I’ve recently come across this article, which explores the increasingly popular marketing trend of 2013, Native Advertising. The post describes the struggle being faced by marketers, in that it has become more difficult to convey their product to their consumer segment due to their “ability” to ignore ads. As pointed out, marketers need to revaluate their Channel strategies and reach their Customer Segments in a way that doesn’t feel like marketing. How can this be achieved? By weaving in the sponsored content in a manner that “sports the look and feel of other content in the site.”

In fact, this can already be observed in social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, where, when scrolling through your news feed, you will find ads that will unnoticeably pass as editorial content. However, a few possible problems come to mind with this kind of advertising, such as the possibility of blurring the lines between sponsored content and editorial content to the extent that the consumer may overlook the ads completely.

Nonetheless, a report published by Hexagram and Spada claimed “41% of brands have already run native advertising campaigns, and 20% of those that haven’t plan on doing so within a year.” As a consumer aware of Native Advertising, I will attempt to be more conscious of ways that I have been targeted through seemingly editorial-like ads.

Sources:

1. Fishburne, Tom. “Native Advertising.” Tom Fishburne Marketoonist. N.p., 3 Nov. 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://tomfishburne.com/2013/11/native-advertising.html>.

2. Nanji, Ayaz. “Native Advertising Trends: Brands See Value, Publishers Like Sponsored Posts.” MarketingProfs. N.p., 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/12056/native-advertising-trends-brands-see-value-publishers-like-sponsored-posts>.