NYTimes to Launch Native Advertising

The Times announced last Tuesday that it would join the growing legion of publishers offering Native Advertising solutions for brands. Given that Native Advertising is a hot topic for every brand, it's no surprise that even the esteemed New York Times decided to get into the mix. As banner ads become more automated and standardized (and, er... less effective as click through rates decline), publishers, brands, agencies are looking to native advertising solutions to "counter the downward pressure of those trends." The Times saw digital advertising revenue drop 3% in the 3rd quarter compared to last year.

What is most interesting about this announcement are the details around how they plan to execute sponsored content on their site. The plan, according to the Times' Executive VP of Advertising, Meredith Kopit Levien (AdAge article), is to launch a full-on platform that will feature:

1. Discover-ability of sponsored content that mirrors the way the sites own editorial content is discovered.
2. A new set of storytelling tools and multimedia storytelling pages
3. A real time site that enables marketers to understand what is being read at the moment on NYTimes.com and what matters in the news
4. A set of social amplification tools so the sharing and spreading of the content can be tracked and understood by marketers and the Times
5. A "full content studio" that uses the Times own storytelling talent but that sits separate from the newsroom and works with the commercial side of the organization to ensure that the stories told by the times are of the highest quality possible

The last point is what I find most interesting. It will be fascinating to see how brands leverage the Times editorial talent to deliver their messages and what the tone of those messages will be.