Content Challenges: When Advertising Looks Like Editorial

A recipe for successful advertising might include custom content.

For anyone who’s ever worked in the publishing or advertising business—whether custom or trade publishing or mass media—you’re more than familiar with the notion of “separation of church and state.” You see, back when advertisers had money to spend and editorial staffs were robust and inspired, there was a clear editorial directive not to mingle church—or “pure editorial”—with state—or “advertising messages.”  Advertisers had the privilege of reaching targeted readers with their advertising, but it had to clearly look like an ad and not content with an endorsement by the expert editor.

Times have changed in recent years. With dwindling advertising budgets, discontinued magazines and smaller magazine staffs, church and state have become more of a “community center,” diluting the purity of editorial with the infusion of edit-focused ads or advertising actually designed to work into a story layout. 

While this move infuriates many an editor and art director, the genesis of it is understandable: Content is king. It comes in many packages, and people want it all. So, if a food magazine runs a tomato sauce ad that looks like a magazine recipe, who knows—the reader may enjoy that just as much as a editorially featured recipe.

I know this sounds like heresy for an editor not to be outraged by the blurring line, but it’s simply because I see how custom content programs, now more than ever, can actually deliver what both readers and marketers desire. We develop content programs—for print and the Web—for a variety of clients, including Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Seminole Gaming and AAA of Michigan. These programs are precisely targeted to an audience that is loyal to the respective brand. They want to be inspired, they want to know what’s new, they want to learn how to enjoy and participate in that brand, and we actually are able to track their participation. While our content is, by nature, a mix of inspiration and “offerings,” it suits both stakeholders.  And, did I mention that the content is written and designed by award-winning professionals?

So, while consumer titles can arm wrestle through the church-and-state debate (or debacle), we at Pace are enjoying delivering award-winning content that fills both client and reader needs and is, by the way, measurable as a successful marketing tool.

Posted By: Leslie Dunne Sadler