The Washington Post's new chief Jeff Bezos has revealed native ads will soon form part of its print offering, while locally News Corp has said it would “consider” the strategy. But can native ads work offline?
Bezos, the man behind Amazon, said the paper will offer native ad units – sponsor generated pieces that resemble editorial content – to advertisers.
While questions have been raised about the potential effectiveness of such a strategy, one expert has said locally News Corp and Fairfax would be “crazy” not to consider a new revenue stream in print.
Native advertising is essentially advertising material which focuses on engaging content rather than interruptive ads. In an online publishing environment it is often the same people who write content for a site that write the native ads.
But Bezos' move could be a game-changer, and might signal a whole new revenue stream for the print industry. While these ads will be marked “sponsor generated content”, the idea is that their editorial-like structure will provide a less interruptive experience for consumers, and that the paper will be able to charge advertisers a premium for the privilege.
Native advertising has been adopted far more in the US than it has locally, and traditionally native ads have been more closely associated with the online space. But can the format work in print, and will a similar strategy be adopted by Australian publishers?
A News Corp Australia spokesperson said in a statement: “Native advertising is something we have done in the past and would consider again if a client requested it.” While this makes it clear News Corp is at least open to the notion, it does not look like the company sees native advertising in the same light as Bezos.
Meanwhile, Fairfax had not provided comment about native advertising at the time of writing.
The Sound Alliance chief executive Neil Ackland, whose company specialises in digital native advertising, expressed a mixed sentiment about native ads in print.
“Will readers finding it jarring or compromising? My guess is probably not. It's an interesting move, a bold move. As for whether News or Fairfax should adopt this strategy, I think that any new revenue opportunity they can drive in print should be explored. They'd be crazy not to have a good hard look at it.”
However, he went on to express scepticism as to whether the strategy would work. “One of the things we think makes native advertising stand apart is the social aspect, where people can read and share, but print does not allow for that. It takes a bit of the appeal away. It does feel like native belongs in digital.
“It would be interesting to see some examples of what The Post is going to do. There is also the question of who will be creating this native advertising? The journalists, or a separate team. We find that one of the reasons why native ads work online is that it is usually the editors of content who are also creating the native ads, so it means this content fits seamlessly with the tone and voice and isn't interruptive. Instead of an interruptive ad, people get access to good content which just happens to be driven by a brand.
"But can this work at The Post? The journalists should be writing the native ads, and you can't have that church and state separation, but church and state is so much stronger in print so I'm not sure how they could break that down.
“The tone of voice of The Post is also more serious, with an older audience. We find younger readers are less concerned about who is driving content, as long as it is good content they don't care if a brand is behind it, and native seems to be more effective in a pop culture environment.”
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