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Don't Be Naïve About Native Advertising

5/22/2021

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by David Hagenbuch - professor of Marketing at Messiah University -
​author of 
Honorable Influence - founder of Mindful Marketing 


Christmas Story fans remember Ralphie’s excitement in receiving a long-awaited Little Orphan Annie decoder ring, only to be disappointed by the unexpected product plug: “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.”  Slipping commercial messages into media content is nothing new, but digital media have exploded that potential with more and more companies trying to make their ads look like they're something else.                                                      
Native advertising is the term used to describe “paid advertising where the ad matches the form, feel and function of the content of the media on which it appears.”  Think of the approach as camouflage for commercials.  Just as hunters wear green and brown to blend into a forest, native ads mimic the look and feel of their media surroundings so people don’t perceive that they’re promotion.
 
Native advertising has likely existed for more than a century, one of the earliest examples being John Deere’s agricultural magazine The Furrow, which contained “articles on agriculture and farming tips” alongside ads for the firm’s agricultural products.  The entire magazine was, in essence, subtle promotion for John Deere; still, readers could probably easily distinguish the publication’s articles from its advertisements.
 
Today's native advertising is much more stealthy.
 
Scrolling through a Yahoo.com news feed recently, I saw sandwiched between a Telegraph article about Prince Harry and a MarketWatch piece on COVID-19, an interesting black and white photo of a woman playing pool along with the intriguing caption, “Pics Show A Gross Past To How We Used To Live.”  I barely noticed in small type “Ad Autooverload” before hitting the hyperlink.

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The link opened a new browser tab for autooverlaod.com with header menu items that included “Racing” and “Supercars.” The page also featured the start of a slideshow titled “Amazing Wild West Photos.”  What Lamborghini’s have to do with Wyatt Earp wasn’t clear, but one could imagine that the prolonged progression of “wild west” photos enhances Auto Overload’s web metrics (e.g., time spent on the site, page views) for purpose of appeal to advertisers.
 
The use of such native ads has been increasing steadily with no signs of stopping.  Media from BuzzFeed to The New York Times have incorporated the promotional approach, with some suggesting that native advertising “will soon become as mainstream as the TV ad.”
 
BigCommerce reports that in the U.S. in 2020, over $47 billion was spent on native advertising and that 62% of all digital advertising, or “six out of every 10 digital ads were native ads.”  Furthermore, native ad spending is forecast to increase by 21% in 2021 to a staggering $57.27 billion.
 
Of course, an increase in native advertising is not a problem unless native advertising is a problem.  So, why are 51% of consumers who know what native advertising is skeptical about native advertising?
 
The example above from AutoOverload serves as a good case for analysis.  People are rightly wary of the ethics of native ads like this one because they have a propensity to deceive in two closely-related ways, which also violate Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines.
 
1)  Clickbait photo and caption: A sultry photo alongside the enticing text “gross past,” “wild west,” and “rarely seen,” represent a hard reach to reel people into something that’s likely different than what they expect, in more ways than one.
 
The use of these visual and verbal elements fits the FTC’s description of bait advertising: “an insincere offer to sell a product or service the advertiser does not want to sell, in order to sell something else . . . .”  Again, there’s no reasonable connection between old west photos and automobiles.  AutoOverload seems to be taking the somewhat deceptive approach just to increase its site traffic.
 
The approach can be called “somewhat” deceptive because, the website does deliver a series of old west photos; although, from what I saw, they don’t live up to the promise of “wild.”  The greatest deception actually might be of AutoOverload’s advertisers.  These sponsors, which include Volkswagen, probably believe they’re paying for pageviews from people interested in purchasing cars—a conclusion that likely is often not the case.
 
2)  Subtle sponsorship: Most of us have regretfully clicked on a sponsored article or post thinking it was an objective news piece or something a private person shared.  The frequency of this common experience is largely attributable to what native advertising so often tries to do: Make people believe what they see is not an ad.
 
One of the easiest ways to do so is to downplay the ad’s sponsorship.  The AutoOverload ad sought such subtlety by using the shortest commercial identifier possible, “Ad,” instead of “Advertisement” or “Sponsored Post.”  The ad’s commercial nature also might have been overlooked because “Ad” and “Autooverload” appeared in a smaller and lighter color font than that of the headline text.
 
