PREDICTIONS FOR NATIVE ADVERTISING - Native Advertising Institute

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PREDICTIONS FOR NATIVE ADVERTISING - Native Advertising Institute
PREDICTIONS FOR
NATIVE ADVERTISING
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PREDICTIONS FOR NATIVE ADVERTISING - Native Advertising Institute
Table of Contents
                     #1 Anda Gansca              #19 Rickard Lawson

                                                                         
                    #2 Taj Forer                 #20 Irina Pashina
                    #3 Melanie Deziel            #21 Karsten Jentsch
                    #4 Erin Lanuti               #22 Pete Fergusson
                    #5 Kim Robertz               #23 Line Prasz
                    #6 Rita Orschiedt            #24 Ally Stuart
                     #7 Alex Erlmeier            #25 Benjamin Solomon
                    #8 Jeppe Madsbad Lauritzen   #26 Julien Mosse
                    #9 Stephanie Losee           #27 Maria Marteleur
                    #10 Joie Healy               #28 Pontus Staunstrup
                    #11 Chad Pollitt             #29 Jacob Stensdal,
                    #12 Annie Granatstein        #30 Mickael Ferreira,
                    #13 Hannah Meium             #31 Lauren Reddy
                    #14 Thomas Stokholm          #32 Lindsey Clarke
                    #15 Lon Otremba              #33 Susan Borst
                                                                                    TO
                                                                               AC K
                    #16 Nataša Šudelija          #34 Jesper Laursen       G O B PAG E
                                                                            THIS

                    #17 Johannes Ceh             #35 Ana Plisic
                    #18 Jonna Ekman              #36 Michael Villasenor
                                                                                         a
PREDICTIONS FOR NATIVE ADVERTISING - Native Advertising Institute
Introduction

2018 – We Are Ready for the Future of
Native Advertising. Question is: Are you?
As 2018 has just begun, we are all taking a step back                           While native advertising is still a somewhat adolescent
to reflect and look forward. With a new year comes new                          discipline, it’s a discipline that’s growing up fast and here at
opportunities, new silver linings, and new goals to strive for                  the Native Advertising Institute expectations are high for all
to become even more excellent than you were yesterday.                          the native advertising work we are going to see in 2018. Your
                                                                                work included.
And in order to develop your 2018 native advertising
moonshot strategy, it might be the time to take advice from                     Therefore, our hope is that this ebook will give you a gentle
your peers. This also applies to the peers that are related                     push in the right direction in terms of getting your mindset
to the native advertising industry - the NAI community.                         right and being ready to buckle up for what’s coming up next.

If you are planning on becoming a more glorious version of                      As this quote aptly puts it: “Dear Past, thank you for all the
yourself as a native ad practitioner in 2018, take a look at                    lessons. Dear Future, I am ready!!!”
these deep insights and reflections from renowned native
advertising professionals.                                                      Best wishes,

This ebook presents you with 36 predictions from native                         Jesper Laursen
advertising experts around the world who share what it takes                    Founder and CEO,
for you to become truly successful with native advertising in                   Native Advertising Institute
2018.

3   /   Published by: Native Advertising Institute   Editor: Johanne Eliasson   Design: Askan Thomas
PREDICTIONS FOR NATIVE ADVERTISING - Native Advertising Institute
Anda Gansca, CEO and Co-Founder, Knotch

Going back to being
human and more
content studios
I will go against the grain here and say that, as much as I am a technol-
ogist and want to believe that we should scale content production and
make it real time targeted, I actually believe that the power of native
advertising, to some extent, comes from the fact that it is so personal and
so immersive. So I actually think that a trend for 2018 will be going back
to being human, which means bigger campaigns that are higher touch
and a lot more personal to the audience.

Another trend — that is almost the opposite of this — is that we will see
brands building their own content studios. These content studios will
possibly be a little bit more nimble, creating more snackable content that
can scale. Then we will see a difference between the same brand working
with someone like the New York Times or big content partners that can
create a really immersive campaign, while at the same time focusing on
really cost-effective, snackable, scaleable content consumption internally.

