Earned Media: A Seat at the Table Podcast and Transcript

Full Podcast Transcript:

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Greetings, and welcome to another special edition of Marketing Insights. I'm your host, Shanita Baraka Akintonde, professor, author, career coach and marketing shero. And as you all know if you've been a steady listener to the podcast, I also have a new book. It is called The Front Porch Leader: Great-Grand's Recipe for Success and it is available where you buy your books. Well, only on Amazon right now. So on Amazon, Amazon, Amazon. Pick up your copy today. 

Well, let me tell you, marketing maestros, new listeners, those who may have just stumbled upon this podcast, I am pink grapefruit jazzed to have our special guest today who is going to talk to us about one of the tenets that I talk about a lot and have sprinkled into this podcast, but want to be more intentional about in 2026 and that's earned media. And so I am going to introduce you to Demarquis McIntyre. Demarquis and I go a long way back, but most importantly his current position as an earned media specialist at Capital One. He's going to tell you exactly what he does, his exact job title because it's so long, y'all, I didn't want to get it wrong. I'll let him do that. And then I'm going to have him share some insights about what it is he's learned in his role specifically at Capital One, some other things that he may just have observed from an industry trends perspective overall. And we're going to combine all of that and give that as a gift to you today. 

So good afternoon, good evening, good morning, no matter where you listen to this podcast, Demarquis. Hi there. 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Thank you. Thank you for having me, Shanita. It's a pleasure to be on the podcast. I feel like I'm not worthy. You are just such a dynamic woman in the industry. I wouldn't be part of this industry without you and you know this. But yeah, I'm excited to be on, share a little bit about myself, go through these different topics and just have a great discussion. So I'm excited. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Wonderful. Excited to have you. So we'll jump right into the questions. And as we do, I'd like you to sprinkle in a little bit about yourself. Actually, why don't we start with that, Demarquis? You're so modest, but why don't you tell the listeners what your exact title is at Capital One, what you do in a broad sense? And then as we go through, if you want to drill down to day-to-day, which I know every day is different, but maybe pick a day. But let's start with a little bit about you, your background and your title at Capital One. 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yeah, sounds good. I've been doing PR, external communications, whatever you want to really call it, I've been doing that for about 10 years. So I got my start at a PR agency called EKC News, I was there for about four years. I did another four years at Grubhub and I have been with Capital One now for about three years now. It's been a really good ride, I am the PR and earned media strategist. I know when you think about Capital One, you think about credit cards and banking, and whatnot. But I actually do PR and earned media for their newly acquired network, so that is Discover Network. 

So a lot of my time, the beginning of the year where we are now is based on strategy and figuring out what we're going to do, how we're going to get in front of our target audiences, how are we going to support the business that has been built. And then also, working day-to-day with our PR agency to really bring those tactics, those everyday tactics to fruition. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Wonderful. That's a mouthful. And I must tell you, I am a fan of Capital One because back in my younger career days and really post-college, it was one of the first credit cards that I got, and I loved that brand and have been loyal to them since that time. So good job working for Capital One. Thanks, Capital One. 

Okay, so here's my first question for you, Demarquis. You work in payment and financial services and in that industry, this idea of trust isn't just a nice to have. It's an essential, it's a mandatory thing I would think. So what does trust mean in your day-to-day communication work? And does that reality shape how you approach your PR strategically, or your PR strategy?

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yeah. I think when it comes to trust, I look at it as a two-prong perspective. I look at internal trust and I look at external trust. And internal trust is more so in my day-to-day work with my colleagues. I think about the trust that they have in me as I'm the communication expert for a lot of these tactics, these campaigns, these things that we're coming up with. But also, the trust that I have in my colleagues. And that looks a lot different based on colleagues and their job function, and whatnot. But I think the internal trust bleeds into the external trust of getting to your key audiences. And that looks a lot different, based on where you're at and what your are doing. 

