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Topic: Advertorial
| Author | Message |
| jkdscribe | Posted – 1/23/2008 10:39:32 AM | show profile I recently heard this term for the first time and was just wondering if it is a new term or something I have just missed. (Obviously the thing itself has existed for a long time, but wasn't sure when it became so commonplace it has a name.) |
| DixieDunbar | Posted – 1/23/2008 2:20:50 PM | show profile good ole' special advertising sections The term has been around for at least 8-10 years... maybe longer. I was the Special Advertising Sections Manager at a Conde Nast magazine for many years. In my experience, the terms advertorial and special ad section are synonymous. They're sections driven by advertising sponsors and, in my experience, always produced by the creative services or promotion dept. on the advertising side--very separate from editorial. Also, ASME guidelines say they must be slugged at the top w/ special ad section so they aren't confused w/ edit. |
| ConfidentDesigner | Posted – 1/23/2008 5:43:10 PM | show profile I remember them from up to 15 years ago! Very common-place. Another ad revenue stream. |
| rulebook | Posted – 1/23/2008 6:22:11 PM | show profile An advertorial can also mean an copy-intensive print ad that takes on a more traditional placement, like a spread. We do them for one of our large electonics clients when they want to comminicate product attributes and specs at a very detailed level. |
| jbrandeis1 | Posted – 2/10/2008 1:03:29 AM | show profile This term has been around for quite some time - longer than 15 years... An advertorial/special ad section is a PAID advertisement for a company. A PR person (or another writer, generally a PR person) can write it as though it's a feature article. It's another method of branding and staying on message. And no, this is not editorial; it's PAID, unlike PR, which is not. |
| Quatermain | Posted – 2/10/2008 1:48:47 PM | show profile "Profile model" There are magazines dedicated to this - I edited one, can't say it was my proudest moment. The idea, you write about a company, which gives you a list of their vendors whom you call for advertising. Which can be fine if it's done ethically, trouble is, it usually isn't. Red Coat is one, Say One Media is another and a particularly skeevy one, White Digital Media even skeevier. They're like yearbooks - they print and distribute to the interested parties, only, a company doesn't get the exposure it thinks it's getting. |
| curtinp | Posted – 2/10/2008 7:52:16 PM | show profile | email poster Advertorials Hi, have Australia, just logged in and was reading the section re ADVERTORIALS. The difference is that in many daily newspapers the editorials in the main section of the paper by journalists, in section eg Classifieds or advertising special (golden eggs) the sale people can sell advertising with editorial as added value, they would supply words and pics and the journos would make sense of the words and write in the style of the newspaper of magazine, now advertorials, the whole story is supplied and no edited by the journas and the words ADVERTISING FEATURE is placed on the top of the page in 8pt no larger or if the client wishes to run the complete advertisement in words, once again the word "ADVERTISEMENT" must appear on the top of this advertisement, this is classified as ADVERTORIAL regards Peter Curtin National Advertising Manager Australian Golf Digest |
| curtinp | Posted – 2/10/2008 7:52:19 PM | show profile | email poster Advertorials Hi, have Australia, just logged in and was reading the section re ADVERTORIALS. The difference is that in many daily newspapers the editorials in the main section of the paper by journalists, in section eg Classifieds or advertising special (golden eggs) the sale people can sell advertising with editorial as added value, they would supply words and pics and the journos would make sense of the words and write in the style of the newspaper of magazine, now advertorials, the whole story is supplied and no edited by the journas and the words ADVERTISING FEATURE is placed on the top of the page in 8pt no larger or if the client wishes to run the complete advertisement in words, once again the word "ADVERTISEMENT" must appear on the top of this advertisement, this is classified as ADVERTORIAL regards Peter Curtin National Advertising Manager Australian Golf Digest |
| writesonwater | Posted – 2/11/2008 5:12:28 AM | show profile | email poster I was advertorial editor for a daily newspaper and then advertorial director for a small newspaper group about 12 years ago. It's a blending of the words "editorial" and "advertising." We developed copy that ran in advertising sections ranging from auto to business to bridal to real estate to family to legal. Some of the copy was designed to incorporate certain clients, some just to complement the section's themes. Done right, advertorial looks and reads great. Some publications put out cheesy advertorial copy, or print nearly verbatim the clunky press releases the clients give them. Ugh. There are whole editorial departments up in arms about advertorial, but it can help keep revenues on an even keel in iffy times. It does need to be differentiated lest readers get confused and think they can buy regular editorial space, etc. They get confused anyway, but making the distinction helps. Frequently the section or each page bears the note "An Advertorial Section of the Blablabla Herald". In a bigger paper, regular staff writers will not be asked to mess with advertorial, as a general rule. I was once caught between editorial and advertorial departmental plate tectonics, and it wasn't pretty. ------ http://writingporch.blogspot.com/ http://jlouiselarson.blogspot.com/ http://familyrootsandwings.blogspot.com/ |