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PREDICTIONS FOR NATIVE ADVERTISING - Native Advertising Institute
Taj Forer, Co-Founder and CEO, Fabl

                                                             Deeper, long-term
                                                             partnerships
                                                             I would say the biggest trend, and the one that I am most excited about, is
                                                             deeper partnerships between brands and publishers. What I see coming
                                                             in 2018 is a much deeper partnership where these relationships are
                                                             longer-term, where the experience of the content is higher touch, higher
                                                             value.

                                                             The volume of branded stories that are published as part of this cohesive
                                                             program grows and so does the value it creates for everyone. So I
                                                             think that these deeper partnerships — like branded content hubs and
                                                             microsites — is where things are going.

                                                             We will see a deeper investment from the brands and more dedication
                                                             from the native advertising studio to a single client. Then, at the end of
                                                             the day, the consumer has an ongoing experience of this content in a
                                                             series that they are made aware of, that they have a destination for, and
                                                             that they can expect and return to — just like they would to a magazine
                                                             coming out every month. So it’s all about a very beautiful, hybrid approach
                                                             to developing content, developing business, and then delivering
                                                             phenomenal experiences for consumers.

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PREDICTIONS FOR NATIVE ADVERTISING - Native Advertising Institute
Melanie Deziel, Branded Content Consultant, Speaker and Educator

Brands bringing value
in new formats
When I am looking into 2018, the biggest thing for me is seeing how
publisher content studios and brands will adapt to the new creative
opportunities that are available. Because every year we see more formats
coming into play and more ways for us to tell stories or communicate.
And every time a new format pops up, my question is always: How do we
natively integrate a brand into that experience. Is there a way?

Thinking about chatbots, for example, there is a lot of automated chat
function and messengers being used to communicate both editorially and
with brands. What’s the value that a brand can bring to that experience?
And how about 360 video, VR, Augmented Reality?

We are really starting to explore these in earnest on the editorial side, and
I think it’s exciting to see how brands are finding ways to bring value to all
those different environments. As a creator, I think it’s such a cool creative
challenge to ask ”What’s the best way for a brand to create value here?”

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PREDICTIONS FOR NATIVE ADVERTISING - Native Advertising Institute
Erin Lanuti, Chief Influence Strategist, MSL and Global
Lead, Conversation2Commerce

Expansion, business
impact and niche
influencers
One trend is that native is going to go into more formats and platforms
and expand to more countries. I am always shocked when I stumble on
a country where native doesn’t exist yet, or where it is nascent in its
adoption.

The second thing is to get data to link native advertising more to sales
and to sales impact. A lot of brands are still looking at native based on
clicks and cost-per-click, but we need to move it a step further and talk
about: What’s the business impact?

The third thing I would look at is the rise of niche influencers. There are
all these great influencers who are writing unbelievable content. How can
we leverage that content in partnership with native to target and scale it
in new ways?

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PREDICTIONS FOR NATIVE ADVERTISING - Native Advertising Institute
Kim Robertz, Head of Sales & Native Advertising,
                                                              Ebner Media Group

                                                             Getting out of the
                                                             walled garden
                                                             In my eyes, the trend in native advertising for 2018 is definitely that more
                                                             and more companies will join the native advertising family and find out
                                                             which business opportunities they have with this new marketing mix.

                                                             Something we all have to do, when we come up with individualised native
                                                             advertising campaigns for clients, is that we have to get out of the walled
                                                             garden. We have to start seeding content not only on our own platforms
                                                             but also spread it along the whole community to other platforms as well.
                                                             Otherwise, the clients won’t have the scaling effect.

8   /   www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com   /   36 Predictions for Native Advertising 2018                                             a
PREDICTIONS FOR NATIVE ADVERTISING - Native Advertising Institute
Rita Orschiedt, Head of Branded Content, ze.tt

Native advertising
will rise – and change
At ze.tt, we started with sponsored posts, text only. However, as we
see it, globally the need for audiovisual content and also podcasts will
rise significantly, so we are implementing branded video and branded
podcasts and we see many others doing the same.

Display advertising is on the decline, which might mean that native
advertising is on the rise again in 2018. However, it will also change
because the social landscape is always changing.

