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Bridging commentary on the art & science of content; content marketing, branded content, native advertising and the analytics, attribution and intelligence that powers it.
Content Marketing

The Origin of Content is King

The man synonymous with the term ‘content is king’ – Sumner Redstone passed away in 2020. Sumner spent his lifetime expanding the Boston based theatre company National Amusements his father started in to tv and movies. Today known as ViacomCBS, though National Amusements remains active in the cinema business.However, a quick Google of the phrase ‘content is king’, shows a Bill Gates essay as the originator. So who said it first?Turns out neither was,… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
May 12, 2021
Branded Content

Branded Content Examples

We feature the best content each week in our newsletter, here is a recent selection of some branded content. Feel free to also review our best of 2021 & 2020, with those pieces having links to further back. If you’re confused by the blurred lines between native advertising vs branded content, here’s an overview. To measure and get insight from your branded content use Nudge. Branded Content for TasteMade in partnership… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
May 12, 2021
Content Marketing

Content Marketing Glossary

An overview of terms often used in Content Marketing.  Audience, describes the group of people whom follow or engage with your content. Comtent, content that is created for e-commerce. Content, a digital asset that represents a communication from a brand. Content marketing, content created to educate, entertain or inform a brands potential and existing customers. Content strategy, the plan or orchestration of content marketing activities.  Creative, the actual idea or… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
May 11, 2021
Native Advertising

Native Advertising Glossary

An overview of terms often used in native advertising. See also Branded Content Glossary. Native advertising, describes the overall trend of creating advertising that is designed to fit the form and function of the site it resides on. Native content, content designed to fit the form and function of where it resides. Native display, utilizing display ad slots to show a native ad unit. Native programmatic, describes the automated buying of… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
May 11, 2021
Branded Content

Branded Content Glossary

An overview of terms often used in branded content. See also Native Advertising Glossary. Advertorial, similar to paid content, describes content that has been paid for by a brand.  Branded content, content that is made for the express purpose of promoting a brand. If you took the brand out, the content couldn’t exist. Custom content, describes content that has been paid for by a brand and created in collaboration with them.  Disclosure, the… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
May 11, 2021
Commentary

Can collaboration in content collapse already?

Collaboration in content is still hard, disjointed and not very scientific. An ideal scenario would balance the art and science of content, supporting the creative to nestle out the best work. Too much content is unseen, unconsumed and has the work gone to waste. Effective collaboration helps solve this. The problem is data-driven collaboration is missing from all processes. At the moment, data is largely not involved in the collaboration process. At best some data or insight is shared in… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
March 26, 2021
Commentary

Does Google even need us?

What happens when Google doesn’t need you anymore? It’s still a ways away but it kind of is the trajectory. The same way Uber was considering a world without drivers, Google is moving towards a world without click out search results. SparkToro estimates that in 2021 2/3 of searches do not go further than the search results page. When you consider things like GPT3, an AI that can create copy to fulfill… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
March 26, 2021
Commentary

NFTs and Content

I had just bought 1/1000th of a first edition Ian Fleming book, Goldfinger. Now what? Can I go read it? It turns out it is stored in a secure east coast facility, held on my and 999 others behalf by Rally Road. Rally Road launched in 2017 when three friends got together to find a way to democratize the ownership of collectibles. However, this isn’t an NFT but it’s a nice lead into it. You see, the book exists, the… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
March 26, 2021
This Week in Native Ads

Newsletter #320 – Are we in decline?

A brief thanks to Gustaf, who I collaborate with on the newsletter, this is his last for a while. ?One big thingA story this week was on how advertising was down YOY, notably February (should be) the last ‘normal’ month before the covid declines. My underlying feeling though is, is that the right thing to be watching right now? Well yes, it is factually correct. But is watching advertising spend the best way to understand what is happening with advertising… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
March 26, 2021
This Week in Native Ads

Newsletter #319 – Ferraris and newsletters

After a week hiatus, we’re back, with a juicy line up of stories. We’ve also started sharing more of our commentary on our website, over here.One big thingThese Google Slides digging into how 7-figure newsletters make money was brilliant. Despite the cheesy title, it shows how you can tell a rich story using Google Slides. Even without a voice over. And the information is useful. It anticipates the questions you might have,… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
March 19, 2021