But in my role, I have to work with a lot of different team members. I have to work with different team members within marketing, some within legal, some within compliance, some within ... The list just goes on, and on and on. I don't want to bore you. But knowing what we can and cannot do, how people operate, how quickly things can or cannot get done, that is definitely part of the PR strategy that is developed. When we're thinking of these ideas at the top of the year, these different tactics and things of that nature, how big can we go? Do we need to scale back? Thinking about leadership and the goals that they have. How do we drill up to those goals? So I think the internal aspect and having trust in your leadership and your colleagues, and whatnot, that does bleed to the external side and how that end all PR strategy then comes to fruition really. 

And so, yeah, in the world of finance, and money and movement, everything is very black-and-white. You don't want to leave a lot of gray areas. Or I would say any company really in the financial space, you want to be very clear with your messaging and your want your messaging to be truthful because the things that you are talking about, the things that you are affecting, when you actually drill all the way down, you are potentially affecting someone's life. You have the B2C side, so you have people that are consuming this information that they may be making a decision. Do they want to open this card or this bank account, or whatnot? You also have the business-to-business side. Does this business owner want to work with your institution? 

And so, yeah, really making sure that what you're doing is one accurate, one is truthful, and then also maybe not that fun stuff, but the regulatory, compliance thresholds that must be met as well is very, very important. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Oh, very thorough and thoughtful response. I should pause here and say to the listeners that you are one of the first guests that I've had on the podcast to specifically talk about earned media and/or public relations in general. And I want to add that to this conversation because the approach that I've taken since starting this podcast eight years ago, Demarquis, is an integrated approach and that is because marketing, advertising, public relations, the lines are blurred, especially so these days in many ways. And that's not to state that they don't have their distinct silos, if you will, as needed, but there are also some ways in which they can come together. 

Which you articulated just now in a different way, the coming together of you and your colleagues and your team and how that works well for you in terms of how you work both in front of and behind the scenes. So I appreciate you pointing that out and it sounds like you've got some good folks that you're working with. 

Let me ask you, before we continue, if you don't mind. Can you just define what earned media is? Because we're tossing this term out and some folks listening may not know. So in your own words, just a 60-second soundbite, what is earned media? 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yeah. Earned media, with emphasis on the earned part, is something that you really have to work hard for to garner. There are a lot of reporters, there's a lot of journalists and they're putting out a lot of different content, a lot of different stories, things of that nature. And to show up in those stories, and especially to show up positively, you have to work with them. You have to have a relationship with them, you have to have a story that's worth writing and things of that nature. And when you really earn that trust, when you earn that reliability, when you earn that you're just a good person that has good things for that reporter, over time it could be you sent one email or it could be something that you work on for months. But when you really earn that connection and you also accompany that with a story worth telling, you get a earned media story. 

So that could look like something in Wall Street Journal or Food and Wine, or anything like that. That's just the distinction between an earned media or something that is paid sponsored. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Yes. And I used to use that example in my classes. I'd say because I'm an integrated marketer, and have done and worked in marketing, advertising and public relations, as was just stated, that in advertising, it's guaranteed, your time slot, the position of your ad. So for example, if someone just ran an ad on this last Super Bowl, you knew exactly when it was going to appear, whether it was before the half-time show for example, or after Bad Bunny performed, or whatever the case may be. Versus what you're referring to, which is based on your product in many ways, but you have to put it in a way that the reporter or the person on the other end receives it, thinks the audience really wants to read about it or hear about it. And so in that way, the work is different. 

Speaking of this, can you tell us, when you think about earned media in your spaces that you're encountering, Demarquis, is it something that draws the line or how do you draw the line between visibility and credibility? Are those mutually exclusive? Can you focus on visibility and have credibility fall by the wayside, or vice versa when you are really intentionally looking at the credibility of the things that you're putting out? Does visibility have to suffer? What does that dynamic look like? 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yeah. I think there is overlap with the two, but I think they are very different. When you think about visibility, there are terms that go with it. You could think of reach, scale. In the earned media, media relations world, there's a term called UVM or unique monthly visitors for a publication. And to me, visibility is easier to gauge. There are metrics that are how many saw this article. We think of visibility as well in the world of advertising. Super Bowl just ended, so those 30-second spots, they're getting all these viewers. 

