Native Advertising: The Subtlest Advertising in Your Everyday

As a form of marketing, native adverts are all around. Some of the obvious ones jump out as advertising to the consumer, even if they may not know that it is termed as such, while many times brands work their way into our subconscious without our knowledge. In fact, according to Copyblogger’s 2014 status report, 49 percent of respondents don’t know what native advertising is; 24 percent are hardly familiar with it; another 24 percent are somewhat familiar; and only 3 percent of respondents are very knowledgeable. So for those who are still unsure of what native advertising is, Script Consultants has compiled a list of everyday examples.

The following are a few which you probably already know of:

Google AdWords

Businesses pay Google to have their websites appear even above the most relevant searches on the search results page when a related search is made.

eBay Stores Promoted Listings

This feature is very similar to Google AdWords, but sellers pay for the ads only when a purchase is made, rather than based on the number of clicks made by customers who are simply browsing.

Facebook Suggested Posts

Marketers pay to have ads appear in the newsfeed of users which suggest posts from their page, even if it may be unrelated to the connections and interests of said user.

While the above are prominently labelled as advertisement, some forms of native advertising matches the form and function of the third party platform it appears on so well, its advertising function is hidden from view:

Product Placement in Television Serials and Movies

Aston Martins created the DB10 especially for the latest Bond film, Spectre, and allowed the crew to destroy US$37 million worth of cars for the film. This year, one of the DB10s will be auctioned off at a premium price, capitalising on its exclusive ties to the 007 series.

Infeed Ads

Infeed ad links push readers to content on their own sites or to other publishing sites, sometimes based on its relationship to the content of interest.

Brand Awareness

Ads that aim to create brand awareness do not have a specific call to action asking people to make a purchase or to click on a link. Rather, they exist as an unimportant part of the editorial – even if the brand name were to be removed, it would still fit the style of the publication.

Written by: (www.script.com.sg) Edited & Illustrated by: Script Consultants Pte Ltd (Singapore).