How The Onion Gets People to Read Sponsored Content: Make Fun of It
Posted in: UncategorizedAbout a month ago, The Onion posted an article to its Facebook page with the headline, “Complete Idiot Forgot to Shave Area Between Nose and Mouth.” The complete idiot, you might have guessed, sports a mustache. The Facebook post has more than 13,000 “likes,” nearly 2,200 shares and reams of comments. It’s also a sponsored post for the Schick Xtreme3 razor — and labeled on Facebook as one in a very Onion kind of way: “There is a stone where our soul once was. Enjoy this #sponsored content.”
Some ad-sales execs would probably sell their own souls for those kind of sharing numbers. Brands are increasingly relying on publishers to not only produce sponsored content, but also ensure their audiences actually read and engage with it.
“Distribution is as important as creation in the content space,” said Scott Donaton, chief content officer at DigitasLBi North America.
Post a Comment