Native advertising, once an elusive marketing concept and now a quintessential tool for brands and publishers, has grown rapidly in the last three to five years. From sponsored stories that sit on the sidebars of a publisher’s site to long-form, homepage-worthy productions like the famous “Orange is the New Black” piece by the New York Times’s content studio, native advertising is being used by brands and publishers in a variety of creative ways. Sharethrough, an ad-tech platform that helps publishers and advertisers manage native ads, has been quietly pushing this conversation forward for the past five years with its annual Native Advertising Summit. This year’s conference begins tomorrow at the San Francisco Jazz Center.
Each year, the conference brings together brand advertisers and publishers that share cutting-edge applications and critical learnings around native advertising. Among the earliest industry events of its kind, the Native Advertising Summit has witnessed some of the most important announcements from industry leaders that have expanded the frontiers of native advertising. The conference’s most notable unveiling was the NY Times’ presentation of its in-house native ad management platform and branded content studio, which later became known as “T Brand Studio,” at the 2013 Native Advertising Summit in Chicago.
Sharethrough Logo | Credit: nativeadvertising.com
Sharethrough also started the “Native Creative Awards” in 2015 to honor the most creative publishers in native advertising and content marketing. Among this year’s winners are the New York Times, which won “Best Sponsored Editorial” for a piece that raises awareness about fire safety issues in partnership with Nest, and USA Today, which won “Best Breakthrough Content Experience” for an interactive virtual reality-enabled video that promotes Honda’s Indy car. The honorees will present their works at tomorrow’s event.
Senior executives from Facebook, Medium, Yahoo, Google and LinkedIn will also speak at the summit, sharing their latest native products and audience insights on in-feed sponsored content. At the same time, Liz Sidoti, BP’s head of communications, and Peter Cherukuri, president of Politico, will present a case study of their native ad collaborations. Finally, Jim Lanzone, President and CEO of CBS Interactive, will have a fire-side chat with Patrick Keane, President of Sharethrough, digging deep into challenges and opportunities in native advertising.
According to Business Insider, native advertising will make up more than 70% of all display ad revenues by 2020, and is expected to see double-digit growth in the next five years. NewsCenter.io will be live reporting from the conference to give you an insider scoop on the latest news and innovations in native advertising. Stay tuned!