A lesson in brand safety
Dr Mumbo is sure that the entire media industry is grateful to the various publications of News Corp around the world who’ve gone to so much trouble to educate us about the problems of brand safety when advertising with their rival YouTube.
And the company has even gone so far as to provide some real time masterclasses around the issue.
For instance, Tuesday’s edition of The Sun in the UK carries a somewhat jingoistic front page backing war with Spain if Brexit negotiations cause the two countries to fall out over the Rock of Gibraltar.
The story appears below a promotion for The Sun offering cheap reader holidays in Spain.
Or closer to home, readers of news.com.au’s feature on I Quit Sugar founder Sarah Wilson’s new book can currently enjoy a video of her reading an extract about the dangers of sugar.
Among the pre-roll ads shown before this reading, viewers will enjoy promotions for Woolworths’ Easter campaign featuring chocolate eggs and hot cross buns, along with a variety of Cadbury’s video ads. All above a caption reminding them: “Sarah Wilson is a BIG advocate of a diet sans sugar”.
Free the joy… avoid the sugar
Avoid the sugar, eat the chocolate
Quit the sugar, buy the chocolate eggs
Let’s be brand safe out there, folks.
(And yes, Dr Mumbo is aware of the irony of that fact that News Corp ads may run alongside this message. The appropriate client conversations have been had.)
Whilst I’m clearly biased (News) – I think you’re being unfair – and comparing two very different things. An ad not perfectly contextually aligned is way much more benign that an ad that’s place on hateful/racist/stolen content. Or is mumbrella suggesting they’re both the same?
There will always be new/editorial stories that do not perfectly align with the media content it runs across (i.e. the officeworks ad article you ran a year ago) – but that doesn’t make the environment un-safe – just not ‘contextually’ aligned (whilst, it may still be perfectly aligned audience-wise). Give me a Cadbury any day of the week!
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Hmmm…a Cadbury ad featuring alongside an ‘I quit sugar’ article or an ad prior to an ISIS beheading video? On the ball Mumbo they’re equally unsafe.
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Last week I was reading a news.com.au article about a Westpac banker jailed for organising “Chemsex parties”. It was great to see the Easter Show being advertised above and mid article, Family Tickets no less!
Then at the bottom, a trailer for “Chemsex official trailer” with a pre-roll for an FMCG spray product, and now on replay an Insurance ad. Wonderful education News Corp.
http://www.news.com.au/finance.....e684465b58
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I think it is genius – it’s like advertising beer in content about AA. You know you are getting to the target !
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A negative story on print or News Corp.
How un-typical of you.
Yawn.
Isis training videos and Toyota are probably a little different to a fitness article and Cadbury. Perhaps not in your open minded offices.
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To the commenter who asks whether this is the same as ads next to racist content, to my eyes at least, the Sun front page is racist. As is much of the shit that sits within it. And that is half of the point, many of us have different views as to what actually counts as offensive content.
As for the ISIS training videos and Toyota, has anyone actually produced proof of that? All I saw on Sunrise was some ads for Toyota, which didn’t clearly show which videos they were in front of, and then some footage of people of middle-eastern descent. Cut, paste anyone?
If content is illegal, it should be prosecuted. Much of the rest is really in the eye of the beholder; kind of like banning rebel songs during the troubles.
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Wonder how many times they had to refresh the page to snap this one…. alternatively which intern they paid in experience to mock it up.
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I am certainly no fan of Mr Murdoch, his morals or business practices at all. There is absolutely no doubt about the timing of the article just before Londons Ad week means that it was going to dominate both the conference and ongoing coverage.
The upside is now the industry is finally talking in the open what everyone has been complaining about for a decade. You couldn’t get 2 beers into a Media guy at an industry event without them unloading about the scams, frauds, and kickbacks rife across the industry.
Plus the lack of accountability of the duopoly and lack of 3rd party measurement.
His print war is lost but its a nice passing shot on the way out.
2 weeks ago $7 Billion dollars of shareholder money was missing from the biggest brands and managed by the biggest media holding companies in the world. All of it approved by leading CMO;s and CEOs. This story makes the whole industry at all levels look incompetent. While Accenture and PwC are telling the C-suit that we are a bunch of muppets that can’t we trusted with their money.
It’s like digital media farted in the lift and the Stank is all over everyone.
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Sounds like you need a lesson in digital audience targeting.
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Just because this example isn’t an “ISIS video and Toyota” isn’t the point. Cadbury paid to deliver advertising to reach and connect with an audience and the likelihood is those reading tis article were doing so because of a connection to anti-sugar. It’s a wasted investment in my eyes.
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amen
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get over it matey
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on point!
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