For those not working in the marketing or advertising industry, native advertising is a tricky, morally ambiguous if not outright ethically dubious proposition. The practice, in which “online advertising … matches the form and function of the platform on which it appears,” blurs if not outright obliterates the line between advertising and editorial. This is a line that the news industry has always liked to claim is sacrosanct, allowing them to claim the credibility to do their jobs.
But native advertising also asks another, deeper question: What about when it’s good? What does it mean when native advertising leads to good, innovative journalism?
Such is the question brought up by Netflix’s native advertising efforts. As explained by Nat Ives in his recent article inAdvertising Age, “Netflix Taps Wall Street Journal to Hype ‘Narcos’ With Latest Native-Ad Showpiece,” the streaming video giant tapped the Wall Street Journal‘s branded-content division to put together a piece promoting their new series Narcos…
Netflix and Native Advertising: A Tricky Marketing Plan Done Good
