BEHIND THE MASK A GUIDE TO NATIVE ADVERTISING native advertising / mediamiser.com share this on: 1 // What is Native Advertising? WHAT IS NATIVE ADVERTISING? Native advertising (NA) has been called the “most overused and least understood” marketing buzzword currently in existence: A 2014 study by Copyblogger revealed that 49 per cent of consumers had no idea what NA is, and a further 48 per cent admitted to a shaky understanding of the concept at best. Partly to blame is the broadness of the term “native”: many marketers apply it to any type of ad incorporated on a website. True native advertising, however, is a specific, unique, and — when executed properly — massively effective marketing tool. Exhibit A: this clever piece that appeared in The New York Times in June 2014. The nearly 1,500-word article examines the circumstances affecting women prisoners in the U.S. — replete with thorough research, compelling stats, and credible interviews, along with an objective-sounding style of writing. It appears in many ways to be a typical NYT piece, and the only giveaways are a small box at the top identifying it as a paid post and a “paidpost.nytimes.com” URL. The sponsor? Netflix, creator of Orange is the New Black, a show that focuses (image courtesy of The New York Times) on the female prison system in the U.S. The article — which earned over 145,000 impressions, along with an average page time of 3.21 minutes — checks all the boxes of what makes native advertising work, and work well: 1 It fits the form and function of its platform: Unlike traditional online ads, NA is designed to mimic the editorial standards of the publication in which it appears. This is what “native” means: the content is seamlessly coherent with other media on the platform. It’s right at home. 2 If done well, it is content worthy of one’s time: Seth Godin, bestselling author and marketing innovator, has identified two kinds of native advertising: “Content I want to read, and content I don’t.” It’s all about creating something interesting and worth not only reading, but talking about and sharing. 3 It preserves trust: Though the notice is small, the fact that the article is a paid post is clear (but typically in smaller print). There is no trickery or deception. This transparency ensures that trust between reader and publication remains, all-important at a time when trust in the media is at an all-time low. The bottom line, says Racepoint Global CEO Larry Weber, is that “The future of marketing is about transparency and honesty and truth.” If the content is high quality, he says, most people don’t care if it is sponsored. native advertising / mediamiser.com share this on: 2 // How Did We Get Here? HOW DID WE GET HERE? Native advertising is the marketing darling of the moment for a reason: it gets results. According to a 2013 study from Sharethrough and IPG Media Lab, NA receives 53 per cent more attention than traditional display ads. That’s compelling stuff, but it hasn’t happened overnight. Advertising innovator Howard Gossage famously pointed out in 1969 that “Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them. Sometimes it’s an ad.” That’s why advertorials — like this classic Guinness example from 1950 — were invented. But the novelty didn’t last forever, and by the late 1990s and early 2000s the popularity of this medium was dwindling. At their most basic level, however, advertorials fit the definition of NA perfectly: a mix of advertising and editorial. And it’s true that NA is essentially the next generation of advertorial. The difference is that NA aims to be perfectly coherent and seamless in its blending in with organic content, aligning with the site’s established style, tone, and usual subject matter; brand mentions are subtle, and there is no in-your-face call to action to buy a product or service. NA also genuinely attempts to inform the reader with useful content, whereas traditional advertorials (which typically appear in print) employ language more similar to marketing material than actual editorial content. Philip Sawyer, a consultant and erstwhile director of communications at Roper Starch Worldwide, essentially predicted the rise of NA from advertorials: “The ones that do the best are the ones that look most like an article...and really exploit the line between church and state.” NA is just the next step in advertorials. It’s taken something, improved upon it, and given it a shiny new name. And ever since that seminal Guinness piece, it has been a slow and meandering evolution that’s finally led the industry to native advertising. It has been found that the less an advertisement looks like an advertisement and the more it looks like an editorial, the more readers stop, look, and read. “ Therefore, study the graphics used by editors and imitate them. Study the graphics used in advertisements, and avoid them. David Ogilvy, creator of the Guinness Guide to Oysters, 1963” native advertising / mediamiser.com share this on: 2 // How Did We Get Here? When executed properly, NA has been called the Holy Grail of digital advertising. Here’s why: 1. It makes people happy: By providing relevant, information-rich content, NA can deliver a brand’s message to targeted audiences willing and, in some cases, eager to absorb it. And an engaged and happy consumer is one ripe for conversion. 