So when I think of visibility, it's how many people are seeing your message. But in the world of credibility, it's a bit different. If we put out a message that says, "This is the nicest car in the US." And let's say I see it and you see it. Just because we saw that message doesn't mean we go to our friends and family and say, "Did you know so-and-so brand is the best car in the US?" Not necessarily, you may not drive that car, I may not drive that car. We have our own cars. We think this car brand is the best and this car brand is the best. And we go word of mouth to our friends and family and we tell them this. Or we might go on social media and we say this as well. 

But to me, credibility is more so found in conversation I would say. There's a lot of conversation going on in social media, word of mouth, just everybody wants to be heard in this day and age. And it's something that's harder to gauge. There are some metrics that you can use, like tone for instance. Was that a positive conversation, was it a neutral, or was it a negative conversation? But it is really one of those things and my opinion is how are people talking to you, what are they focusing on, things of that nature. And you either have that positive credibility, you are a source, you are something that people come to when they want to find out more and hopefully that credible funnel, if you are a business, it ends up going to some sort of sale or something like that. 

But I think they are very much two separate things. If you could find the way to be visible and be credible at the same time, I think that's the home run. That's the ultimate goal there. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

That's the sweet spot. 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yes, exactly. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

That is the sweet spot. I'm studying for something called the APR, I don't know if you're familiar with that, Demarquis. But it's the highest honor you can get in public relations practice. It's like the gold medal of our field. And it's a whole bunch of steps you have to take, I won't bore you with that now, but we should talk offline because it may be something you want to pursue. 

But in either case, one of the topics that came up in my study guide was similar to this, what you just explained. That credibility and visibility, while they can be different in some ways, but the ideal is to have both. And I think another way of saying it is that you can have something that's highly visible, and I think this is what you're saying, and lots of people are seeing it, they may even be talking about it, but it doesn't necessarily immediately align with credibility necessarily. Whereas the reverse can be true, something can be highly credible and it doesn't necessarily mean that everyone knows about it or it's highly visible, and that can be the case. So in the world of public relations, you want that sweet spot where the credibility is there, the visibility is there and they are synced together, which is great. Like you. 

Okay. So I'm going to delve into a little different angle here. We're going to talk about one of my favorite subjects, which is storytelling. I believe in it, I am a storyteller, you working in public relations. We're all storytellers. And we can be storytellers whether we work in marketing, advertising or public relations, it just lands differently. But with your case, I want to ask about storytelling as it relates to crises and crises communication. 

So can you ... And I don't know if you can marry these two and if you have to separate them, Demarquis, it's okay. But my question is related to as a storyteller, you're putting your message out and something can happen quickly, a crises can emerge and within mere seconds in some cases, the trust of the audience is eroded quickly. Do you have any tips or suggestions, or maybe you even had a client or a product that you've worked on, not at Capital One because y'all never have crises at Capital One?

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yeah. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

No, never. But something in which you can tell us what can be done to retract or eradicate that erosion of trust via stories. Is there anything you can think of to share in relation to that? 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yeah. I think crisis readiness is probably one of the, it really is the most important aspect of any effort that you have as far as PR, external communication because we do so much great work and if you don't think of things from a 360 perspective, that great work can go by the wayside. It can be overshadowed. 

So I've been in some rooms and had to handle crises and it's not a fun thing. I can say that, as a tip, having the most people involved is probably the best thing you can do. And not just people involved that they can see what's going on, but in a way to pressure test. So if you're working for a company or wherever you are, if you can bring in your team first and foremost just to take a look and ask questions, poke holes in things. But also, looping in leadership, legal and any other relative teams, any teams that might be dealing with clients, and so on. Just because everyone's going to have a unique perspective. You see this as your baby, this is foolproof, no issues. Someone from legal may say, "This, this and this, we're actually breaking these laws. We have to retract this, we need to word this differently," and so on and so forth. 

