How two agencies have found that partnering clients with trusted editorial brands can be a reliable route to success.
In recent years, the idea of trust and of finding something, or someone, able to rise above the constant demands of the attention economy, has become something of a holy grail.
Trusted editorial brands have become vital channels for any brand looking to engage with a discerning, like-minded audience, a way of providing crucial brand association and a solid framework for engaging content.
At media agency the7stars, working with established, widely-recognised editorial platforms has proved a highly successful, rewarding way to ensure brands can both present the right profile and enjoy reciprocal relationships. Such partnerships could be between a much-loved, quintessential English department store and publications with histories stretching back to the Victorian era, or involve a hot sauce spicing up one of London’s great cultural hubs.
Tom Nolan-Jackson, digital lead (media), the7stars says “for a brand like Fortnum & Mason, a Royal Warrant holder and British retail icon, it’s key to align with titles whose readers have trust in their journalism and recommendations.”
To that end, the agency has established what it calls “the awesome power of independent thought” helping clients find the most effective way to deliver messages and tell stories. Nolan-Jackson uses the example of Fortnum & Mason as a brand that was able to find a “premium brand-building space with a deeply engaged audience”.
Launched last month, the upmarket retailer’s “A fantastical Christmas” print ad campaign ran across a number of high-end, glossy titles featuring gift-wrapping rabbits and an owl packing a wicker basket with various festive treats.
“It’s all about relevance and audience,” Nolan-Jackson explains. “It’s important to align your brand, product and message to the content and tone of the publication you’re appearing in, and the consumer reading it.”
Rachel Haron, Publishing Director, Goodstuff (media planning and buying agency) says that trust, gaining it and keeping it, is absolutely essential in all of this. “Magazine brands have spent decades establishing trust with their readers, so advertising with these editorial brands suggests these ads will be trusted too.
“We find that clients working with specific brands are readers themselves, and want to position their brand in a place they trust and deem credible.”
One common mistake brands make is a reluctance to cede control. “The publication is the expert in what works for their audience,” adds Nolan-Jackson. “So, if your brand is right for that audience, you need to be comfortable with giving the publisher some autonomy. That’s how you deliver authenticity.”
Haron agrees, stressing that context is everything: “If you’re a food brand advertising in a food editorial brand, it’s much easier to fit in, whatever the creative and messaging. You want to appear native in that environment and capture readers in that already-engaged mindset. Therefore, avoid placements that don’t feel right and don’t match the context and tone of editorial.”
Having said that, the onus is still very much on the agency to agree with the client on the right tone of voice, one that both remains authentic and entertaining. “In today’s media environment, the editorial partnerships that work hardest are those that feel native, culturally fluent and authentically rooted in the host platform’s audience behaviour,” Nolan-Jackson continues.
“The most effective collaborations lean into the publisher’s editorial voice, talent and formats, allowing brands to show up as contributors rather than advertisers.”
Haron cites the example of work with Goodstuff’s Encona client that saw the sauce brand partner with Time Out, “including a sauce sponsorship of their ‘Between the bridges’ food pop-up on the South Bank. There was loads of social content to go along with this.
“Publishers are experts with this. They make brands align with a native feel, whether that’s writing advertorials in the brand’s tone of voice, fun quizzes to increase engagement and attention, or getting editors involved in social content. There’s so much that can be done.”