| writesonwater | Posted – 2/12/2008 5:37:17 PM | show profile | email poster Check out my blog on this topic: http://writingporch.blogspot.com/2008/02/advertorial-schmadvertorial-words-for.html ------ http://writingporch.blogspot.com/ http://jlouiselarson.blogspot.com/ http://familyrootsandwings.blogspot.com/ |
| Beethoven | Posted – 2/25/2008 10:47:06 AM | show profile Hizzonner Just curious;which one did you edit? Was it a Conquest title?Wondered if that night be why you were down on say one/conquest ,I know they sacked at least three of their senior editorial staff. |
| Metro Writer | Posted – 2/26/2008 3:37:49 PM | show profile All are correct. That said, advertorials don't have be fluff. I've written some detailed medical and business advertorials that had more substance than some editorial pieces. Also, writing advertorials is a good way to hone your writing skills because there is a relatively small word quota, such as 400-600 words. Everything in it must be pertinent and everything pertinent must be in it. |
| Beethoven | Posted – 3/4/2008 10:07:40 AM | show profile No word from Hizonner Guess his opinion on advertorial as a poacher turned gamekeeper is now "skeevy" in it's own right! |
| joyeuxnoelle | Posted – 3/6/2008 9:34:46 AM | show profile first time I'm finishing my first advertorial. It definitely requires a different mind set. When I was talking to the client, I kept trying to turn off the critical part of my brain that filters fluff. I hope I can get a better grasp on how to write more substantial ones in the future. Any thoughts? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 3/6/2008 2:38:14 PM | show profile First you have to realize that an advertorial is a marketing piece, not a journalistic piece. It isn't fluff usually. The best advertorials provide useful, compelling information. However, the information is chosen and slanted in a way that dovetails with the interests of the advertiser. More than not, that's about the stuff you leave out, rather than the stuff you put in -- as a journalist you put in the caveats and the alternate points of view. In a advertorial, you usually don't, unless you are spinning it in someway. When you are a writing an advertorial, you aren't a journalists -- you are a salesman. And a good salesman understands the interests and concerns of the buyer. That said, when you do corporate writing, sometimes the client wants crap, or something that's just wrong, and you have to give it to them. -- Posted ? 3/6/2008 9:34:46 AM | show profile first time I'm finishing my first advertorial. It definitely requires a different mind set. When I was talking to the client, I kept trying to turn off the critical part of my brain that filters fluff. I hope I can get a better grasp on how to write more substantial ones in the future. Any thoughts?-- |
| anstey | Posted – 3/11/2008 2:53:36 AM | show profile | email poster Beethoven ref your views on Say One Media, I hear they are on the up. Also, not sure about where you got your facts but none of the editorial staff were sacked, a couple left for other jobs. Did you work for them yourself? |
| Beethoven | Posted – 3/11/2008 7:04:50 AM | show profile I worked in the industry but not for Conquest. I know two editors were sacked in the Glen White days & one after he left. |
| lo17 | Posted – 3/11/2008 11:21:38 PM | show profile advertorials are everywhere i have worked for lots of national and local mags and they are all a little bit advertorial. it's all about getting coverage for the advertiser and it's not always ethical or accuate information. it's bad journalism actually and it is required that publications announce "special advertising section" on those pages, but it doesn't happen always. just another ad angle trying to trick readers. |
| writethis | Posted – 3/13/2008 11:43:19 AM | show profile | email poster How do you land advertorial assignments? I do a variety of writing--journalistic and non--and have written one or two advertorials over the years. I would like to break into this area even more. Any one have any tips about how to go about this? I've tried looking for clues as to who produces the copy in the ads themselves, such as those that appear in NYTimes special sections, but can't seem to find anything. Are there companies that specialize in advertorials? Who are the gatekeepers at newspapers or magazines who do this kind of assigning? I'd be grateful if anyone out there has experience/suggestions they'd like to share. |
| seeattleme | Posted – 3/16/2008 12:39:49 AM | show profile can--should--you cross over to advertorial from edit and go back? I'm just curious. |
| writethis | Posted – 3/16/2008 10:33:45 PM | show profile | email poster I've been able to do both without a problem. I've never kept my non-journo work a secret either. Not sure if that's the norm or not; I don't personally know a lot of other writers who do both. |
| pholiday | Posted – 3/17/2008 4:01:50 PM | show profile For the past 6 months I have been writing advertorials. They are fact-driven, profile articles about companies who have paid advertising in the trade magazine. There is no going around the fact that they are not editorials, that they are advertorials ... I only interview the company principal and I rarely write anything negative. As a journalist I am always a little ashamed to say I write them because they are neither objective nor journalistic. However, the work is really steady, it is good pay and they are extremely easy to write--the interviews rarely go over a half-hour long and the articles take little more than one hour to write. I got the job by submitting my resume to the company as a freelancer. After writing several articles, all assigned by the cordial editor, I became a regular contributer. Although the writing is not soul-fulfilling kind of stuff, I like not having to pitch and having regular, well-paying work. |
