Category: Commentary

This Week in Native Ads

This Week in Native Ads 11/21

  Campaign of the Week: Cities Energized  Cities are a fundamental part of modern life, yet for most of human life they have been the exception. Our ancestors lived almost entirely in rural areas, on farms or in small towns. But about two centuries ago, people began to migrate from field to factory and urbanization began. That movement has steadily gathered speed until, sometime around 2007, the balance tipped. Now, for the first time in human history,… Continue reading

Ben Young

November 20, 2014

This Week in Native Ads

This Week in Native Ads 11/14

  Campaign of the Week: Global Technology Adoption Index: A Reality Check from the Mid-Market When it comes to tech trends, multi-billion-dollar enterprises dominate the discussion, while midsize companies often go overlooked. Dell is seeking to fill this information gap with its inaugural Global Technology Adoption Index. Source: New York Times Why we like it: Dell returns to the Times for a follow up to their inaugural execution back in January.  … Continue reading

Ben Young

November 13, 2014

This Week in Native Ads

This Week in Native Ads 11/07

  Campaign of the Week: 36 Hours and Google Maps Plan your next adventure with Google.  
Google brings you an app inside the New York Times, to showcase Google Maps as a travel planning tool.  How would you spend 36 Hours in Chicago? Source: New York Times Why we like it: Another high production values execution by the Times, whilst the app could do with a bit of usability work, it’s interesting… Continue reading

Ben Young

November 6, 2014

This Week in Native Ads

This week in Native Ads 10/30

  Campaign of the Week: Flavoured Trend, New Flavors Every whisky has its own flavour profile. Most Canadian whisky tastes of honey, maple and toffee. Flavoured whisky takes one of these notes and intensifies it. “That’s why it works so well,” says Don Livermore, master blender at Wiser’s. “It still tastes like whisky, but with a more pronounced flavour.” Here, Livermore explains the flavoured-whisky trend.  It tastes like whisky, but with one flavour in the forefront. “When you… Continue reading

Ben Young

October 30, 2014

This Week in Native Ads

This week in Native Ads 10/24

  Campaign of the Week: Death of the Wallet? Apple’s foray into contactless payments has put “mobile payments” on everyone’s lips, even though the industry has been growing steadily over the past few years. Purchases made using a smartphone or tablet rose 48% year-over-year to $8 billion during the second quarter of 2014. That growth is 3x that of desktop ecommerce, and it’s the swiftest increase in mobile spending since Q1 of 2012. By 2020,… Continue reading

Ben Young

October 23, 2014

This Week in Native Ads

This Week in Native Ads 10/17

  Campaign of the Week: Art of the Thrill We remember the thrills. The moments that make our hearts beat faster and adrenaline run: the first kisses and game-winning home runs, the mountaintops and graduations. But they’re fleeting. They happen, and then they’re gone. In these digital days, though, it’s becoming clear those high points don’t just leave an impression in our memories—they ripple throughout our bodies too. Our lungs and hearts no longer only… Continue reading

Ben Young

October 16, 2014

This Week in Native Ads

This Week in Native Ads 10/10

  Campaign of the Week: How Apps Might Change Your Swing In October of 1984, the historically great 104-game winning Detroit Tigers took on the San Diego Padres and their historically dreadful brown and orange uniforms in the World Series. It was a brutal mismatch that the Tigers exploited as ace Jack Morris pitched two complete games and star outfielder Kirk Gibson pounded two home runs for five RBIs in the decisive Game 5. Continue reading

Ben Young

October 9, 2014

This Week in Native Ads

This Week in Native Ads 10/03

  Campaign of the Week: 4 Native Ads the Media’s Talking About Native advertising is perhaps the biggest trend in advertising. According to a recent eMarketer report, spending on native ads on social sites alone is expected to increase from $3.1 billion to $5 billion by 2017. Advertisers and publishers — and even readers — are helping to evolve the practice. And that means our understanding of the best and worst examples of native advertising… Continue reading

Ben Young

October 2, 2014

This Week in Native Ads

This Week in Native Ads 09/26

  Campaign of the Week: Golf takes zany ride in VW native advertising This month’s advertising launch for VW’s redesigned 2015 Golf puts the car at the center of a zany online video on Funny or Die, the comedy website founded by comedian Will Ferrell. The three-minute video is a piece of so-called native advertising, a hot new format in marketing circles in which publishers host content that looks like their own but actually comes… Continue reading

Ben Young

September 25, 2014

This Week in Native Ads

This Week in Native Ads 09/19

The clear theme this week is disclosure, with a few articles providing different views. We’ve shared them and included a short write up on our yet to be released study.   Campaign of the Week: 6 Steps to Fewer, Shorter and More Efficient Meetings Few aspects of corporate culture are more widely disliked and ridiculed than intra-office meetings. Employees, for the most part, feel that they’re tedious. Managers openly complain about their ineffectiveness. The worst part… Continue reading

Ben Young

September 18, 2014