2. The medium fosters sharing: When readers engage with content, they spread it. In this regard, NA is an ideal way to increase exposure and cultivate brand advocates. 3. It can keep media outlets alive: By posting and hosting content that a) did not chew up resources to create, or b) the outlet was paid to create, NA generates “new avenues of monetization for content sites that are under intense revenue pressure.” This last point is crucial. Major outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Harper’s, and Time have all waded into the world of native advertising in recent years, with The New York Times alone selling up to $18M worth of NA in 2014. With the ongoing decline of print ad spending, media companies will likely come to rely more and more on this revenue stream. Many media outlets have even opened their own in-house studios to create bespoke content for potential NA clients. T Brand Studio (The New York Times), WP BrandConnect (The Washington Post), SNAP (POPSUGAR), Studio@Gawker (Gawker), BrandVoice (Forbes), VIRTUE (VICE) and Onion Labs (The Onion) are just a handful of business units delivering premier branded content to clients, a signal of just how much these outlets value their growing NA businesses. Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The New York Times, explained his decision to embrace NA when he said the medium is necessary to “restore digital advertising revenue to growth” for the company. This holds true for many media companies, especially those tied to print products. But no other outlet embodies a reverence for NA quite like BuzzFeed. native advertising / mediamiser.com share this on: 3 // The buzzfeed way BuzzFeed makes money by creating BuzzFeed-type stories for brands. “ Ben Thompson, tech business analyst, 2015” THE BUZZFEED WAY In 2014, BuzzFeed made over $100M in revenue and, of that, not 100 a penny came from traditional display ads. That’s because 100 comes from% branded content and per cent of BuzzFeed’s revenue comes from branded content and of BuzzFeed “social content marketing,” according to CEO Johah Peretti. “social content marketing” ’s revenue People are addicted to BuzzFeed’s content — monthly unique visitor totals range from 175M to 200M — and brands know this. So they’ve begun creating native advertising that looks and acts exactly like original BuzzFeed content, hosted right on the site alongside non-sponsored content. Here are some examples of NA that masterfully masquerade as BuzzFeed’s famous listicles and punchy articles: 1 13 First Date Questions That Are Actually Insightful Though it’s sponsored by Bravo, the TV network’s name appears only twice on the page: at the top to show the content is branded, and at the bottom, in a brief call to tune in to a Bravo show. This subtle approach simultaneously preserves trust among the readers by being transparent, and keeps them happy by not bludgeoning them with repeated calls to action. 2 32 Instagrammers That You Should Totally Be Following With the popularity of Instagram (over 300M monthly users), this Samsung-sponsored post was a stroke of genius destined to reward the brand. It’s a perfect example of native advertising doing what it’s supposed to do: provide relevant and valuable content to the reader, while reflecting positively on the brand and fostering a deeper relationship with consumers. 3 15 Things You Didn’t Know About 15 Captains, Commanders And Conquerors Given that its whole brand identity is tied to swaggering adventurers, Captain Morgan Rum did two things right in this campaign: it provided content that is not only interesting but totally in line with its brand, and did it all while blending seamlessly with BuzzFeed’s other content. That’s the very definition of NA. BuzzFeed’s own in-house custom content division works with client brands to make sure, with each of its campaigns, all three NA stakeholders are satisfied: 1) the brand; 2) the platform; and 3) the target audience. When these three participants are happy, native advertising is automatically a success. native advertising / mediamiser.com share this on: 4 // the future THE FUTURE The concept of native advertising has been around since at least the 1950s, but only recently has the marketing world tracked its numbers and effectiveness.