Facebook is changing quite significantly for us as publishers because
organic reach has been downgraded. We have to figure out how we can
still reach our users with sponsored content, which is going to be more
expensive now that there is not much organic reach. So we have to put a
lot of budget and targeting into it.

I think native is certainly vital in the present and I’m pretty sure it will also
be in the future.

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PREDICTIONS FOR NATIVE ADVERTISING - Native Advertising Institute
Alex Erlmeier, Managing Director, Central Europe, Outbrain

                                                             More programmatic
                                                             to achieve ROI
                                                             The first trend will be growth. Native advertising is now skyrocketing,
                                                             at least here in Europe — We still have to catch up with the US. This is
                                                             a very good trend because it allows for more innovations and yet more
                                                             trends.

                                                             Another trend is definitely that native is going more programmatic,
                                                             and I think it is a good trend, because it will allow agencies and bigger
                                                             marketers to combine the effectiveness of native advertising with
                                                             the efficiency of the old tactics. So it will allow you to get your native
                                                             placement out there at scale to a broader audience and ultimately
                                                             achieve ROI with your native advertising.

10   /   www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com   /   36 Predictions for Native Advertising 2018                                              a
Jeppe Madsbad Lauritzen, Nordic Marketing Director, Santander Consumer Bank

Finding a common
mission
I think the most important trend in 2018 will be media and brands finding
a common mission when producing native advertising on a media
platform. There should be a better dialogue between the media houses
and the brands. Right now, we see media houses building up in-house
content studios and they are, of course, driven by the fact that they see
commercial business.

However, it is important to focus on the real mission, which is to create
great content and distribute in in the right way and through that, make
money. If the media houses focus only on the money, we will not be able
to create good native advertising.

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Stephanie Losee, Head of Content, VISA

                                                             A shift in
                                                             measurement
                                                             The trends I see for native in 2018 include a shift in measurement. I
                                                             think that publishers are understanding that what they have at hand are
                                                             publisher metrics, but they have to tie them to a shift in reputation if
                                                             that is what a brand is looking for, a shift in perceptions or as I thought
                                                             about a lot when I was at Politico — a shift in policy. Did the campaign
                                                             achieve that shift?

                                                             Those are tougher questions to answer, so I think publishers are trying
                                                             to find ways to answer that greater question of ”What did I want to
                                                             achieve with this native ad campaign?”

12   /   www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com   /   36 Predictions for Native Advertising 2018                                               a
Joie Healy, Corporate Social Media Lead, Cisco

Social media, influencer
marketing, and real
time stories
I think in 2018, we are going to see a lot more native on social media like
Snapchat and Instagram Stories. I think companies are getting really smart
at how they are delivering messages through those different platforms.

Another thing that is going to be big — it is already pretty prominent — is
a lot of influencer marketing. More use of influencers to help you tell your
story and having them share on their own platforms because they have
a bigger audience. Whether it is a tech influencer or somebody in the
marketing field, I think it is important to identify those individuals who are
going to help you build your brand and the messaging around it.

I also think real time stories and quick turn stories are going to be more
prominent. I think a lot of companies are doing it right now, but the
companies that are doing it well are going to rise to the top. So being able
to have — within a company — maybe a little agency that can quickly turn
around content that is relevant to them will be valuable.

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Chad Pollitt, Native advertising expert, CMO influencer,
                                                              and keynote speaker

                                                             Blockchain and AI
                                                             The newest and perhaps most exciting trend that is beginning to crop
                                                             up is blockchain. It is the technological foundation for today’s crypto
                                                             currencies. Its impact will be significantly felt in the programmatic native
                                                             world – driving down costs, while eliminating waste and fraud. It’s
                                                             likely we will see a torrent of blockchain startups specialising in online
                                                             marketing and advertising in 2018.

                                                             Artificial intelligence (AI) will continue its proliferation into the native
                                                             space and the analytics we use to measure it. We are seeing AI, machine
                                                             learning and/or natural language processing being used in programmatic
                                                             native solutions as well as influencer advertising solutions. Many of the
                                                             most successful demand side platforms (DSPs) have some form of AI
                                                             already integrated. 2018 will be the year supply side platforms (SSPs) will
                                                             start to embrace AI en masse.

