Monday, November 18, 2013

Going Native

First, I want to get the sick joke that occurred to me when I saw Inside Radio's top story:   "Radio deploys digital to meet ‘native’ demand."

The moment local casino gaming was legal, radio was all over native advertising!

That out of the way, I have to say that I am skeptical of this "new trend" in advertising when it comes to radio.  Even the Wikipedia definition of it has been up since May (
"this article may document a neologism in such a manner as to promote it. Please add more reliable sources to establish its current use and the impact the term has had on its field...") and I am still waiting for one of the proponents to comply in spite of many, many giddy articles and posts about its potential.
Finally: "The Urban Legends of Native Advertising" makes these key points about this ad fad:   
  1. It's not new.
  2. Not any brand can do it.  You are not Nike.
  3. Putting your logo front and center may kill the impact.
I am not ready to quote Tonto in response to anyone experimenting with new revenue concepts, but before radio sales execs go very far down the native path, I hope they compare this stealth new tactic to the much more effective multiplicity of tools already proven in our kit.

1 comment:

Jack Loechner, MediaPost said...

Research report: “It is promising that brands and agencies see that native advertising has the potential to help them deliver more relevant messages to consumers. This demonstrates an appreciation of the real value proposition, delivering valuable content in a highly appropriate context to consumers.”