Carla Faria, UK Solutions Director, Say Media outlines how brands can partner with publishers and passionate content creators.
Background: The new publishing landscape
Today’s publishing industry is in a constant state of unrest. As traditional print publishers seek to save their titles through resting, merging, converting to online or in many cases simply killing established titles to preserve the parent company, online publishers have a different set of problems, as the debate on how best to achieve the holy grail of monetised content continues.
Online publishers have been forced to wrestle with the idea of valuing their content and in some cases have opted to use paywalls to maximise revenue. The paywall debate raises an interesting issue surrounding ‘content’ value, when in fact it is the ‘audience’ that truly holds the value.
A few short years ago, when marketers were trying to make sense of social media platforms like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter, it quickly became apparent that it was easier to go to where the audience was, rather than try and entice them away to a new destination. Publishers and all the other successful online content producers have learned the same lesson: in the digital age, we now have the ability to personalise our online experiences to such an extent, that the idea of traditional readership and audience demographics is meaningless. Modern audiences are friendship groups, peer groups, or groups united by a common interest.
The Vertical Alternative
By identifying popular topics and spotting existing vibrant communities, Say Media has built a collection of vertical channels, each with its own area of focus. Say’s Style Vertical is the home of all things fashion and style related, and includes xoJane, xoVain,Cupcakes & Cashmere, Fashionista, Honestly…WTF and Rookie. The Living Vertical is a carefully curated collection of properties such as Remodelista, Gardenista, Dogster,Catster, 101 Cookbooks, and The Kitchn. The Tech Vertical is designed to host the most influential technology content on the web, covering new product launches, emerging trends and breaking news through sites like ReadWrite, Gear Patrol, and SplatF.
The subjects may be diverse, but what these verticals have in common is the way they connect readers with similar interests in brand-safe environments (in an unobtrusive way), that inspires confidence and trust within the community.
The difference between content-powered communities like those in the Say Style Vertical and more traditional offerings like the fashion pages of online newspaper sites (for example), lies in the relationship between the writers and the audience. There was once a deep line in the sand marking out the responsibilities of the editorial teams, and the expectations of the readership: you were either a writer or a reader. But now it is possible to build a content-driven community, where good quality editorial is underpinned by the commentary and social sharing activities of the readership.
CASE STUDY
Unilever & Say Media’s Style Vertical
Creative: http://clientpreview.saymedia.com/?ccid=3905829-5
When Unilever wanted to promote its new compressed deodorants to women, the campaign was built around the concept of celebrating ‘the power of small’. Editors from xoJane, That’s Yummy Mummy and Florence Finds, each published a series of weekly articles about ‘small thoughts’, and encouraged readers to join the ‘power of small’ conversation. A Say Media AdFrames unit scraped the content from the different sites under the headline, “These editors understand the ‘power of small.’ Each week, they’ll be posting a ‘small thought’ on their sites and they want to know what you think.”
Within the AdFrames platform, viewers could watch the TV spot or click to the Unilever site to learn more about compressed deodorants. This campaign had the added benefit of exposing the audience to all three sites wherever the ad unit was displayed within Say Media’s premium network.
Online advertising and other intimate relationships
The changes in the publishing world have also been mirrored by evolution in advertising. As the web becomes an increasingly personalised experience, it becomes more difficult for brands to find a way into this personal web environment, without becoming intrusive or annoying. Algorithms and targeting can make sure the ads seen by consumers are relevant, but algorithms are only part of the equation.
The audiences of Say Media’s premium sites are some of the most engaged online groups of their type. These communities can offer editorial support to brand campaigns that create engaging content, with compelling results.
CASE STUDY
Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone & xoJane
Creative: http://clientpreview.saymedia.com/?ccid=3117656-1
xoJane has built one of the most engaged communities of women online. Founding editor Jane Pratt and her team share powerful, honest, first person stories that often draw upwards of 1000 comments. With opinions on beauty, fashion, relationships, politics and beyond, xoJane’s straight-talking editorial style inspires ‘enthusiastic’ reader responses. Nokia wanted to promote the features of its Windows Phone to mums, and a content-partnership campaign was launched in the form of ‘Jane’s Stuff‘, a regular Point-of-View (POV) column in which Jane Pratt used various handset features in the process of sharing her exploits with readers.
The campaign delivered thousands of hours of consumer time spent interacting with the Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone content. A brand lift study showed that the campaign increased favourability across all measures.
Transparency pays
Sponsored content spending in the US grew 56% in 2011 and 39% in 2012, and this growth is supported by anecdotal evidence in the UK. But high profile incidents like a recent post on The Atlantic, which turned out to be sponsored by the Church of Scientology demonstrated a key issue with sponsored content – it should always be clear to the reader if there is a commercial relationship that exists behind the content.
The Atlantic ran an article about the opening of a dozen new Scientology centres which at first glance looked like a regular news item. But closer examination of the main copy, and the ‘reader’ comments posted to the article, led a few eagle-eyed readers and journalists to the fact that this was a sponsored post masquerading as news coverage. After complaints were made to the site, the offending article was removed and replaced by an apology message from the editorial team.
Provided the content is good, and the publishing environment and brand activity are in harmony, sponsored content can be a rewarding experience for the reader, and a valuable one for the advertiser.
The future of advertising
Branded content represents the next stage in the evolution of online advertising. Perhaps there will come a time where our content is delivered to us through algorithms in the same way ad inventory is filled for us on an individual basis, but in this exciting world of hyper-individual experiences the audience now sets the publishing agenda, and as such should be at the core of any modern media company. Readers have fundamentally changed their expectations around how aligned their tastes are with the content they consume and how connected they are to the people that are creating that content.
Originally Posted July 5, What’s New in Publishing