Such understated endorsements may seem normal, but that’s likely because native advertising has made them so commonplace.  This subtle sponsorship stands in stark contrast to most traditional ads on TV, radio, and billboards where sponsors want to be clearly identified.
 
Why don’t sponsors of native ads seek the same recognition?  They do want to be known, but they first want to make sure that people click on their ads, which individuals often are not inclined to do if they know they’re ads.  The following two quotes from LinkedIn’s B2B University expose the sneaky strategy:
  • “Native ads mimic the look, feel, and function of a medium’s content, making it more likely that your audience will trust them.”
  • “Native advertising is designed specifically not to look like an ad, making it harder to ignore. Instead, it’s designed to look like the rest of the content on the page. As a result, consumers interact with native ads 20-60% more than traditional banner ads.”
 
So, native ads pretend to be something they’re not in order to increase the probability that people will mistakenly choose them.  In other words, the goal of most native advertising is to deceive.
 
The irony of native advertising’s casual acceptance of deception hit me squarely as I was scanning a daily newsletter from the American Marketing Association (AMA) and noticed the headline “Transparency Is the Clear Choice for Salespeople.”  The article summarized the findings of a study published in the Journal of Marketing Research titled “Open Negotiation: The Back-End Benefits of Salespeople’s Transparency in the Front End.”
 
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the researchers found that “customers to whom the salesperson revealed the cost of a car at the beginning of the negotiation spent significantly more in the back end than others.”  In other words truthfulness and transparency from the beginning of the buying process paid off not just morally but monetarily.
 
These results reminded me that the AMA has identified five core “Ethical Values,” which include honesty and transparency.  More specifically, one of AMA’s three “Ethical Norms” explains the aim of fostering trust in the marketing system:
 
“This means striving for good faith and fair dealing so as to contribute toward the efficacy of the exchange process as well as avoiding deception in product design, pricing, communication, and delivery of distribution” [boldface added for emphasis].
 
Besides flying in the face the AMA’s clearly articulated professional standards, the deception-driven strategy of some native advertising also violates several specific FTC guidelines:
  • “When the first contact between a seller and a buyer occurs through a deceptive practice, the law may be violated even if the consumer later finds out the truth.”
  • “An ad is deceptive if it promotes the benefits and attributes of goods and services, but is not readily identifiable to consumers as an ad.”
  • “Disclosure must be clear and prominent.”
  • “Advertisers cannot use ‘deceptive door openers’ to induce consumers to view advertising content.”
  • “Advertisers are responsible for ensuring that native ads are identifiable as advertising before consumers arrive at the main advertising page.”
  • “Advertisements or promotional messages are deceptive if they convey to consumers expressly or by implication that they’re independent, impartial, or from a source other than the sponsoring advertiser – in other words, that they’re something other than ads.”
 
The last bullet suggests what is likely the main ethical issue with native advertising—feigned objectivity.  In fact, the FTC understands well the moral rationale as it explains:  
 
“Why would it be material to consumers to know the source of the information?  Because knowing that something is an ad likely will affect whether consumers choose to interact with it and the weight or credibility consumers give the information it conveys.”
 
It’s like a new acquaintance inviting you for coffee “to get to know you better” and soon into your conversation, they start to ask your thoughts about cars while sharing their opinions of a particular make and several specific models.  You’re surprised by the topic but support the discussion.  Finally, near the end of your meeting the acquaintance reveals that they’re a car salesperson, and they ask if you’d like to schedule a test drive.
 
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Unfortunately, some of us have experienced situations similar to this one, which felt uncomfortable because we want to know:
  • When the context we’re in is a commercial one, i.e., we’re being sold to.
  • When the person with whom we’re speaking is an agent of an organization or has some other financial stake in the product or company they’re describing.
 
There’s nothing wrong with a salesperson doing their job when we know who they are and what they’re doing.  We expect them to tell us the good things about their products with little treatment of their weaknesses.  Since, complete objectivity is not expected, we take what they say with a grain of salt.
 
In contrast, when talking with friends, family, or coworkers about products, we let down our perceptual guards and take what they say at face value because we believe they’re objective and unbiased.
 
