MKTG3506 · Digital Marketing & Social Media
MarCom and the PESO Model
Marketing communications (MarCom) is how a brand speaks to its audience, and integrated marketing communications (IMC) is the principle that it should speak with one coordinated, consistent message across every channel. The organising framework is the PESO model: every channel is Paid, Earned, Shared or Owned media — ads you buy, coverage you earn, social you share, and assets you control (your site, your email list). The chapter maps a brand across all four media types, covers the digital comms tools (email, display, video) under PESO, and the two 'ladders' that link the media types. A 'paid/owned/earned' prompt is asking for PESO by name.
What this chapter covers
- 017.1 IMC — one coordinated, consistent message
- 027.2 The PESO model and the two ladders
- 037.3 A brand mapped across all four PESO media types
- 047.4 The digital comms tools (email, display, video), mapped to PESO
Mapping a brand across PESO — the comms framework
- +1Name the model. PESO classifies every channel as Paid, Earned, Shared or Owned media — the IMC organising frame.
- +1Paid: search and social ads, plus influencer partnerships — bought reach to kick-start awareness.
- +1Earned: press coverage, app-store features and organic reviews — credibility you can't buy directly.
- +1Shared: user posts, challenges and community content on social — reach amplified by the audience.
- +1Owned: the app, website, blog and email list — the assets the brand controls, where the others convert. Conclude that IMC keeps one consistent message across all four.
Key terms
- PESO model
- A framework classifying all marketing channels as Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned media. It forces an integrated communications plan that uses bought, earned, social and controlled channels together rather than in isolation.
- IMC (integrated marketing communications)
- The principle that all of a brand's communications — across every channel — should be coordinated to deliver one clear, consistent message. PESO is the model used to organise the channels that IMC unifies.
- Owned media
- The channels a brand controls outright — its website, app, blog and email list. Owned media is where paid, earned and shared traffic is converted and where the brand's message is fully under its control.
- Earned media
- Exposure a brand earns rather than pays for — press coverage, reviews, word of mouth, organic mentions. It carries high credibility precisely because it isn't bought.
- Shared media
- Social and community channels where content is spread by the audience — user posts, shares, challenges. It amplifies reach through the audience rather than through paid placement.
MarCom and the PESO Model FAQ
What does PESO stand for?
Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned media — the four channel types in the PESO model. A prompt mentioning 'paid, owned and earned' (or asking how to integrate channels) is asking for PESO by name.
What is the difference between IMC and PESO?
IMC is the principle — communicate one consistent message everywhere. PESO is the model — the four media buckets you organise channels into to achieve that integration. You use PESO to deliver IMC.
Why is owned media so important in PESO?
Because it's the only media a brand fully controls, and it's where paid, earned and shared traffic ultimately converts. A site and an email list keep the message and the customer relationship in the brand's hands.
Exam move
Make PESO automatic: be able to name the four media types and slot concrete channels into each for an unseen brand. Pair it with the IMC principle — examiners reward an answer that not only maps the channels but explains how one consistent message ties them together. Remember owned media is the conversion hub the other three feed.
