Pitchin' and Sippin' with Lexie Smith

The Gray Zone - Defining The Fourth Pillar of Media Coverage (Minisode)

• Lexie Smith • Season 7 • Episode 130

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 In this podcast episode, Lexie Smith dives into the evolving media landscape, challenging listeners to rethink the traditional media categories of paid, earned, and owned. Lexie introduces the "gray zone" – a hybrid media category that blends paid and earned media elements yet remains distinct from both. Through her insightful LinkedIn article, Lexie argues that this emerging category needs its own definition to reflect better the current media environment, where boundaries between these traditional categories are increasingly blurred. She provides compelling examples, such as awards programs and paid contributor networks, illustrating how this gray zone operates.

Lexie further explores how integrating this new category into media strategies can enhance credibility, visibility, and engagement. She emphasizes recognizing and leveraging these hybrid opportunities to fill gaps in traditional media approaches and drive more effective PR outcomes. Lexie calls on PR professionals and marketers to embrace this shift as the media landscape evolves, suggesting a collaborative effort to define and name this new category. Tune in to hear her call to action and discuss categorizing and utilizing this hybrid media approach.

Here’s What You’ll Learn:

  • Learn about the emerging hybrid media category that blends paid and earned media elements.
  • Understand the conventional media categories of paid, earned, and owned and how they currently shape PR strategies.
  • Discover what separates this new category from traditional media types and why it needs a distinct definition.
  • Explore real-world examples such as awards programs, paid contributor networks, and affiliate programs that fit into this hybrid category.
  • Understand PR professionals' common resistance and confusion when integrating gray zone opportunities.
  • Learn about the advantages of leveraging paid meets earned media, including enhanced credibility, increased visibility, and effective content creation.
  • Find out how to incorporate gray zone opportunities into your overall media strategy for more comprehensive and impactful PR campaigns.
  • Discover best practices for budgeting and preparing for gray zone media opportunities to maximize their effectiveness.
  • Learn how to amplify gray zone media placements across owned media channels like social media, newsletters, and websites.
  • Engage in the conversation about defining and naming this new media category, and contribute your thoughts on what it should be called.


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Lexie Smith  

Today, I'm going to be reading you an article I actually wrote and published on LinkedIn. So if you follow me on LinkedIn, you might already be familiar with this piece. If you don't follow me on LinkedIn, plug go follow me on LinkedIn. You can find me at Lexie Smith, but I'm going to read you this article before I dive in, I want to candidly share that it kind of scared the beep out of me to to write and post this, and I'll tell you why. I was afraid that there would be some unknown gotcha that that I didn't account for. I was afraid that everyone was going to disagree with me,


Lexie Smith  

from academics to my fellow peers. Because what this article is is really a thought piece and a call to action for a entire change or category shift or definition within our industry. This would require updates to textbooks. This would require a change in how we talk about different channels of media. Okay, thankfully, it's been pretty well received, or at least started some conversations, and now I want to bring this same conversation to you in a different format. So buckle in. I'm going to take you through what I call the gray zone. It's time to define the fourth pillar of media coverage.


Lexie Smith  

So most marketing and public relations professionals are comfortable with three major media categories, paid earned and owned. We can say organic to some extent, but paid earned and owned, however, a new hybrid category of media has been on the rise over the last decade, and I'm calling out that it's time to define it officially before addressing the newcomer, let's review the three main media categories that marketing media and PR professionals currently integrate into their strategies. First up, there's paid media, right? So media placements that are paid for. It's a form of advertising that can sometimes appear editorial or is branded as a sponsored post or content based on, you know, based on the outlet,


Lexie Smith  

Category Two, earned media, any coverage that a brand receives from third party sources without paying for it. Typically, it's secured through outbound pitching. It's considered highly valuable because it's free and generally carries significant weight. And number three is owned media. So this is original content created and controlled by a brand, a person, like a blog or, honestly, a social media post or this, this LinkedIn article that I'm literally reading from right now. Okay, now, introducing the gray zone, aka the newbie, aka the hybrid category, I like to describe the new category as paid meets earned, and it's best leverage on owned so stick with me. Okay, these opportunities require an entrance, membership or affiliate fee, but still involve earning placement or recognition, meaning there is no guarantee of success. Now, while I've been integrating this category into PR strategies for years, I still feel it's often met with great resistance and honestly, confusion, and frankly, it's time to give it a name and understand its purpose so we can all move forward. So let me give you some examples of this. You know, air quotes, paid meets earned. Opportunity number one, a common one, is awards. 


Lexie Smith  

If a brand wins or earns said award, it's also not uncommon to be hit with licensing fees to leverage said word logo.


Lexie Smith  

Basically it's a paid sandwich with earned recognition in the middle. Okay, so that's one example.