To be fair, not all native advertising deceives to the same extent.  Some ads very clearly identify themselves as sponsored content, and they provide the exact content they promise, offering real value through useful information or worthwhile entertainment.
 
However, any ad that tries to trick people into taking steps they wouldn’t otherwise choose is on legally and ethically shaky ground.  Relationships that start with a lie usually don’t last, which is why ads that deceive represent “Mindless Marketing.”


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Is Excedrin Out of Its Mind?

5/8/2021

2 Comments

 
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by David Hagenbuch - professor of Marketing at Messiah University -
​author of 
Honorable Influence - founder of Mindful Marketing 

Businesses need to do many things well to be successful, but the most basic is getting people to buy their products.  So, why would a company that markets migraine medicine want to help people find other ways to deal with their headaches?  What is Excedrin thinking?!
 
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), maker of Excedrin, one of the world’s best-known pain management products, recently decided to target video gamers, a cohort whose long hours of intent focus on video screens often create the condition the brand is built to cure—headaches.
 
It’s not surprising that gamers are susceptible to headaches.  Research by Limelight Network found that video game players spend an average of six hours and 20 minutes a week participating in their pastime.  However, that average is deceptive:  Binge-gaming is on the rise, and most gamers report “having played for more than four hours consecutively.”
 
A ‘half-workday’ or more glued to a video screen could give anyone a migraine.  It’s not surprising, therefore, that Excedrin’s website claims that “89% of gamers have experienced gaming related headaches.”  It also adds that “80% simply play through the pain.”
 
Targeting gamers for headache remedies seems like a no-brainer, especially given Excedrin’s well-tailored creative strategy.  For instance, in a 15-second spot that looks like a video game, an animated Guardians-of-the Galaxy-like team called “the Healing Academy” rushes to the aid of a young gamer whose headache has him crying out, “I’m fading.”  Tablets taken, the gamer quickly recovers and the ad ends, “Excedrin, game over for headaches.”
 
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GSK’s promotional mix includes several similar short spots as well as banner ads and sponsored posts on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  The firm is also leveraging increasingly effective influencer marketing in the form of professional gamer Matthew "Nadeshot" Hagg, who has 1.6 million followers on the live game-streaming platform Twitch.
 
GSK’s strategy for targeting gamers seems very well-played.  However, there’s another part of the brand’s approach that could have many marketers hitting pause and that might make investors ill: Excedrin is also trying to help people avoid headaches.
 
On a company microsite specially created for gamers, the company references an exploratory study that tested “a simple 6-step routine to mindful gaming designed to improve focus and optimize performance in gamers.”  The six steps, which are designed to “help manage the risk of headaches,” include the following tips:
  1. Don’t play angry
  2. Look away from the screen for 20 seconds now and then
  3. Listen to some relaxing music after a long stretch
  4. Pause the game and relax your mind by sketching or doodling
  5. Put down the controller and give yourself a hand massage
  6. Close your eyes and do some deep breathing: inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth
 
Excedrin has enlisted 12 Twitch influencers as hosts of branded gaming livestreams, the most notably being Nadeshot, who talks about “the six-step mindfulness routine” during his live play on Twitch.
 
At first glance, Excedrin’s migraine mitigation strategy sounds good—helping people avoid headaches is a noble endeavor—then one realizes that fewer headaches mean fewer pills popped, lower sales, and less income for the company.  It seems like Excedrin is creating a headache for itself.
 
The company’s strategy has made me wonder, what if I wrote an article, “Six reasons you shouldn’t attend college”?—it probably wouldn’t sit well with my university.  Likewise, would an attorney author, “How to represent yourself in court,” or a public accountant pen, “Why to do your taxes on your own”?  The likely answer to each is ‘no.’
 
However, there are other examples that affirm Excedrin’s tips for headache-avoidance.  An online search quickly led me to an article, “Safe Driving Tips to Help Avoid Collisions” by an unlikely contributor—an autobody repair shop.  Similarly, it may be surprising to see that a physical therapy center has published a piece, “Injury Prevention in Young Athletes.”  Aren’t these organizations jeopardizing their own bottom-lines?
 
The two different sets of examples create confusion because they conflate problems with solutions and preventive measures with cures.
 
