This Week in Native Ads 4/14

Summer has arrived! And with that, the start of summer campaigns.

I’m looking to meet up with more people in the industry, so if you’d like to grab coffee, ping me.

I’ve also been mulling over Native and the blockchain a bit more, read my LI update here. The blockchain will have a role in native, in allowing brands to manage and verify their content, clicks/distribution.

i.e. A brand is happy to pay the market price, for this much attention, in front of this audience. And industry parties will co-sign and verify those events happened. In effect disaggregating some of the intermediaries. Nasdaq is laying the ground for this – but at this stage, it’s a wee way off – but will make everyone’s job a bit easier.

Interesting thought experiment though.

Luxury is also bubbling up in the narrative again. If you’re familiarizing yourself with the industry, LeanLuxe and LuxuryDaily are two excellent lists to follow.

Notable Stories this Week

The Case for Branded Content Studios.
Nativo research report. Given their early trajectory in the space they have a super insightful view of the market. They dig into how early adopters, adopted fast, learned and then found the right mix of spend. Then how rapidly the fast followers jumped on board. Results will ofc be curated. But some good reads across MediaPost, TheDrum. I’ve yet to fully dig into this – more in Datapoints of Note.

Campaign of the Week

Spring 2017, Where to go and what to wear. Bergdorf Goodman attaching to exotic locations ahead of summer fashion. Their flip formats are nice, click to expose what you should wear to these destinations.

Smartest Commentary

“If you’re not embracing native advertising, your content marketing strategy is obsolete.” –Chad Pollitt, Partner and VP of Audience, Native Advertising Institute
“Compliance, content, and time are the keys great to native ads.” -Perry Simpson, Digital Content Coordinator, Direct Marketing News

Datapoints of Note

From Nativo study of behavior in their marketplace.

Year over year, Food & Drink grew their share of native ad spend the most by 9%. Food & Drink is followed by Travel and Business, which both grew their share by 4%.
Automotive (OEM), Tech B2B, Entertainment, Tech B2C and Finance and Insurance, all early adopters of native advertising in 2014, saw their aggregate share of budget decline by 20%, from 57% in 2014 to 37% in 2016.
Conversely, slower vertical adopters of native — Business, CPG, Travel and Food & Beverage — grew by 24% to reach 45% aggregate share of budget in 2016.
Combining all related campaigns (OEM, After-Market, etc.), Automotive remains the most active vertical year over year.
Top performing verticals in terms of engagement include CPG, Entertainment, Travel, Food & Drink, and Tech B2C.

Events & Webinars