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[/responsive]It’s a sentence we couldn’t have imagined ten years ago:
“Glossy magazine publisher Conde Nast, which owns Vogue and Vanity Fair, is enlisting its editors to consult with advertisers and help them create articles and images,” writes Michael Sebastian in AdAge.
“The move — which comes with the rollout of 23 Stories by Conde Nast, a new department charged with creating content for brands — is a sea change at Conde Nast,” he continues.
Last summer we hinted at this coming change when the publisher put together a 4,000-word document laying out how the company will handle digital native content. At the time we felt that having this kind of best practices documentation in place was a good idea, and we still do — though we are a little concerned that Tom Wallace, Conde Nast’s then-editorial director, has since left the building.
According to Sebastiani, advertisers will have access to Conde Nast editorial staff through their 23 Stories department.
“When an advertiser spends a certain amount with Conde Nast – [Conde Nast CMO] Mr. Menicheschi declined to say how much — they get access to the content studio, including editors,” he explains. “If, for instance, a beauty company uses 23 Stories, editors from Conde Nast’s beauty-focused magazine Allure would work with the company to produce articles.”
Videos will also be part of the offering.
Even as industry experts warn against native advertising, the lure of capturing more of the digital ad stream is strong. As Sebastiani notes, print ads are still the bulk of the company revenue, but they have a mandate to grow the digital side. It remains to be seen if the cost of using Conde Nast’s editorial department will outweigh the income.
January 29, 2015, 10:44 am
What this means is that if you spend a certain amount of money with Conde Nast, there’s no longer a “separation between church and state.” Native advertising has two other names; advertorial or bought editorial.
This should come as no surprise. If you look at many Conde Nast publications, you see that they have mastered the art of the special advertising section. This is the next step as what we might see is the disappearance of the special advertising or special promotions banners in tiny print at the top of such sections. How will the reader know what is untainted editorial, and advertising masquerading as editorial?
January 29, 2015, 3:33 pm
I think the shortsightedness of publishers will be shown as we see the voice of the publication change to what advertisers want it to be. We’ll move from editorial to promotional quickly. Readers will notice the editorial voice is tainted, circulation will decline, publishers will compromise even more to gain revenue and the downward cycle will continue.