                                                             In addition, there’s a new wave of AI-driven analytics cropping up in 2018.
                                                             These solutions will completely disrupt the traditional tools many are used
                                                             to using, such as Google Analytics and Adobe Omniture. These will allow
                                                             marketers to be more choosy with how they spend their native ad dollars,
                                                             thus maximising return.

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Annie Granatstein, Head of WP BrandStudio at The Washington Post

Personalisation and
immersive experiences
One trend is personalisation. The more you can make the content be
tailored to an individual reader the better and there are several ways to
do thist. You can have personalised content delivered within ad units that
are operating on algorithms that know what kind of content readers are
most interested in, whether it is video, infographics, or articles. Another
is to actually ask the audience and have their answers determine what
content is delivered to them. However, you have to be careful that you
don’t make it a barrier to entry to the content or you’ll lose a lot of the
audience. You should allow them to also scroll into the content at will.

I will also say immersive experiences. Taking you reader and putting them
inside the story where they really think it’s surrounding them. It is not
a new trend, but I think the technology around how you tell immersive
experiences is evolving by the second.

Another trend that is getting more and more esteemed is gleaning your
own first-party data and then feeding that into your content. If you have
your own data to collect, then whatever you have to say using that data
will never have been said before.

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Hannah Meium, Director of Content, DDB

                                                             More rigour around
                                                             disclosure
                                                             The trend we can probably expect in 2018 for native advertising is seeing
                                                             it in more places. I think that when Facebook Live first launched, they
                                                             then figured out how brands are going to be on there. We are seeing
                                                             publishers creating custom shows for Facebook Watch now, and l
                                                             anticipate that, pretty soon, Facebook will figure out how brands can be
                                                             incorporated into that as well.

                                                             Another trend that I hope we will see is more rigour around disclosures.
                                                             Currently, there are guidelines about how we are supposed to disclose
                                                             native advertising, but there aren’t set rules for what it should say. So
                                                             some publications will say ”paid content”, some will say ”paid post”, and
                                                             some will say ”sponsored”. I think this leads to confusion and mistrust, so
                                                             I hope that there will be more rigour and structure around it so it can be
                                                             more consistent from publisher to publisher.

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Thomas Stokholm, Creative Director at Story Studio, Ekstra Bladet

Breaking native
and working closer
“Breaking Native” could and should be trending for publishers in 2018.
High-end native content in the centre of context for users and readers
can easily supply traditional news production with valuable in-depth
information and digital tools.

Working with breaking native also enables content providers to
produce ahead of schedule, aligning with known calendar events and
expected quarterly events.

Odds are that native content moving up the page, competing with
news articles and clips, also will force both editorial and commercial
teams to work closer together to secure best daily practice and
transparency both in-house and, most importantly, to our customers.

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Lon Otremba, CEO, Bidtellect

                                                             No wall between
                                                             content creation and
                                                             content distribution
                                                             In 2018, the barrier between content creation and content distribution will
                                                             finally come down. Brands have already begun to move toward content-
                                                             first strategies and away from offer-driven marketing, but 2018 will be a
                                                             truly transitional year.

                                                             Right now, content creation and content distribution (native advertising)
                                                             often exist in silos, preventing one from influencing the other and causing
                                                             marketers to miss a significant opportunity when it comes to their content
                                                             marketing strategy and execution.

                                                             With the two pieces linked, marketers can gather behavioural insights
                                                             from distribution campaigns and feed them back into their creation
                                                             strategy, leading to smarter, more valuable content for consumers.
                                                             Creating and distributing high-quality content will help advertisers move
                                                             away from an “offer-driven” approach and create an overall optimised
                                                             experience for the end user.

18   /   www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com   /   36 Predictions for Native Advertising 2018                                             a
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Nataša Šudelija, Head of Native Advertising, 24sata

Brands will understand
that native is now
I wish I could say that VR and AR will become mainstream and that brands
will see how native advertising is more effective than TV ads. But that is
just wishful thinking, at least in Croatia.

What I can say is that 2018 will be the year when brands truly understand
that native advertising is the NOW and that they better hitch their wagon
to this star. They will realise that no other form of advertising can build
that kind of a connection to their brand like native can.

