The Huffington Post and Branding their Content

Allison Gens

ag564012@ohio.edu

image: huffingtonpost.com

Known for its click-bait headlines, the Huffington Post, sometimes shortened to HuffPost, is just one of many publications turning to sponsored content over traditional ads.

In the article from Poynter, Jeff Sonderman writes, “[Advertisers] want to break out of the constrained 300-pixel display ad box that everyone’s eyes have learned to ignore, and leap into the stream of engaging content that readers actually pay attention to.”

This is exactly what is happening. Advertisers are promoting their product by transforming the ad into an article that blends in with the other content.

It also brings up the ethical question if sponsored content deceives the audience by blending it into the rest of the publication.

The Huffington Post, however, does something a little different. At HuffPost, the sponsored content is placed away from the rest of the content.

It is placed in a section called the “HuffPost PartnerStudio.”

What exactly is the HuffPost Partner Studio? 

According to The HuffPost Partner Studio’s page:

“HuffPost Partner Studio is a team of talented writers, editors, designers and strategists dedicated to helping our partners create quality branded content on The Huffington Post.

The staff at HuffPost Partner Studio work directly with brands to ensure that custom content reflects the brands’ goals while also maintaining the standards and voice that HuffPost readers know and love.”

So what does this mean?

It means the Huffington Post can satisfy both their audience and their sponsors. The content reflects the style of HuffPost content and still contains an advertisement.

Many times the sponsored content takes the form of a listical, similar to Buzzfeed’s sponsored content style. Of course, there are also videos and articles containing the ads.

Alongside the content, according an article from PBS, HuffPost lets the sponsor choose the banner ads that appear.

Ad or Article?

So what exactly is HuffPost sponsored content? Advertisement? Article? Both?

image: huffingtonpost.com

The sponsored content headline above was sponsored by Mucinex. It is in the form of a listical including popular cold/flu myths and gifs.

You can take a look at the listical by clicking here.

Ad? In the sponsored content, it says, “To put an end these common misconceptions, we’ve partnered with Mucinex, the brand that's all about putting an end to the misery of cold and flu symptoms.”

Here HuffPost is clearly stating that Mucinex is involved in the creation of the content that follows. Huff Post also throws in a sentence that promotes why Mucinex is a good product (“…putting an end to the misery…”).

Article? There is no doubt about it, the sponsored content does contain facts and editorial value. Also, Mucinex is not mentioned anywhere in the “breakdown” of the myths.

The content also cites sources from where HuffPost got the information. For example, “Denise Snyder, a nutrition scientist cited in a Duke Medicine article, says that loss of appetite is your body’s natural defense mechanism against fevers.”

One thing about the citations, however, is that none of the information came from interviews generated by HuffPost. Instead, they come from other news sources.

Another characteristic of the content is that story is something that could be done without a sponsor. This means the content does have some news value beyond being an ad for Mucinex.

Both? From looking at the sponsored content above, it can be determined that it holds value as both an ad and an article. It is just a matter of remembering that Mucinex paid HuffPost to do that story so people will read it and think about their brand.

In Conclusion

Sponsored content is a clever way to conceal brands within stories. It can successfully make the unsuspecting reader unaware that the content is an advertisement.

The Huffington Post, however, does not hide their sponsored content. Instead, distinguish it by placing it on its own section on the website and clearly mark it as sponsored. HuffPost has found a way to include sponsored content and not deceive the audience.