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AdNews asked the question - Is there blurring of lines between content and editorial? -- to a group of public relations experts:
Richard Brett, CEO of opr agency: Definitely. There is still the need for campaigns that sit purely as digital content, or purely as editorial, but where you are able to develop an idea or a campaign that has one central concept with multiple assets, that are then able to engage across traditional and digital media. This can be highly effective.
Skye Lambley, group managing director, Herd MSL: The lines between content and editorial have definitely blurred. They are ultimately doing the same thing, but in different ways. In both cases, we are looking to influence our target audiences — and whether that is delivered through strong engaging content directly from the brand, or third party editorial endorsement is really just a nuance. For example, if a brand’s product is heroed for its new product across editorial channels, this is a huge win and will likely impact readers and their broader network. In a similar instance, a hero piece of branded content, posted to a social asset can gain thousands of likes and shares — social proof and endorsement from the digital community. In both instances, a winning approach comes from understanding your audience and the nuances and deliverables from each channel — being clear about how they ladder up to meet your objectives and deliver on the strategy. It’s not just about creating content for a brand’s owned channels, as in many cases we facilitate journalists creating content for editorial. A very fuzzy line indeed. What’s important is remaining clear on what’s going to deliver the strongest result.
Tabitha Fairbairn, managing director of Mango Communications, part of DDB: We’re increasingly delivering an initial editorial launch, which is driven by a culturally relevant consumer insight. We follow this by driving a social echo, which sometimes can create editorial traction in its own right. The second wave of editorial messaging becomes focused on the consumer reaction to the initial story. It’s a self-perpetuating model that increases reach and consumer engagement significantly.
Leilani Abels, founder of independent agency Thrive PR: Yes, lines are blurred between content and editorial in some circumstances. However, in other circumstances it’s distinctly separate. Content can work hard across earned, owned and paid media so PR practitioners producing content can add value and play outside of earned media or “editorial”. With media resources shrinking, brands working with their PR teams can be a valuable content partner to journalists. Brands can collaborate with journalists to produce the content they need — there’s a win for the media outlet as they secure bespoke content, but it’s also a win for the brand as that content can be repurposed and used elsewhere after a story runs because it has news currency.
Roberto Pace, managing director, Eleven & FleishmanHillard at TBWA: Not really. The purpose of content for a journalist is to add to the editorial story, but we still need to place the story. TV and online media in particular will want content as part of their piece, but they won’t just run content on its own.
Ashford Pritchard, co-founder and director of Kicker Communications: In reality, the lines between content and editorial have always been blurred. But people’s tolerance for poorly crafted marketing content masquerading as editorial is lower than ever. For educated audiences, the most powerful content will be editorial in nature, by having a compelling story to tell, and doing so in an engaging way.
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