Will they try to interfere in the end product and put their logo and product
wherever they can? Yes. Educating the market is also going to be a big
part of our tasks for 2018. Nevertheless, native ads are going to become
a normal part of every serious brand advertising strategy, allowing
publishers to do what they do best: engage with their audience.

As a response to that, we will see more creative and engaging content
that will be more multimedia and multi-platform in nature. Storytelling and
creativity will beat pushy, irrelevant and tacky forms of advertising and
restore advertising’s good name.

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Johannes Ceh, Content Strategist and Consultant

                                              No longer a buzzword
                                                  Decision makers will get a wider understanding of the impact
                                                  native advertising can have for their business. Native will no
                                                  longer be understood as a single discipline or a buzzword.

                                                  With a smart planning and execution, native can drive
                                                  growth and be an accelerator of human-centric company
                                                  transformation. With that understanding, native is a sustaining
                                                  investment in customer experience and a company’s future.

                                                  Jonna Ekman, Marketing Manager, Kit.se

                                                  Telling stories
                                                  through video
                                                  As has everyone else, we see that video is growing really fast.
                                                  Brands are increasingly understanding that video is a good way
                                                  to tell stories, so that is a trend that I think will grow even more
                                                  in 2018.

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Rickard Lawson, Managing Director, Strossle Norway

Focus on collaborative efforts
2017 was a turnaround year for understanding that simply disrupting your
audience was not the same as getting their positive attention. 2018 will
take us further down this path, but it will be driven by something that
is still an unfamiliar concept for many businesses: it will be fuelled by
collaborative efforts.

In an economy so dominated by Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon,
aka “The Four”, competing on technology or data is simply not feasible.
The remaining alternatives are: get squashed or start thinking outside the
box!

If you are entering the new year with any of the following flaws you are
most likely going to end 2018 with a weaker market position, or you won’t
make it the end of 2018 at all:

     • You don’t have quality information about what your consumers want,
        or you are reliant on a third party to get that data.
     • You consider yourself untouchable in your market because it is limited
        by either language or cultural barriers.
     • You’re focusing your efforts on maximising your profits when talking to
        your suppliers and vendors.

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Irina Pashina, Senior Director, Content Strategy
                                                             & Customer Experience, SAP Marketing

                                                             Customer experience
                                                             will take centre stage
                                                             Customer experience is the key brand differentiator and driver of business
                                                             results. The commitment to compelling customer experience will take
                                                             more centre stage in native advertising in 2018. Providing value and
                                                             relevant content in every interaction will be a prerequisite for the success
                                                             of native advertising efforts. The truly audience-centric and patient
                                                             professionals and brands committed to serving their customers at every
                                                             step of the journey will win.

                                                             We will see a clearer focus on tying native advertising to tangible
                                                             business results in the context of the end-to-end customer experience.
                                                             “Have native advertising initiatives met the business objectives set
                                                             upfront?” will become a more standard question paving the way to more
                                                             meaningful insights about the effectiveness of native advertising.

                                                             Reader’s trust is a scarce commodity in times of fake news and general
                                                             distrust. Earning and rebuilding it will remain a challenge in 2018.
                                                             Delivering honest, accurate, high-quality content consistently must be a
                                                             priority and the way forward for both brands and publishers.

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Karsten Jentsch, Vice President of TV Sites & Verticals,
RTL Interactive GmbH

Growth of video content
In 2018, we will experience further growth, especially in relation to
branded video content. The demand and consumption of video content
will rise with telecommunication companies and platform operators further
providing the means for this growth by offering faster and cheaper data
tariffs as well as video-centric platform features.

The challenge for video content producers and publishers will be
to properly serve that demand by producing highly engaging video
content that is custom made for audience and platform. Publishers with
professional video production units, capable of producing everything from
TV to 360 and VR content, will be well prepared to master this challenge.

The rise of video consumption will offer great opportunities for branded
stories - especially when combining a great story with the right video
format according to platform and audience. For this to happen, marketing,
adtech and sales will need to work more closely with video content
publishers, offering the optimal end to end production and distribution of
branded video content.