Lexie Smith  

Another one very much on the rise, in my opinion, are paid contributor programs, programs like Forbes councils and the entrepreneur Leadership Network. These charge membership fees pending that an applicant qualifies and is accepted into a program, members have access to submit self produced editorial content. However, publication is not guaranteed as edicated Let me restate that sentence,


Lexie Smith  

however, publication is not guaranteed, as editors can still reject submissions or alter the content. These memberships also differ from purely paid media opportunities because authors are adhering to editorial guidelines and working with editors taking away total creative control or messaging abilities. Okay, so that's opportunity number two. Number three, affiliate programs. Companies pay to be a part of an affiliate program, popular platform like share sale or a program like Amazon and part with a percentage of generated revenue when their products are featured on roundup score lists that being, let me rephrase that, if someone purchases the product as a result of that Roundup, let's say it's, you know, refinery 29 or, I don't know, CNN does the roundup and there is a product featuring an affiliate link. If someone purchases from that destination, there's going to be a profit share. Okay, that being said, simply having an affiliate program set up for editorial does not guarantee a brand or product will be picked up or featured again. Spots are pitched and earned.


Lexie Smith  

One could argue that if there's any payment, it belongs under the paid media category. However true, paid media differs from this newer pay to be considered model and paid syndication companies pay a professional distribution company or lead generation agency to distribute content, either on their platform or to various publishers, ensuring complete control over every word and message. In contrast, paid meets earned opportunities require a more dynamic and competitive approach. The industry's mindset has been akin to air quote church and state when it comes to paid and earned media, often inhibiting those willing to tap into the benefits of this option in the middle, data and public sentiment tell us that paid media and its benefits are generally second tier to earned media, and in my experience, it's not uncommon for those with old school mentalities to lump this paid meets earned opportunity section right into paid alone, often posing some resistance. However, in a professional world that continues to be in a flux across industries, this apprehension to participate might actually hurt more than help.


Lexie Smith  

So why paid media? Paid meats, earned again like name TBD needs distinction this hybrid category reflects the evolving media landscape where traditional boundaries between paid and earned media are blurring. Mass heads are shrinking. Media companies are exploring new revenue streams, making this hybrid approach both a necessity and honestly an opportunity for this model to be used and evaluated effectively, it needs a name


Lexie Smith  

unscripted podcasts asking for application fees to appear as a guest in outlets requiring companies to be paying members of An affiliate program to get coverage, are all signs that this gray zone of paid meets earned is ramping up, not slowing down. Distinguishing between the two allows agencies and PR professionals to better meet clients expectations and goals,


Lexie Smith  

while earned media remains an important and very valuable part of media strategies, it has also become more challenging to secure and ill advised to build entire strategies around one category of the evolving media landscape. In my opinion, it is up to PR pros to ask.


Lexie Smith  

All right, let's talk about some benefits of this hybrid category, whether you're a publicist or an entrepreneur. Listed up here, because these are the pros, okay, without understanding and leveraging paid meats, earned media, it can be very easy to overlook its significant advantages. Understanding what it does do and what it does not do will determine if the category deserves a place in your strategy. Now, when my firm growth mode pursues paid meets earned media, we do so with the intent to leverage the wins across owned media channels and assets such as social media, newsletters, websites and press bios. We know this will ultimately help our clients establish and drive number one credibility and authority right being featured for reputable awards or in publications, enhances credibility. It just does which can be further leveraged by thought leaders and brands. It also helps establish and drive visibility. Contributor platforms and affiliate programs offer visibility that can be more effective and actually less expensive than a traditional ad. So it can be a win win for all parties when a given placement is further amplified across the own channels of those featured.


Lexie Smith  

It also can establish and drive conversations in a world where we're expected to live on the content creation hamster wheel paid, earned opportunities can be shared as is, or further leveraged to add third party credibility to a topic or conversation. So let's talk about the integration of this category into a PR strategy. When creating your own or a client's PR strategy, we're no longer looking at just earned, paid and owned media. This fourth category can be used to fill in the gaps between pursuing earned and paid media and create more content to be leveraged on owned media channels depending on the brand or client's ultimate goal, it can be wise to budget for these opportunities and approach them with the same diligence as traditional media campaigns.


Lexie Smith  

Prioritize leveraging these wins across owned media channels, share them on social, including email marketing and newsletters, syndicate across owned websites, utilize an organization's thought leaders to drive these opportunities, providing additional content and credibility. Companies need to understand how a given piece of media, like a byline or a podcast, many of which now include fees to be featured, plays into their omni channel marketing strategy as a whole,


Lexie Smith  

without this understanding, without delineating where the gray zones of media are, decision makers lose an edge when it comes to strategy, preparation and execution. It's time. This is my soapbox, guys. Okay, it's time to embrace paid meats, earned media. Prepare for it, budget for it, and integrate it into our media strategies. So my call to action of this episode is, what should we call it?


Lexie Smith  

Go ahead and slide into my DMs on Instagram.


Lexie Smith  

Add me on LinkedIn, comment on that article. I want to hear from you. What should we call this category? Let's name it together. I.


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Lexie Smith

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