Sound Alliance creates separate division to handle native advertising
Youth-targeted publisher Sound Alliance has formed a dedicated division to manage all of its native advertising after a surge in revenue over the past 12 months.
The Native Studio by Sound Alliance, which will have six full time members of staff, will handle native advertising from its creation to measuring its success.
“Almost every media brief we’re now receiving asks for content in some form,” Sound Alliance chief executive Neil Ackland said. “The launch of Native Studio allows us to continue to perfect the process so that everyone wins – the audience, the publisher and the brand. The conversation is now starting to shift towards measurement and accountability, and we’re leading in this space.”
The online publisher said the move comes off the back of a rapid rise in native advertising with revenue rising from 3 per cent of total ad revenue last year to almost 30 per cent in 2014.
The team will be led by creative director Stig Richards and include two editors, a social media manager, account manager and designer. Sound Alliance claimed last year that it became the first Australian publisher to appoint a dedicated native advertising editor when Melanie Mahony was named in the role.
Sound Alliance, which said it published more than 250 pieces of native advertising content for more than 40 brands over the past 18 months, operates youth sites inthemix, FasterLouder and Junkee.
The whole point of native is that content is treated the same way as any normal publication. Can it really be considered as native advertising if the content is produced by a dedicated team who do nothing else?
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