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Pete Fergusson, Owner and CEO, Nemorin
                                                             Creative Film & Video

                                                             Focus on labeling and
                                                             more experimentation
                                                             Native advertising and branded content is not going anywhere. It is a
                                                             rapidly growing market and 2018 is all set to be a very exciting year.
                                                             Native still needs to find its feet, though, it is still in an early stage. So
                                                             perhaps we’ll see more experimentation and trial and error.

                                                             For me, I think we have really got to work on the labelling. It’s too messy
                                                             at the moment, it is not consistent and, I think, ultimately that could be
                                                             dangerous because we will potentially alienate the audience. Once that is
                                                             settled, we are all set for a very exciting 2018.

25   /   www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com   /   36 Predictions for Native Advertising 2018                                                  a
Line Prasz, Commercial Editor, Politiken

A focus on sales
In 2018, sales will get a lot more attention. More ‘hybrids’, with insights
in both content and sales, will be hired exclusively to sell native as
more publishers will establish their own inhouse-units functioning as
independent bureaus. It is a trend that has been going on for a while, but
now we are beginning to see which models work and which don’t.

Besides, in countries like Denmark, where true native is fairly unexplored,
I believe that more brands will begin to grasp the importance of telling
real stories that do not necessarily revolve around a product or service
but offer real value for users.

It may sound banale, but the conflict between content producers’
ambitions, the limits of the publisher, and the visions and courage of
the brands is often still one of the main challenges. I think that the gap
between the different ways of thinking will be reduced in 2018.

That said, data, new tech possibilities and new ways of integrating native
in the publishers’ editorial space will continue to be the way forward.

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Ally Stuart, Managing Director, EMEA at Sharethrough

                                                             Increase in liquidity
                                                             across programmatic
                                                             In 2017, we saw native display become ubiquitous across every major
                                                             DSP. As a result, in 2018 will see liquidity increase across the program-
                                                             matic native ecosystem – particularly as advertisers and publishers now
                                                             understand that native is as easy to run as any traditional ad format, and
                                                             is the only viable option for mobile.

                                                             Demand for native outstream will spearhead native’s growth, helping
                                                             spend reach an estimated $59.35bn. With nearly infinite potential out-
                                                             stream supply, the video platforms that treat outstream and instream dif-
                                                             ferently will see the most success.

                                                             2018 will also see header bidding impact native in a massive way. Publish-
                                                             ers can now run native and display bidders in competition for the same
                                                             ad placements, allowing them to transition a once display-only strategy
                                                             towards native. Higher average CPMs and better user experiences, along
                                                             with the ongoing transition of audiences to mobile, will see major publish-
                                                             ers move towards to a native-first approach to monetisation. The explo-
                                                             sion in supply from header bidding, alongside the maturing buy side, will
                                                             see native finally become the standard for display advertising as a whole
                                                             – in 2018 and beyond.
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Benjamin Solomon, Director of Creative Development,
Vox Creative at Vox Media

Longer Content Formats
for Millennials
Forget all the misguided stereotypes about Millennials and Gen Z-ers
you’ve heard: they will watch more than six seconds in 2018.

In the last year, these audiences have begun to eschew the snackable
native video that was everywhere in 2017 in favour of content that provides
valuable context needed to understand our increasingly complex world.

This is a massive opportunity for native advertisers.

Those who serve native experiences that empower audiences to “go
deeper” into their obsessions will be handsomely rewarded in 2018 via
powerful time spent with their brand. Millennials and Gen Z-ers are hungry
for more than short form indulgence. Nourish them!

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Julien Mosse, COO, Ligatus Group

                                                             Marketers will
                                                             regain trust
                                                             In 2017, native programmatic took off, but with it came concerns of trans-
                                                             parency and brand safety. This caused many marketers to wonder if the
                                                             digital ad world is a safe place for their brands. Particularly in the age of
                                                             programmatic where algorithms determine where ads are placed and who
                                                             potentially sees them. In 2018 we will see programmatic “clean-up”.

                                                             Marketers will regain trust and continue to take advantage of the ability
                                                             to use precision targeting and embrace the possibilities of programmatic
                                                             native. But with a difference of not only focusing on audience, but more so
                                                             in adjacency.