So I think it's best to bring as many people to the table, show them your campaign maybe when it's already done and just pressure test as much as possible. And to add onto that as well, I'd also like to really highlight, really the importance of having a diverse group. I hit on diversity there, but that is more so on the corporate. So having people from different demographics look at your work, too. I think that's really important because again, someone who grew up in Arkansas and is a 35-year-old male might see things different from someone who grew up outside of the country, or something along those lines. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Oh, we could do a whole podcast on that, Demarquis. You know that is my wheelhouse and you are absolutely correct. That staves off a lot of problems later-

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yes.

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

... for many reasons. 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yeah. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

And I think you alluded to this as well, that being preemptive or proactive. So you may recall, and we can just tell the audience now, I'm your former professor, you were a student of mine many moons ago in class. And I don't know if this was something you recall, but I used to tell students that having that plan A, plan B, plan C, plan D before you even start anything is essential so that when the stuff hits the fan, you at least are not going into panic mode. You can at least start to unpack those different emergency kits, if you will, that you've had, whether it's metaphorical or seriously. But no, I meant seriously have an emergency kit because break glass in case of. So good. 

So let me say this, listeners. What Demarquis just said to you all about how you handle crises and how you do it from diversity of thought, diversity of folks in the back, all of that. Go back also and listen to some previous podcasts from Marketing Insights. I've talked about crises communication twice, so there's part one, part two. Go back and take a listen. 

And speaking of listening, I did not tell you all the name of this podcast, which is Earned Media: A Seat at the Table. We're talking about earned media, we're talking about it under the lens of public relations. And as I keep reiterating, it's like a map. Marketing, advertising, public relations is your map these days, especially if you are going into the field, whatever lane you decide you go into or if you work at some of these corporations, you may find yourself also being an integrated marketer. 

But back to this in earned media. Demarquis, you're at a table. There's an advertising professional, there's a marketing professional, there's you there as the earned media specialist. What would you say to your two colleagues? And there are others that I could toss in there, guys, I know it's not limited, but I'm just for sake of simplicity, the rule of three. I'm going to leave it to those three. So marketing, advertising, public relations, i.e. earned media. What are you going to say, Demarquis, to your colleagues as far as what is is you bring to the table so to speak with them? As far as partnering with them, working with them. What do they need to turn to you for that they essentially are going to need to do their job? 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yeah. I think about my last role and that's when I worked at Grubhub. Me and my team, a very small team, we were like an extension of the marketing team. The marketing team, they had their strategic roadmap for the year. They may have wanted to do a YouTube series or create a commercial. And I was always an aid to help them amplify that in a different way. 

So let's say there's an advertising colleague and they wanted to create a commercial. Well, there was some talent in the commercial. Let's say Idris Elba. And I'm there-

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Oh, good selection! 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Right? 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Idris Elba, yes. I think my husband favors him a little bit. But anyway, that's a sidebar. Keep going. 

Demarquis McIntyre:

And so then I could potentially work with Idris Elba and his team to, "Let's do some interviews. How did this great commercial go to work?" And Idris is talking about he's plugging in the brand that was on the commercial and whatnot, and now we're getting earned media stories in all of these entertainment, Entertainment Weekly and TMZ, and we're getting all these stories which is just amplifying the work in a different manner. It was now on TV, now that work is being transmitted on your laptop or your phone, or wherever you're watching. 

And then also with that, if it's a great commercial, why don't we take maybe our advertising leader, put him or her in some interviews and let's also go ahead and target advertising trades. Your Ad Age, your Adweek and things like that. So I look at it for those in marketing, advertising, PR is that arm, that leg to amplify the already great work that's taking place, to amplify it even more and in different channels. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Yes, I concur 100% with that. The amplification, the specialization of what earned media does in any aspect of public relations is that added boost that can really take things to a higher trajectory. 

On that note, is there anything that you can say that you think is underutilized in terms of when there are communication strategists on teams that are just overlooked? Oh, and then I don't know if you wanted to say anything else about marketing, if you marry that to what you just responded to. Would you say the same about marketing, what you bring to the table, advertising and marketing kind of conflate? Okay, cool. 

