Insert your brand message here.
Critics see branded content in just that way – creators selling out to marketers in the name of pushing products. Defenders argue it disseminates useful information to consumers and enables brands to communicate their stories in ways that are believable and entertaining enough that the people willingly opt in to the message. Here we present viewpoints on both sides of the content divide.
“Everyone understands that all of us today are really media companies and content publishers.”
–David Bebee, VP-global creative and content marketing at Marriott International
“There is no need for advertisements to look like advertisements. If you make them look like editorial pages, you will attract about 50% more readers.” –David Ogilvy
“I like to think of news and advertising as the separation of guacamole and Twizzlers. Separately, they’re good, but if you mix them together, somehow you make both of them really gross.” – John Oliver, host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight
Mimicking editorial content is not clever. Readers are smart.” – Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp”Native advertising, at its best, is a way to engage your consumer even when the engagement is negative. It may not always be sunshine, champagne and roses.” —Arianna Huffington, president, editor-in-chief, Huffington Post Media Group
“There’s no line between advertising and branded content, no straight line anyway. It’s more of an ambling brook.” -Jennifer Golub, creative director-exec director of content at TBWA’s content arm, Let There Be Dragons
“Successful content marketers need to think less like advertisers and more like publishers.” –David Brown, exec VP-general manager, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing
“I don’t think Don Draper would have loved banner ads.”–Jonah Peretti, CEO, BuzzFeed
“Brand journalism is a stupid term.” –Shane Snow, co-founder and chief creative officer of Contently
“The clear delineation between news and advertising is becoming more and more blurred. We have to resist that.” –Gerald Baker, editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal
Article sourced from Adage.com
