Introduction:
Public relations practitioners have – for decades – relied on the PESO model of paid, earned, shared, and owned media (Burcher, 2012)[1]. However, we argue that the PESO model is outdated and oversimplified in a digital environment, which has become increasingly polluted by unverified information and overwhelmed by new types of stakeholders wielding communication influence, both positive and negative.
This blog introduces the Digital Media-Arena (DMA) Framework, which maps out 14 digital spaces that cover scenarios of very little control to a whole lot of control over an organization’s communication. This framework focuses on the forms of engagement taking place in the digital realm and explains the range of digital communication related to the production and (re)appropriation and (re)distribution of organizational messages.
In practice, DMAs broaden our understanding of those organizational messages gone rogue in the digital realm, such as when activists hijack a campaign, turning a carefully crafted message into a reputation-destroying meme. As a tool for strategic public relations planning, the DMA Framework presents communication professionals with a comprehensive overview of today’s dynamic spectrum of digital communication spaces and emerging practices, some of which are dangerous territory for organizations and yet are a democratizing force for stakeholders exercising their voice.
Methodology:
Developed in stages since 2022 (Badham et al., 2022, 2024), and based on a review of literature on digital communication conducted for the Handbook of Digital Corporate Communication (Luoma-aho & Badham, 2023), Digital Media-Arenas have continuously been adapted as new forms of DMAs emerged. Altogether, 14 different types of DMAs have been mapped, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the latest addition (Niittymaa & Luoma-aho, 2024).
Findings:
Figure 1 below illustrates the DMA Framework. All 14 DMAs are spread out in a 4-part matrix according to public relations control/non-control over 1) the digital spaces utilized by organizations and/or stakeholders and 2) the organization’s message.
- Owned DMA refers to online digital spaces the organization owns, where content is very much under organizational control. A typical example is the corporate website.
- Paid DMA refers to online visibility through advertising the organization has purchased temporarily, with a typical example being in-feed advertising on YouTube.
- Placed DMA refers to organizational products being placed in external digital spaces, such as a brand being visible in an online game.
- Sponsored DMA refers to organizational sponsorship and support of an individual, group or charity, where the organizational brand or product is visible on for example sports team jerseys or a festival stage.
- Advocated DMA refers to stakeholder advocacy of the organization, where typical examples include employees posting about their work day on social media or whistleblowing organizational wrongdoing.
- Curated DMA refers to published lists and reports where the organization is mentioned in comparison to competitors, such as ‘best place to work’ and most trustworthy company rankings or analyst reports.
- Rented DMA refers to organizations engaging social media influencers or celebrities whose audiences the organization wants to reach: for example, a TikTok influencer under contract posting about an organization’s product.
- Earned DMA refers to journalistic media content undergoing an editorial process, cultivated through an organization’s media relations function, resulting in for example broadcast news stories featuring the organization.
- Shared DMA refers to what stakeholders share on social media platforms, where for example customers rate their experiences with the organization or its services on Instagram.
- Crowdsourced DMA refers to online spaces where multiple stakeholders contribute, moderate, and edit content, such as entries in Wikipedia and customer reviews on Trustpilot.
- Searched DMA refers to digital search tools and services like the Google search engine, which organizations can utilize to make themselves more discoverable according to search engine algorithms.
- Recycled DMA refers to spaces where stakeholders co-produce and distort organizational messages beyond their original purpose, often with the purpose of parody or entertainment, such as memes.
- AI DMA refers to Artificial intelligence tools and services which produce texts, sounds, videos, and images about the organization in dialogue with the user and based on the data available to it, such as ChatGPT or Copilot. This can be in-house operating on a closed dataset inside the intranet, or open generative AI feeding off data from the whole internet.
- Hijacked DMA refers to hostile takeovers of organizational content, fake content and brandjacks where stakeholders re-appropriate the organizational message. Examples include ransomware attacks and deepfaked content of organizational representatives.
Take action:
The DMA Framework shows how public relations can cover a multitude of different types of digital spaces beyond the four in the PESO model. This helps practitioners visualize the full range of stakeholder engagement in organizational life, ranging from positive to negative, which collectively contributes to corporate reputation.
[1] The PESO model is widely credited to US digital communication consultant and author Gini Dietrich
Vilma Luoma-aho is Professor of Corporate Communication and Vice Dean at Jyväskylä University School of Business & Economics. Past Chair of ProCom (Communication professionals Finland), she serves on the board of trustees at Page Society. Her latest Handbook on Digital Corporate Communication comes with author podcasts.
Mark Badham is Senior Lecturer in Public Relations at Leeds Beckett University (UK). His research addresses public relations solutions to complex communication challenges presented in digital and social media environments. He is co-host of the podcast ‘Digital Corporate Communication – Dialogues with Scholars’ and co-editor of the Handbook on Digital Corporate Communication.
SOURCES:
Badham, M., Luoma-aho, V., Valentini, C., & Lumimaa, L. (2022). Digital strategic communication through digital media-arenas. In J. Falkheimer, & M. Heide (Eds.), Research Handbook on Strategic Communication (pp. 416-430). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800379893.00035
Badham, M., Luoma-aho, V., & Valentini, C. (2024). A revised digital media–arena framework guiding strategic communication in digital environments. Journal of Communication Management. 28(2), 226-246. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-03-2023-003
Badham, M., & Luoma-aho, V. (2023) (Eds). The Handbook on Digital Corporate Communication. Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802201963.00009
Luoma-aho, V., & Badham, M. (Eds.). (2023). Handbook on Digital Corporate Communication. Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802201963
Niittymaa, J., & Luoma-aho, V. (2024). Tekoälykäs viestintä (Ai Intelligent Communication). In J. Niittymaa, & V. Luoma-aho (Eds.), Tekoälykäs viestintä (pp. 11-37). ProCom – Viestinnän ammattilaiset ry. ProComma Academic, 2024. https://doi.org/10.31885/9789526523996