So is there anything that's underutilized that you can think of when it comes to what you do? 

Demarquis McIntyre:

I would say I think an area that's underutilized is media training. I think media training is more important now than ever. We're just in an area in life where I think we watch more than we ever have, especially following the pandemic. It used to just be our TV, but now we have our TV in our pockets, we're listening to podcasts. We're just always consuming. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Like this podcast, y'all like and subscribe. Yes, continue. 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Exactly, exactly. We are just some pure consumers these days. And I think it's an area that's underutilized because one bad interview, one secret audio file, a bad public exchange, it can really just shift how the public views not only that person, but also the brand that they are behind. And so we're seeing a lot of this these days. 

And I think when I say media training, I don't want to just keep it in the bubble of a media interview because again, we're consuming so much. So if you're a leader of a company, yes, you did a great interview, but you have to be pretty on point when you are walking to the car from that interview, from that media station to that car. When you are ... I think of the Coldplay concert, for instance. They just thought they were enjoying a nice concert and a good time and boom-

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Yes. 

Demarquis McIntyre:

... the screen is right on you. So really, what I'm saying is in life when you are the face of a company or you have a lot of leverage in something, you really have to carry yourself because you can be exposed at any time I think. So in media training, it's more than just that specific interview, but it's more so-

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

The holistic aspect of how you live your life. 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Exactly, exactly. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Yeah, that's a great point. It's beyond that soundbite. You are the company and you are the brand, so to speak. 

So just a couple more questions. This has been great. I know time flies, we're going to be wrapping this up soon, Demarquis. I just wonder, for our younger listeners, especially those who may still be in college at this time, what would you say has been your driving force behind you? Your guidance counselor, so to speak, and I'm using that term, but who's directed you? What trusted voices have you listened to? What would you attribute to your wonderful success that you have achieved at this point in your career and in your life? 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yeah. I think when you're first starting out, whether you're a college student or a young professional, I think that's when you're your most vulnerable. You're building yourself up in the college world, you want your experiences, what you're learning to really bleed into that next step and that can be the same thing for when you're first starting your career. And I would say in these points, it's really important to try to surround yourself with a good community and that can look like in a lot of different ways, whether it's your teachers, whether it's colleagues that are in the same realm as you, and whether it's outside voices. Your parents are still some people, they can boost you up and on those hard days, build you back up so that you can keep going. 

But I think specifically for me, there's a few examples. I think Shanita, you are number one that comes to mind. I remember in our consumer behavior class many, many years ago now, you saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. I think I was a junior at Columbia and just, yeah, "Do I do advertising, do I do marketing, do I do PR?" I didn't even know what PR really was at that time. But you saw that whatever direction I wanted to go that I could do a great job and that's something that I hung onto through my career at Columbia and even the years following as I got into the workforce. So you were a big one, and there were some other teachers as well. 

But also, that looked a lot different as I got on throughout my career. I was thinking about a time when I was at Grubhub, there was a hiring class and I was able to make a couple friends in that hiring class and they were on the same journey as me. Maybe they didn't have the same role, but all this was new to them. They were all on the same path, meeting people, figuring out how things work. And so staying close to them when you're in that sponge mode and just trying to consume so much, but knowing that someone else is on that same journey and is going through the same ups and downs as you can really just strengthen you I think when you're in that early on stage. Maybe you just got your first job after college and things of that nature. 

