What is branded content?
In today’s digital age, advertisers are looking for innovative ways to market a product or service to their target audience. The traditional display and banner ads just won’t do.
Newspapers are now allowing ads on the covers of magazines, and advertisers may even sponsor an article or two. However, the most controversial method of advertising is branded content, a marketing technique that creates the illusion that there is regular editorial content.
This practice increases the credibility of the advertiser by blending in advertisements with the newspaper's already established credibility.
Advertising Ethics Principles and Practices
Listed in Principles and Practices for Advertising Ethics are nine basic principles in which people working in the field of advertising, PR, or corporate communications should follow.
Principle 1: Advertising, public relations, marketing communications, news, and editorial all share a common objective of truth and high ethical standards in serving the public.
Principle 2: Advertising, public relations, and all marketing communications professionals have an obligation to exercise the highest personal ethics in the creation and dissemination of commercial information to consumers.
Principle 3: Advertisers should clearly distinguish advertising, public relations, and corporate communications from news and editorial content and entertainment, both online and offline.
Principle 4: Advertisers should clearly disclose all material conditions, such as payment or receipt of a free product, affecting endorsements in social and traditional channels, as well as the identity of endorsers, all in the interest of full disclosure and transparency.
Principle 5: Advertisers should treat consumers fairly based on the nature of the audience to whom the ads are directed, and the nature of the product or service advertised.
Principle 6: Advertisers should never compromise consumers’ personal privacy in marketing communications, and their choices as to whether to participate in providing their information should be transparent and easily made.
Principle 7: Advertisers should follow federal, state, and local advertising laws, and cooperate with industry self-regulatory programs for the resolution of advertising practices.
Principle 8: Advertisers and their agencies, and online and offline media, should discuss privately potential ethical concerns, and members of the team creating ads should be given permission to express internally their ethical concerns.
Principle 9: Trust between advertising and public relations business partners, including clients, and their agencies, media vendors, and third-party suppliers, should be built upon transparency and full disclosure of business ownership and arrangements, agency remuneration, and rebates, and media incentives.
Now, you could carefully analyze all nine principles of the Institute for Advertising Ethics Principles and Practices, or you could pay close attention to the one I carefully highlighted in that gorgeous shade of yellow.
Advertisers should clearly distinguish advertising, public relations, and corporate communications from news and editorial content.
Some journalists believe that the newsroom should not collaborate with advertisers to disguise their content. This stance is fueled by the most basic value in journalism, to preserve their objectivity.
According to the Society of Professional Journalists, journalists should avoid conflicts of interest. Hybrid advertisements can shape the motives and goals of a news organization by informing the public through unbiased reporting. This can affect the credibility of a journalist or news organization by appearing to be profit-oriented or a bought-and-paid-for-publication.
If branded content is so bad why do reputable papers use it?
You may be wondering why major papers and magazines like The New York Times and The Atlantic use branded content in their articles if the basic principles for advertisers and journalists are pushing for objectivity and boundaries when it comes to marketed content.
However, if it is done correctly it should reduce backlash and potential harm for both the readers and the credibility of the organization that released it. There are rules and guidelines for branded content.
The rules and guidelines explain how to distinguish editorial content from sponsored content, giving full disclosure to their readers on what type of article they are about to consume. News organizations like The New York Times also make sure their journalists are not the ones creating the promotional content, ultimately remaining objective and trustworthy.
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