MediaBrix: Identify ads as ads, not content

Default Image

“This study validates that people respond best to authenticity in advertising no matter the format. With the recent buzz around ‘native’ ad formats, I think we need to carefully consider best practices,” said Ari Brandt, CEO for MediaBrix. “While anyone pushing the native ad agenda or otherwise would agree that we need to provide user experiences that are not jarring or disruptive, we also need to ensure that we are direct and honest with consumers about when they are being marketed to. Some formats achieve this better than others.”

Here are some interesting takeaways:

• 62% who have seen ‘promoted’ tweets say those messages have negatively impacted their brand perception
• 72% say Facebook’s ‘sponsored stories’ have negatively impacted their brand perception
• 85% say the same about sponsored video content

The biggest complaint from consumers is that these types of ads are misleading; consumers are saying the same about printed advertorials.

While content like this that is identified as an ad can be beneficial and might be seen as engaging to some consumers, the cut-off seems to be content-type ads that aren’t identified as ad copy. Instead, MediaBrix suggests brands move to more engaging, interactive ads which are relevant to the consumer base – which means targeting is important.

Another recent MediaBrix survey found that, in mobile especially, ads in natural breaks in games or apps gave the most added value to the experience and, therefore, were the most engaging.

Share:
Share

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kristina Knight-1
Kristina Knight, Journalist , BA
Content Writer & Editor
linkedin
Kristina Knight is a freelance writer with more than 15 years of experience writing on varied topics. Kristina’s focus for the past 10 years has been the small business, online marketing, and banking sectors, however, she keeps things interesting by writing about her experiences as an adoptive mom, parenting, and education issues. Kristina’s work has appeared with BizReport.com, NBC News, Soaps.com, DisasterNewsNetwork, and many more publications.