Branded content, studios, opportunities

We in TheMarioBlog have often discussed “content studios” which, in a majority of cases, take over the duties that advertising agencies either have failed to do or are too late catching up with the demand for sponsored content. However, this may be starting to change.

That is why we are not at all surprised to read this piece in Digiday. It states that publishers are expanding their content studios to do more agency work. Enter Dotdash,, a digital media company that publishes articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, travel and education. It specializes in makiing service content that helps audiences. Now it thinks that it could go into the sponsored content business to serve advertisers.

I think this should be of great interest to newspaper publishers, the idea that there is a demand , a big appetite, for advertisers to promote their brands. And what we are seeing now is that non-newspaper companies, such as Dotdash, and others, are realizing that there is a market for them to serve with content. This was an interesting quote from the head of the Washington Post Brand Studio:

“We’re naturally becoming more than a content studio,” said Annie Granatstein, the head of WP Brand Studio, The Washington Post’s branded content operation, which has mostly eschewed white-labeling. “So naturally, they start coming to us with questions that are deeper than just a campaign.”

Also, it is interesting and not surprising to notice that :

“Digital is the most pervasive, mobile and low-cost way for [brands] to touch their audiences daily. But they need fresh, original content to do this, or they get stale,” said Ken Pasternak, the managing director of Marshall Strategy. “The white-labeling trend you’re seeing tells me many brands prefer to buy it rather than build it.”

So, I will see those newspaper-created content studios grow, but also face greater competition, including from advertising agencies that have long been slept at the wheel, but are now waking up to the realization that their bread and butter, writing advertising copy, can be more in demand and profitable than ever before.

Of related interest

Sponsored content: the promising new frontier (Part One)

http://www.garciamedia.com/blog/sponsored_content_the_promising_new_frontier_part_one

Sponsored content: who produces it? (Part Two)

http://www.garciamedia.com/blog/sponsored_content_who_produces_it

Sponsored content : how much to charge (Part Three)

http://www.garciamedia.com/blog/sponsored_content_how_much_to_charge_part_four

Sponsored content, getting started

http://www.garciamedia.com/blog/sponsored_content_getting_started_part_five

TheMarioBlog post #2925

The Mario Blog

Of related interest