                                                             It pays for brands to be alongside publisher content that fits well with their
                                                             brands and the audiences who are likely to be interested in their brands.
                                                             Marketers will look for more trusted and qualitative publisher networks.
                                                             And publishers will demand higher quality standards from partners.

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Maria Marteleur, Founder, CEO and Digital Strategist,
Storstad Medieproduktion

Inviting customers into
the mind of the brand
All businesses start with an entrepreneur having one single idea on how
to solve a specific problem. Entrepreneurs know that their creativity and
ability to produce a product will help create a strong and trustworthy
brand – in the long run.

But, there is a problem. The knowledge about the product is often a
“business secret” and customers don’t know it’s brilliance. They are
seldom invited to the workshop or the garage where the product is
created. That’s a big marketing mistake. We live in a different society now
where transparency is key to the customers’ beating hearts. So, what can
marketers do? Easy. Show them the product in the making and the people
behind. The workshop is the key to a brand’s personality. That’s where the
magic happens.

I’d love to see brands showing customers why their product is needed.
Using AI, VR and eyetracking to add a great storytelling perspective
this should be child’s play. So, invite the customer into the mind of “The
Brand”. Just. Do. It. Now. That will trend in native advertising in 2018.

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Pontus Staunstrup, Digital Strategist

                                                             Brands will embrace
                                                             native video
                                                             I’m hoping that 2018 will be a breakthrough year for video in native adver-
                                                             tising — in the sense that brands embrace it more. While there are com-
                                                             panies that already get the advantage of visual content, too many still see
                                                             text as the default format.

                                                             Video, and especially video that’s created with an understanding of social
                                                             media, offers a lot of exciting possibilities for brands, publishers and audi-
                                                             ence. Here’s to 2018 being a year for great visual storytelling.

31   /   www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com   /   36 Predictions for Native Advertising 2018                                             a
Jacob Stensdal, Content Marketing Manager, Jyllands-Posten

More vivid native stories
and cross-media campaigns
In 2018, vivid native stories will become more widespread through
authentic pictures, music, videos, quizzes, infographics, VR etc. The
content will, to a greater extent, engage the consumer and create true
value for them. This will happen due to the graphical improvement, but
also due to an improvement in the quality of the content. The native
stories will be more “true native”, as the advertiser has less need to talk
about themselves and their products. Instead, the content will deal with
a challenge that the target group has, and indirectly this will create a
demand for the products of the advertiser.

Furthermore, we will see more cross-media campaigns which will take
place across different media and platforms. Again, this will make the
stories more vivid, but it will also ensure the advertisers a better reach
through their campaigns.

Last but not least, we will see a standardisation of the products and the
terms within native advertising, from the publishers. Hopefully, this will
make it easier for the advertisers to relate to this type of marketing.

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Mickael Ferreira, Co-Founder and CEO, Quantum Advertising

                                                             Technology and
                                                             creativity will unleash
                                                             potential of native
                                                             Marketers now have a real opportunity to tell the story of their brand and
                                                             showcase their products to curated audiences. We are already seeing
                                                             more fluidity in terms of execution and an increased number of dedicat-
                                                             ed native strategies; these help maintain a synergy between the market
                                                             stakeholders (advertisers, agencies, publishers and technology vendors).

                                                             Branded content and designs, executed programmatically, allow native
                                                             creatives to come to life and brands to achieve higher quality ads, more
                                                             meaningful engagements with consumers and better overall results.

                                                             Today’s “always-connected” users represent a huge opportunity for con-
                                                             tent providers and brands to come together and create unique experienc-
                                                             es. At Quantum, we believe that delivering non-intrusive and innovative
                                                             formats is key to better communicate and engage with customers. Put
                                                             simply, native in true form brings new standards to advertising.

33   /   www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com   /   36 Predictions for Native Advertising 2018                                              a
Lauren Reddy, Director of Audience Development, New York Times

A renewed focus
on great storytelling
There is so much excitement about new technologies, AR, and VR, but I
actually think, rather than some hot new trend, 2018 is really going to be
about a renewed focus on great storytelling.

Regardless of the technology you are using, the underpinning of any
excellent campaign that will connect with the readers is a great story.

