We recently hosted our second native ad talks, this time talking Content Production. Moderated by Lucia Moses, our panelists were Adam Aston (Editorial Director the NY Times T Brand Studio) and Joe Lazauskas (Editor, Contently). During the evening, they shared insights, on how to produce the best native ad content. What was clear from the conversation is that everyone around the table wants the best work. This boils down to a few things, clear objectives, getting the right talent, being a good client and giving it the time it needs. What follows is a synopsis of the discussion. In the end is a link to the video & audio, with time stamps to particular topics. How to be the dream client Adam talked about how the stars aligned for the creation of the Orange is the New Black piece, the key things for as he put it the dream are to: – Come to the table with clear goals for the content – Realize this is a quality game; give your team the time to gestate – Provide constructive feedback – Bring data and/or topic areas to the table, it helps – Be comfortable with the article mentioning competitors, it has to draw people in The flipside of this too is publishers doing their part; both panelists spoke to this from their experience as Editors. How publishers get the best work Involving brands in the content creation process does put a spanner in the works, so publishers have to reflect that. – Hire the best talent – Don’t just throw your team at the whim of the brand, maintain editorial standards – Be upfront around your code of ethics or conduct to establish how you produce native – Continual feedback with client, not just at the end – Develop understanding of different markets regulations for marketing messages – Develop processes for clearing data & image rights for advertising purposes, some industries are more regulated than others – Arm yourself with data to make recommendations Watch the full video or audio to get the whole conversation, or review the timestamps for key parts of the conversation. If you’d like to attend future native ad events, follow @giveitanudge on Twitter. Thanks to PowerLinks for sponsoring the talks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMQ6ZwU6mEE <soundcloud embed> — You can jump ahead to particular topics, at these timestamps: 4:15 Quality is key 5:15 having your goals set in the beginning 5.55 How to hire for native 9:26 How to protect journalists 15:12 The dream client 16:12 Orange is the new black setting the standard 18:18 How quizzes actually help a brand articulate a message 20:00 Once produced… Continue reading