Education, legal representation, and tax preparation are preventative solutions to the probable problems of unemployment, a negative legal judgment, and an audit by the IRS.  In the same way, safe driving helps to prevent car collisions and stretching helps avoid athletic injuries.
 
For an attorney, authoring “How to avoid a lawsuit” is different than writing “How to represent yourself in court.”  The first piece is an effort to help people prevent a problem, while the second is a possible solution that wouldn’t only divert business from the firm, things probably wouldn’t end well in court for the self-represented defendant.
 
So, Excedrin’s mindful gaming tips are preventative measures, aimed at avoiding a common problem for gamers.  Yes, fewer headaches mean less demand for migraine medication, but several other factors will likely more than offset any such sales decrease for GSK:
  • More consumers will know about Excedrin:  The public relations exposure that Excedrin is enjoying because of its educational efforts likely means that many more Gen Zers and others who had never heard of Excedrin before are becoming familiar with the brand.
  • The health tips will create goodwill and trust:  Consumers appreciate when companies do things for them without asking for anything in return.  Such benevolence builds goodwill.  It also engenders trust, as people are more likely to put faith in organizations that aren’t simply looking for sales.
  • The medicine will make its way into more people’s consideration sets:  I’ve been familiar with Excedrin for as long as I can remember, but I don’t think I've ever tried it; I’m not sure why.  I only ever consider Advil and Tylenol.  I’m not a gamer, but now I’m thinking of trying Excedrin sometime.
  • People will reciprocate:  Often when someone gives or does something for us, we wonder, 'What can I do for them?'  Besides being more top-of-mind, Excedrin will benefit from people who have appreciated its headache advise buying the product as a way of repaying the company for its kindness.
 
So, even if Excedrin’s headache prevention tips stop some people from getting migraines, many more people will be familiar with the brand, appreciate its altruism, trust it intentions, add it to their consideration sets, and purchase the product, partly to reciprocate for its good deed.
 
Another way to view it is Excedrin is greatly increasing the top of its sales funnel, or its brand awareness, which will inevitably mean more consumers taking action.  Granted, the headache tips may somewhat reduce the need for migraine medicine, but gamers and others will still get headaches at times, and more of those who get them will now turn to Excedrin.

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As significant as these consumer outcomes are, there’s another consequence of the company’s strategy that’s equally important:  the impact on employees.
 
People want to give their time and energy to worthwhile causes.  They want to work for organizations that have a meaningful purpose.  Probably few people get excited about making ‘pills,’ accounting for ‘pills,’ or marketing ‘pills.’  However, it would be motivating to work for an organization whose mission is to help people feel better so they can do what they want and need to do.
 
GSK seems to be such an organization.  The company’s “About us” webpage beings with:
“We are a science-led global healthcare company with a special purpose: to help people do more, feel better, live longer.”
 
The choice of words is telling.  GSK could easily say something like, ‘We want to be the premier producer of headache medications.  That wording, however, would suggest that the firm’s first priority is its bottom-line and that helping cure customers’ headaches is just a means of getting there.  Instead, GSK emphasizes that helping people feel better is what matters.
 
Employees, not to mention customers and investors, can get excited about that kind of a focus on a greater purpose.
 
Of course, individuals and organizations can put anything on a website.  That’s why Excedrin’s headache avoidance tips are so important:  They show that the company truly supports what it says:  It puts its medication where its mouth is.
 
When companies put people ahead of profit, something counterintuitive happens—they make money.
 
There are hundreds of pharmaceutical companies in the world.  According to Pharmaceutical Technology, GSK has annual revenues of over $44 billion, which makes it the world’s sixth largest pharmaceutical firm.  In 2020, GSK had income of over $7 billion. All that to say, GSK’s focus on helping people feel better appears to be paying off.


One way to know that someone loves you is seeing them sacrifice something to make you happy.  Whether people buy its medications or not, GSK seems to want people to be happy.
 
It may look strange for a company to lead prospects to a solution that avoids its products.  However, such a selfless approach does not go unnoticed; in fact, it’s one that most people find endearing.  Excedrin’s effort to prevent headaches before they happen isn’t naïve; it’s actually “Mindful Marketing.”


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