Native advertising could be the saviour of copywriting – and, maybe even publishing. And the notion that young people are immune to advertising is “bullshit”, according to publisher-cum-agency The Sound Alliance.
The firm is a hybrid. Chief executive Neil Ackland said the company was “an audience specialist” that was proving that native advertising works.
Native advertising is basically advertorial, but less clumsy and more thoughtful to the extent that it is relevant, interesting content. It’s big in the US, less so here. Done properly, Ackland and content director Tim Duggan are convinced it’s the future.
“But you can't get away with crap. The audience will see right through it. The real challenge is getting the balance right,” Duggan said. Ackland added: “People will only share ads if they are good.” Similarly, “They will only share content if it makes them look clever, or funny. Or both.”
Therefore, he suggested, advertising content only has a chance to go viral if it is carefully constructed. He said that brings editors and writers to the fore. Whereas the “old world” was church and state, now “we brief our best writers to come up with the best ideas”. Writers are also incentivised based on results. “It’s where marketing and journalism meet,” Duggan said.
But there is a reason sales and editorial are kept separate. It's called conflict of interest and critics will argue that you cannot have writers and editors both incentivised for commercial content and also writing non-commercial editorial.
Duggan admits that some will take issue with the blurring of the lines. But he says readers aren't stupid, they can tell what is brand-funded and what is not, and regardless, the two are clearly signposted on Sound Alliance channels. However, he said the company was “trying not to even think about it as 'proper' editorial versus native advertising, nor 'pure' or 'impure'”, but all as content.
He argued that all of the Sound Alliance editors are “digital natives … under 30 and who understand 'new' journalism”. Those “up in arms” are the old guard that “see sales as a dirty word”. “It doesn't detract from integrity. [our writers] just produce good stories and the bonus is when we get brands behind it.”
And that is where the future of journalism may be headed, Duggan suggested. “Storytelling is a creative way of having fun and paying for it. It harps back to Mad Men. Editors and writers are the new creatives.”
Ackland is equally bullish. “It is the ultimate creative art form. And [journalists] know their audience better than anyone. It is what editors and writers have been waiting for. You cannot commoditise it – ideas can’t be commoditised. Therefore it has inherently greater value. That’s the power of ideas. They are original.”
And, he said, there is “a lot riding on native advertising for publishers around the world”.
So while Duggan admits that some may me be sceptical about editors donning the sales cap, and “there will always be some reaction that paid content can't be as good as traditional editorial – we're saying it can.”
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