Even if you’re resigned to the idea of advertising in your face at every turn, here’s a new idea that should give you pause: marketers are trying to buy  product placements in editorial content.  That’s right, in the articles you read for information. BusinessWeek says that (thankfully) major publishers aren’t buying it.   Yet.

Both as a marketer and a consumer, I find the idea horrifying.  I’m probably less cynical than most about journalistic standards – I believe that in respectable publications, there really is a “wall” between advertising and editorial, and that taking out ads in legitimate journals does not in any way help you get editorial coverage there. (Conversely, if you have an interesting story to tell, you can get coverage without spending any ad dollars.) That’s what makes them respectable.

But the vice president of marketing at Lexus seems to think that the traditional advertising-editorial divide is dead.  “I just don’t think it represents what’s happening in the world today” she tells BusinessWeek (June 27, 2005, An Onslaught of Hidden Ads by Jon Fine - subscription required).

Am I really too naïve, or is she just nuts?

I really believe that most writers at business and technical journals try to write informative and balanced pieces. And for the most part do a great job of it, despite the very human personal viewpoints and biases that we all bring to any discussion. 

As a reader, I count on it. If I knew that a writer had accepted a direct payment to mention a specific product in a “news” or feature story, I would lose trust in that writer – and the entire journal. I would look elsewhere for more credible information.

As a marketer, I count on that same concept. If I can convince an editor to write about my client, I want his readers to have full confidence that he wrote about us  because our idea was newsworthy – not because we paid him to do it.

I’ve long recommended using a mix of vehicles to get a message out. In order of decreasing credibility, these vehicles include:

• articles a journal editor writes about us or our products
• informative articles we contribute to a respected industry journal
• informative articles we self-publish
• advertising

Not by coincidence, these are also in order of decreasing difficulty to pull off.

Articles that can be bought lose their value – they slide down the list and become nothing more than ads. Easy to make, easy to disbelieve.  Journals that resort to this tactic will lose their credibility. Thinking audiences – the kind I want to reach - will go elsewhere. 

At least I truly hope so.  I really don't want to believe that EVERYTHING is for sale.
 

Lisa Schaertl is president of Tech Savvy Marketing, specializing in marketing and PR for high tech companies.