"For years, brands tried to split the difference by hiring a PR agency for visibility, an affiliate manager for commerce coverage and affiliate partnerships, and a media buyer for paid social scale. Seven years ago, I, in fact, was one of them as the former VP of Marketing and Founding Team at Ritual. On paper, it made sense. In practice, I found it created silos, competing agendas, and a lack of shared accountability and synergy across agencies and partners."
"PR teams fought for glossy earned placements that drove awareness, but had no understanding of how to interpret the performance data that was now available through affiliate marketing. Affiliate was treated as a "last-click" discount lever instead of a strategic storytelling channel. Paid ads delivered reach, but eroded credibility the more aggressively they followed you around online and touted huge discounts (a never-ending race to the bottom)."
"The customer journey has never been more fragmented. Discovery happens everywhere: a podcast shoutout, a Reddit thread, a TikTok Shop haul, a Substack product review, or even an AI-powered search result. In this reality, trust is the only real currency. Consumers don't care whether a placement was earned, affiliate-driven, or paid; they care if it feels credible, consistent, and relevant to them."
Customer discovery now occurs across podcasts, Reddit threads, TikTok Shop hauls, Substack reviews, and AI-powered search results, creating a highly fragmented journey. Traditional splits among PR, affiliate management, and paid media create silos, competing agendas, and limited shared accountability. PR pursued glossy earned placements without interpreting affiliate performance data. Affiliate channels were often treated as a last-click discount lever rather than strategic storytelling. Paid ads delivered reach but frequently eroded credibility by aggressively retargeting and touting deep discounts. Brands should prioritize transparent incentive disclosure, invest in quality storytelling that builds long-term trust, and align messaging across channels to maintain credibility.
Read at Inc
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