Paid, owned and search media is essential to every company with a digital component in their brand. To illustrate this idea and its effectiveness, I will focus on the fashion industry since New York Fashion Week, one of the biggest fashion events of the year, just came to a close. Essentially, within this context, the paid portion in high end fashion are the models, advertisements via print or video, and also PR aspects. Owned would be the website or blog, actual stores, and runway shows. Finally, earned is where the fashion industry has seen a significant change. Social media, specifically bloggers, have revolutionized how people view events such as New York Fashion Week. Through the power of influential bloggers and social media channels, earned media is on the rise in fashion.

Here are some examples:

HootSuite offers a ‘Social Media Guide’ to New York Fashion Week 2014 on their blog that addresses critical hashtags, who to follow, and which channels to look at: http://blog.hootsuite.com/nyfw-spring-2014/

Statistics of social media results in fashion from last year: http://mashable.com/2013/02/15/fashion-social-media/

Instead of having buyers and fashion experts report on the shows, bloggers can now connect with the audience through their own channels. This is successful because of the trust and influence bloggers have on readers as Melissa Tsang reported from an assigned reading (http://blog.referralcandy.com/2014/07/22/successful-brands-know-blogger-outreach-6-case-studies/).

For example, peaceloveshea, a blogger I follow, gives me access to Fashion Week from her perspective.

With this rising movement, all parties benefit. Brands gain more exposure through different outlets and from different perspectives. Bloggers get to experience the shows and also get to connect their brand with huge fashion houses. Finally, the audience gets a genuine insight into the world of fashion through someone they can relate to.