James Chen | Marketing Notes

Today, I would like to introduce two different propagation logics: push and pull. Push is more like a brand actively pushing information to consumers, such as display ads, pre-roll, paid social, SMS or search ads. This method is usually more suitable for quickly building awareness, because it can cover the audience on a large scale, especially when new brands want to be exposed in the short term. But it is often interrupted, and it is information that consumers do not actively invite, so it is also easier to be ignored. In contrast, the logic of pull makes me feel closer to the real behaviour of today’s consumers. Pull is not the brand to force the content to the users, but to let consumers take the initiative to approach the brand through content updates and other means. For example, a person takes the initiative to search for product evaluation and learn about a brand because of a friend’s recommendation, which all belong to the category of pull. Compared with push, the spread of pull is usually more natural and easier to establish engagement. It is not simply to buy attention, but to attract users through value and relevance. This made me realise that digital marketing is not simply to choose between push and pull, but brands should learn to combine the two. In many cases, push helps the brand open the door, while pull decides whether these people are willing to come in and continue to know you. Mature brand communication should spend money on exposure while making users willing to take the initiative to approach.

In the second part, I would like to introduce the Paid, Owned, Earned Media framework. The core role of Paid media is to expand the reach and bring the brand to more people through payment. Whether it is SEM, display, influencer cooperation, or CTV/OTT, it is essentially a touch payment. Owned media is the assets that brands really own and control, such as official websites, social accounts, apps, emails, content platforms, etc. The value of these channels is the position where brands can operate for a long time and continue to precipitate value. As for Earned media, I think it’s the most convincing part. It comes from other people’s responses to the brand, such as reviews, UGC, recommendations and social interaction. The brand itself says that it is good and the consumers speak out for the brand, which brings a completely different sense of trust. Combining the three is a brand’s truly effective digital strategy. First, let more people see it through paid, then catch the traffic through owned, and finally let others help you expand your influence through earned. This system is more like a complete chain from touch to undertaking to trust diffusion. I have seen many brands rely too much on paid, but do not really create content and experience worth earning. In this way, even if the traffic is bought, it is difficult to form long-term value.

Next, I would like to share the advantages of digital amrketing compared with offline. First of all, I think one of the most obvious advantages of digital marketing is that it has stronger targeting. Traditional offline advertising can often only cover a large area, but it is difficult for brands to know whether the people who see the advertisement are the audience they really want to reach. In contrast, digital marketing can be more accurate targeting based on interests, behaviours and other data. This is an important point for me. It shows that digital marketing does not emphasise giving content to the right people at the right time. This kind of accuracy is difficult for traditional marketing. Another thing that I think is particularly important is measurability and optimisation. In traditional marketing, we can often only roughly guess whether advertising is effective, but almost every step of digital marketing can be tracked. From exposure, click to stay and conversion, there are relatively clear data for reference. This measurableness makes me think that digital marketing is more like a process that can be constantly learned and corrected. In particular, the practice of A/B testing can reflect the characteristics of digital marketing. The same advertisement, different titles and pictures may bring completely different results. In addition, digital marketing also has advantages in terms of reach and scalability, because a piece of content or a group of advertisements can spread quickly in a short time, and even expand across regions and countries. Its speed to market is also very strong. Brands can launch content faster, reach consumers faster, and shorten customer journey more easily.

The biggest reflection for me in this chapter is that the core of digital marketing is not technology, but understanding that consumer behaviour has changed. Today, consumers are not only passive people who accept information. They will actively search and compare, and will also give instant feedback to the brand. For the brand, this means that marketing can no longer stop at what I want to say, but should turn to why consumers are willing to trust you.

James Chen

03/10/2026