The Mario Blog

07.27.2015—3am    Post #2237
Time to give native ads the attention they deserve

While some of the major players are taking big steps to consolidate the presence of native ads in their operations, I am somewhat surprised by the lack of progress—and even interest—for native ads among a large number of the publishers and editors with whom I interact.

This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and will be updated as needed. The next blog post is Monday, July 27.

That’s why I like the announcement that The New York Times is ready to set up a London team focusing on native ads.  Perhaps it will be another reminder that this, too, is an area that requires are utmost attention, that those ads that mimic the editorial content produced by journalists in the newsroom can be the key to monetizing success——and a crowd pleaser for readers, too.

Let’s not sit and wait for the traditional advertising agencies to take the lead with native ads. Those agencies on which so many regional newspapers rely for the content, style and tone of  the ads they publish, are definitely not moving fast enough in terms of native ads, or any type of non-traditional ads, for that matter. 

This is a complaint I hear from publishers across six continents. It’s no secret that many advertising agencies need to get their acts together.  Their managers are probably experiencing the familiar aversion to change and the inertia to move forward (something so many in the newsroom can identify with), which is the reason that I personally try to incorporate at least an awareness and understanding of native ads and their potential benefit with all our Garcia Media clients.

The good news is that lately, and with new clients, I am sensing that they initiate the conversation about native ads themselves.  In fact, native ads generate shareable conversation themselves, according to Reuters' Felix Salmon, who says that “native content tends to aspire more to going viral” and generally being shared more.

The difference between sponsored content and native ads, he contends, is that “native content tends to aspire more to going viral” and generally being shared more.

Hopefully, The New York Times and other major media firms working hard to create better and more frequent native ads will serve as a catalyst to get smaller newspapers into the act.

The time to give native ads a try is now.

More about native ads

Native ads, the long narrative and sponsored content: the Times has a winner here
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/native_ads_the_long_narrative_and_sponsored_content_the_times_has_a_winner

The Washington Post’s native ad in print: the message of things to come

http://www.garciamedia.com/blog/the_washington_posts_native_ad_in_print_the_message_of_things_to_come

Print native ad for The New York Times: a good model

https://garciamedia.com/blog/print_native_ad_for_the_new_york_times_a_good_model

The Guardian's Unusual Take on Native Ads Kicking off campaign with Unilever By

http://​http://www.adweek.com/news/press/guardians-unusual-take-native-ads-155715

Your guide to native ads

I found this to be a very helpful piece to help us navigate through native ads, sponsored ads and advertorials. Yes, indeed, there are differences among those.

Take a look:

http://www.copyblogger.com/examples-of-native-ads/

TheMarioBlog post # 1810

The Mario Blog