And then I think lastly is just even if you can expand out of your school, if you can expand out of your job and find community, I think that's even better. I was able to do that through the Marcus Graham Project when I was at Columbia. It was a lot of different students. Well, it's different students that were at Columbia, but being in that network allowed me to create a connection of friendships from different professionals, Black, brown, white, you name the professionals, all across the country. So it's staying in contact with them, if they had opportunities or if I just had questions and things like that has definitely been a guiding force. All about community and everybody's community looks different. So I would just say build yours up and you'll be fine. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Oh, that's beautiful. Thank you, Demarquis, for that. In our last couple of minutes, I'm just going to do a quick round-robin of a couple of questions that I'm hoping you can answer for us quickly to wrap this up, A Seat at the Table: Earned Media. So what's one skill you would say communicators must have in their arsenal kit, especially in the upcoming three years or so? What skill do they need to master or have at their disposal to readily tap into? What would you say? 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Oh, that's a great question. I would say one is, and I think this'll be maybe more relative to those that are in school or have just graduate and it's something that I actually struggled with for years. I would say finding your voice internally. When you get into the workforce and things like that, there's going to be meetings, there's going to be opportunities to really share your thoughts, your perspective, or the work that you are doing and it's going to be really important to find your voice, how you articulate yourself. Even small things like the pitch of your voice and things of that nature. Because they can be really intimidating when you're in these meetings with people who have been doing their job for 20 years and work, they know it like the back of their hands. 

And it's not something that I would necessarily rush because it takes time to get there, but I think if you can work on being that student in class that is active and is answering questions, or starting thought-proving conversations and whatnot, if you can start there in the classroom, it'll eventually generate when you get into the workforce. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Good. And I will just add an addendum to that wonderful response and I think writing. Writing, writing, writing. Being a good writer for me is always top of the list. You were an excellent writer, Demarquis, I remember reading your papers in class in consumer behavior. I gave y'all a lot of writing assignments, I remember that. But I also recall you stood out to me from that perspective as well. So writing I think is good, too. 

Okay, last question and we'll wrap this up. 

Demarquis McIntyre:

[inaudible 00:31:54]. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

What is a misconception about public relations that you would like to retire? What is something about public relations in general or in media specifically that's out there that you would like to just go away because it's not accurate or totally false? 

Demarquis McIntyre:

Yeah. I think one thing that comes to mind is that a lot of people who don't understand PR and earned media, they see it as a way to drive their business. When we're building campaigns and we're doing different things, it's like, "Okay, how does this get people to buy?" And that's not necessarily what PR and earned media are about. It's about your reputation. How do people see you as a brand? PR is one of those, PR, earned media and any of these other channels within the umbrella, it's one of those things that opens up a consumer or someone on the business side to your brand. And so it's really one of those necessary steps in that buying process to get where you need to go. But PR isn't necessarily someone that's going to get someone to potentially buy or partner with your brand, but it's extremely important and should never be overlooked. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Got it. Well, this has been wonderful. Is there anything you'd like to wrap up with, a statement? You feel like you said everything you wanted to say because we're going to round out the Earned Media: A Seat at the Table Podcast. Any closing comments, Demarquis? 

Demarquis McIntyre:

You know what? I would say just something in life. Life is not easy right now and I would just say do the best that you can day in and day out, whatever that thing is. And try to focus on the positives in life because we live in a beautiful world, regardless of what the headlines may say. Life is still beautiful. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

Oh, that's lovely. And shout-out to you and your family, I know you're a dad, a new dad, I'll still call you, husband. So that's wonderful to share that with us. 

Okay, listeners, marketing maestros, this is the end of this particular podcast, the episode Earned Media: A Seat at the Table or a Table Seat Regarding Earned Media. I'm your host, Shanita Akintonde, signing off. You can find me on LinkedIn at Professor Shanita Akintonde. On Twitter @_shanitaspeaks. On Instagram @_shanitabarakamama. And wherever you find your podcasts is where you can find this episode. 

Demarquis, where can they find you? 

Demarquis McIntyre:

My Instagram is @yp_mac. And you can also find me on LinkedIn, Demarquis McIntyre. And yeah, I keep my Twitter off, that's just for doom-scrolling. 

Shanita Baraka Akintonde:

That's private. Y'all, he's not sharing all of that. But I'll include this in the notes from this podcast if you want to get in touch with Demarquis. Demarquis, again, thank you so much. This was wonderful, insightful, energetic just like you and you shared a lot of great nuggets. Listeners, please continue to like and subscribe to this Marketing Insights Podcast. And until next time, which will be our very best time. Bye-bye.