Assessing the PESO Model in the German Automotive Industry: Results of an Expert Study and Introduction of the Content Flow Model

This chapter investigates the paradigm shift in corporate communications strategy in the German automotive industry and proposes a new model, the Content Flow Model. To do so, structured interviews with 13 selected corporate communication experts were conducted. The study is based on the PESO model, which is commonly used by communication researchers and practitioners to define media strategies and classify the content produced by corporate communication departments. With the rise of digital and social technologies over the past decades, the shared and owned categories grew significantly in importance, overtaking the paid and earned categories, leading to a conversion of the PESO model to the SOEP model. The evaluation of the interviews shows that all channels of the SOEP model remain relevant, yet their relevance differs according to their applied context. From an expert perspective, the different components complement but do not replace each other. Based on these considerations, a Content Flow Model is proposed. The Content Flow Model extends the traditional PESO model in that it goes beyond a mere classification and takes the goals of an organization, its target group(s), the choice and weighting of different media channels, allocation of resources, as well as an analysis of goal achievement into account, allowing for more sophisticated research and implementation efforts.