gets published. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extent of how large an audience size was exposed to your\nmessage has traditionally been calculated by a simple formula:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reach is the size of the subscriber base, unique visitors, or media viewers. Frequency is the number of times the ad or placement is shown. Each of these metrics can be calculated with reasonable precision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Game of Thrones cup incident turned that formula on its head. First, as far as my eyes can tell, not only was the cup barely visible in a dimly lit scene, there wasn\u2019t a visible Starbucks logo. Based on the shape of a generic coffee cup, everyone assumed it was from Starbucks. The reality is that it could have come from Peet\u2019s or any other gourmet coffee roaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, just like the famous Apple commercial that first appeared in 1984 during a Superbowl commercial, it was shown just ONCE. The frequency came from others talking about and sharing the story, which then drove awareness and increased to total audience size. Today, with the power of social media and the internet, this factor has changed everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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