Native ad to appear on next Forbes cover

A native ad for Fidelity will appear on the cover of the latest issue of Forbes, which hits newsstands on Monday, reports Michael Sebastian of Advertising AGe.

Sebastian writes, “The Fidelity ad on Forbes’ cover teases an infographic about retirement, which is the editorial theme of the issue. Fidelity paid for the two-page infographic to appear in the issue as part of a larger ad buy with Forbes that includes print and digital.

“‘We view this as strong content that’s part of the retirement package,’ said Mark Howard, Forbes Media’s chief revenue officer. Forbes’ brand newsroom, a department that works with advertisers to create content, helped produce the infographic, he added.

“But Fidelity did not pay a premium for the cover treatment, according to Mr. Howard. Instead, it was a byproduct of the deal — something people in media and marketing call ‘added value’ for the client. The decision to include the cover line came from Forbes Chief Product Officer Lewis D’Vorkin.

“‘Lewis deemed it was appropriate for Fidelity to be called out on the cover just like any other great piece of content would be,’ said Mr. Howard, who declined to discuss the terms of the deal.”

Read more here.