IBM Turns Old NYT Editorial and PR Into Ads

What the Internet does - and quite well - is blur lines.

Where once there was social media and media, that's no longer true. All things social are media and all things media are social. Where once there was PR and advertising, the lines of influence today are grey thanks to new paradigms. And where once there was display advertising and editorial, today things are not so black and white anymore. 

Here's one example that certainly got me thinking.

Last night when I was on the New York Times web site, a new ad campaign from IBM jumped out at me. It was startling not because of its imagery or messaging but for its unique approach.

The campaign is different in that the ads curate archived editorial on the environment from the Times and displays it right in the unit itself. The reader doesn't need to leave the page he/she is on to peruse the articles. Branding is light and the focus is on content. Needless to say, since all of the articles are by star columnist Thomas Friedman, the writing is strong. 

As you can see from the screen grab below, the Times calls the program "Sponsored Archive." Some of these articles highlight IBM media coverage. So in effect, IBM is turning positive PR it generated with the Times - in some cases two years ago - into fresh advertising.

Disclosures make sure the campaign is indeed totally ethical. At the very bottom of the ad unit, you'll note, that the Times clearly says that the units are ads, that the reprinting was paid for by IBM and that the editorial staff was not involved.

Now you can argue this isn't anything new. For years magazines have featured advertorials that are written by journalists on staff but paid for by advertisers. Still, this feels different to me. It opens the door to future where earned media becomes effective paid media.
It essentially takes PR and recycles it into a paid format that is quite effective. However it competes with more current editorial a reader is likely visiting the site to consume.

Like similar programs from Google, efforts like these unlock the hidden value in thousands of articles deep inside archives. It takes what's old and makes it monetizable. All of it has me thinking that this could be the beginning of a new era where archived content is turned into a form of advertising that's more credible than static, generally poor-performing banners.
More importantly, it takes the work that PR professionals do - earn media - and gives it even stronger legs than before and for years to come. And that's exciting.