Bravo to Social Media Consultant Brian Solis for working with the now-famous infographics makers at JESS3 for at least trying to categorize media, but the Brandsphere will give your eyes a workout!
This is the rationale for the creation of the Brandsphere, in Brian’s own words:
In discussions about new media, you will often hear the division of media opportunities as Paid, Owned, and Earned media (P.O.E.M.). Over the years, I’ve studied the various categorization of media from a few perspectives, that of content creation, how social networks cater to consumption and sharing, and also how media opportunities are packaged and sold by each network. I believe media is not limited to three groups, but instead categorized into five key segments: Paid, Promoted, Owned, Shared, and Earned. To visualize the model that reflects the state of new media, I once again partnered with my good friends at JESS3. The result…The Brandsphere.
While it’s complex social media, what Brian is trying to do is show how a brand starts from the formation of its story, to how it propagates through the digital media, or what he calls “transmedia,” landscape.
While a bit of a mess to look at, at first, once you read Brian Solis’ “legend” it all makes sense. Here’s the legend, from Brian’s blog:
Center (White): At the center of the Brandsphere is the brand story. Everything starts with not just defining what the brand represents, but how it comes alive in social networks. This requires definition through a social media style guide and the development of a complete persona, voice, and promise.
Ring 1 (Red): The brand story is supported by tenets that serve as the connective tissue between the brand story and the technology that creates a path to consumers.
Ring 2: The vertical gray lines (triangles) divide the media types between Paid, Promoted, Owned, Shared, and Earned. Ring 2 provides the various options available to brands within each channel.
Ring 3 (Orange): Each media type is then enlivened through various forms of activation including Engagement, Gamification, SEO, Content Marketing, and SMO.
Ring 4 (Light Green): Media types are then visualized through the various platforms consumers use to discover, consume, and share content aka the Four Screens: PC, TV, Tablet, Mobile.
Ring 5 (Green): Media objects are then pushed and socialized through promotion, syndication, and organic means.
Ring 6 (Dark Green): Objects are further distributed and also measured through 1) Clickthroughs, presence and traffic, 2) Actions, Reactions, and Transactions (A.R.T), 3) Word of Mouth, and 4) Shares.
Ring 7 (Light Blue): Content then finds a permanent home among the groups that value information based on social graphs (personal and professional relationships) and interest graphs (networks based on commonalities and shared interests).
Ring 8 (Dark Blue): Objects are analyzed, activated, and/or repurposed by the various markets intrigued by the branded story.
To read more about The Brandsphere, visit Brian’s blog… and download a copy a copy of the image while you’re there.
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Bill Carroll