Game of Comms: using Game of Thrones to understand earned media

Dr Mumbo loves it when people use popular culture to break apart industry lingo – so was delighted when Klick Communications’ boss Kim McKay explained the difference between paid, owned, shared and earned media using an analogy from Game of Thrones.

“Let’s look at comms the same way we look at the families of Game of Thrones,” said McKay.

“Game of Thrones can teach you a lot about the communications landscape and how earned, owned, shared, paid media all have a role to play in helping a brand’s influencer. Did you know how many parallels the show draws with media? They are both complex, fast moving, confusing and powerful.

“Sometimes the similarities are really obvious. In a Game of Thrones episode we’re looking at about 14 deaths, the same happens in the media each week as well,” she quipped with a slide referencing redundancies across the media landscape.