Wired letting advertisers mingle message with editorial content

Lucia Moses of Adweek write about how Wired magazine is letting advertisers sponsor blogs and become more involved in the editorial content.

Moses writes, ” A prominent example is Wired, which is running ad-sponsored blogs that let advertisers commingle their messages with editorial content. One that’s now on Wired.com is Cloudline, sponsored by IBM. It’s edited by Jon Stokes, a Wired freelancer who’s the blog’s main contributor. But IBM has a big role in it too, with branding on the site and executives contributing posts.

“Wired publisher Howard Mittman says the topics started as Wired editorial ideas that needed ad support and were not generated by the advertisers themselves, as would be the case with much conversational media. (Separately, the magazine is also publishing some advertorial blogs where the content is driven by the advertisers, currently GE and BMW.)

“‘We’re not creating push-style content; what we’re really doing is trying to create conversations that engage the community,’ Mittman says. ‘These are a new way for us to connect brands with consumers.’

“Kristin Haarlow, associate media director at digital media agency Spark Communications, says interest in conversational media has grown as advertisers have recognized the importance of peers’ opinions in influencing what people buy. The format has also evolved to become more dynamic.”

Read more here.