Advertising That Does Not Look Like Advertising

One of the recent advertising trends heard often is Native Advertising.  Native advertising is a kind of online advertising that takes after the function and the image of the platform where it is found. For that reason, it can qualify as a sort of chameleon advertising: As a brand, you keep changing your clothes but never compromise your naturalness. These ads do not smell like advertising. They do not look like advertising. They can masquerade in many different ways - as product placement, an advertorial, sponsored content, or a search engine results list.

Unlike traditional advertising, native ads do not directly show the logo, the jingle, the brand character, or whatever brand hook there is. On the contrary, the ad comes into being on the channel, where the consumer is and in line with his way of content consumption. Therefore, the native ads, that meet the consumer in his comfort zone and within his context of interest, do not appear to be paid for. They have higher credibility, however, to achieve this, they must be subtly formulated.

Even though content definitely sets the basis for native ads, one must go beyond this to conduct the research that will categorize the brand according to the social channel behavior and consumption habits of the segments. As the result of this research, one must identify on which channels and in which content type the brand will come to life.  One day the brand may generate gif content and the next day, it may create video content, or on some other day, it may find its role through an article published on a seriously informative platform.

Therefore, the rigid rules of advertising must be abrogated. Accordingly, branded content that is found within an article of a news site but that does not appear to be an ad, may go without using the logo. It may be placed somewhere else than above, below, right, or left of the page as banners would. It may appear as a new news title or it may come in the form of an unsponsored 120-character text content.

It all seems to be left to content, social media, the imagination of channel managers, as well as to being on top of the trends that change and are consumed so rapidly in the online world. At the end of the day, it is worth the complicated formulation for a minimalistic brand stand that does not look like advertising.

For brands, the formula to native advertising involves capturing relationships; creating content mechanisms that will successfully link trends with the brand; and maneuvering fast. So we compiled for you some of the successful world examples that demonstrate the rise of native advertising.

RECENT SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES OF NATIVE ADVERTISING: 

1. The New York Times and Orange is the New Black:
Successfully selected channels turn successfully selected topics into a win-win both for the publisher and the brand. One of the most successful examples of native advertising is Netflix’ sponsorship of a publication on The New York Times for its series featuring women in prison, Orange is The New Black. The most important contribution of native advertising to the Netflix brand is that it moves it to a better place in the consumer’s perception. Through its own publications and the newspapers it sponsors, Netflix transforms itself into a brand that cares about the world’s real issues and that tries to draw attention to them, rather than remaining as a platform that only transmits its own content.

2. BuzzFeed and Game of Thrones:
The ability to integrate will emerge as a key factor that leads native advertising to success. As a native advertising element, the partnership between BuzzFeed and Game of Thrones initiated a mini test application that exactly carries the interactive features, which the publisher has, and uses and sought the answer to “How would you die in Game of Thrones?”

3. Coca Cola and Spotify
It is important to appear transparently on the selected medium. The goal must be to enrich the consumer’s online experience, not interrupt it. Coca Cola’s native ad resulting from its partnership with Spotify, is a successful example where the brand has completely adapted to the medium’s nature and is presented in an unconventional way. Through Spotify, Coca Cola positions itself as a brand that is youth-focused, a trendsetter, and highly capable of adaptation. By effectively managing the usage of online services, it reinforces that it can still generate farseeing and innovative ideas.
An important benefit of being listed on Spotify’s personalized playlists, is that users will come back to that list again and again throughout the day. And they will be facing the Coca Cola image every time they open their lists.

4. Forbes and Gap International
Even if the brand remains on the back scene, authentic usage of a medium contributes to all parties participating in the ad. Native ads resulting from Forbes’ collaboration with various brands such as Gap International, enable sponsored news to be read as a separate tab of the site. For example, in a sponsored article, where the successful companies of the 21st century are featured, there is no mention of GAP’s founder or CEO (except the title and the link given). The focus of the news remains on the topic conveyed and does not let the reader feel as if the Forbes BrandVoice article is a deviation from journalism.