And I think, rather than getting excited by new technology or new formats,
there really needs to be a renewed focus on excellent stories that are
going to connect with readers.

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Lindsey Clarke, Managing Director, Nativo

                                                             Native videos in
                                                             vertical formats
                                                             Like that buzz in your ear that is so insistent that you don’t even realise
                                                             when it’s gone, thankfully we don’t hear that 2018 will be “The Year of Mo-
                                                             bile” anymore. We now live in a mobile-first world.

                                                             In 2017, mobile accounted for 59.9% of all online traffic. In 2018, this
                                                             growth will accelerate and will impact advertising in major ways. For
                                                             example, we used to refer to advertising that appears in the feed and sur-
                                                             rounded by content as native ads. In mobile, everything is in the feed.

                                                             Native advertising has become just advertising. But the feed is still a sa-
                                                             cred ground for consumers and publishers alike. Interruptive user experi-
                                                             ences are even more unacceptable. Advertising will need to earn the right
                                                             to stay in the feed by delivering value to consumers while supporting the
                                                             unique experience the publisher is creating.

                                                             As a result, in 2018 advertisers will increase their investment in content
                                                             strategies, and much of that content will come in the form of native video
                                                             produced and delivered in vertical formats. And because native advertis-
                                                             ing provides such a powerful user experience, look for legislators to enact
                                                             stricter consumer protections.
35   /   www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com   /   36 Predictions for Native Advertising 2018                                          a
Susan Borst, Deputy Director, Mobile, IAB

Greater use of video
and user-generated
content
It is encouraging to see studies that show that more brands are now
thinking about native content ads as a planned part of their marketing
communications versus one-off efforts. With virtually every publisher
offering content solutions via in-house content studios, there are more
options than ever for brands to develop content designed to engage with
consumers in more authentic, relevant and “native” ways.

In 2018, we will see an even greater use of video and user-generated
content as part of a brand’s storytelling approach. And we will continue to
see influencer marketing as a way to help augment native content efforts.

Disclosure will remain of paramount importance. It is important that
marketers be aware of all FTC guidance related to both native and
influencer campaigns.

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Jesper Laursen, Founder and CEO,
                                                             Native Advertising Institute

                                                             Brands will
                                                             take control
                                                             Much of native advertising campaigns and projects have been run by
                                                             agencies and publishers. In 2018 we’ll see more brands taking control for
                                                             the following reasons:

                                                             •   Because they can. Social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn
                                                                 are expanding their different educational offerings making it easier for
                                                                 brands to actually know what to do. At the same time, more and more
                                                                 native ad platforms like Outbrain and Storigize are building self-service
                                                                 solutions for brands to tap into.

                                                             •   Because they know how. Brands are hiring more and more content
                                                                 savvy people. It really began with the growth of content marketing and
                                                                 the trend continues with content distribution.

                                                             •   Because they should. Not always, but in many cases, it makes more
                                                                 sense for a brand to be in the driver’s seat - provided they have the
                                                                 capabilities. They can think more strategically and focus on the broad-
                                                                 er picture building an audience as opposed to just running a specific
                                                                 campaign. And they can save money.

37   /   www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com   /   36 Predictions for Native Advertising 2018                                            a
Ana Plisic, Editorial Director, Hanza Media Native Ad Studio

                                                  Native Advertising
                                                  is going global
                                                  Native advertising is going to be a really big thing — and
                                                  not just in Europe or in the US. I have also seen a lot of
                                                  great work in the Philippines and in India as well.
                                                  So native advertising is definitely going global.

                                                  Michael Villasenor, Executive Creative Director, Hearst

                                                  Snackable 360 videos
                                                  I think, in 2018, the emerging space of 360 video will become even
                                                  bigger, now that most platforms support it such as Facebook and
                                                  YouTube. And then publishers themselves using third party platforms to
                                                  build these experiences.

                                                  We are going to see, I think, an emergence of what we can call
                                                  “snackable 360 video”. The opportunity to interact with the scene and
                                                  the environment that a brand can bring to life in a really easy way.

38   /   www.nativeadvertisinginstitute.com   /   36 Predictions for Native Advertising 2018                               a
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