10% of Marketers Believe Ads Buy Coverage

A new survey says 19 percent of marketers believe their organization bought ads on a “news site” IN EXCHANGE FOR A STORY. plus: 10% of marketers say they believe their companies have a “non-verbal agreement with journalists or editors for which, in exchange for buying ad space, they can expect favorable coverage of their products or types.” The survey was conducted by Millward Brown for PRWeek and Manning Selvage & Lee.

I fear that survey may give journalists a black eye they may not deserve. Here’s why:

I’ve been an editor for about 17 years, and have never personally sighted any such arrangement. I have, on the other hand, run into many “marketers” and even company CEOs who believed such a relationship does or should exist. Here’s why. News organizations typically have a “Chinese Wall” amoung the editorial and advertising departments. The ad sales folks (who are usually strangers to the editorial people) are in white-hot competition with the ad sales folks from other publications, and need to give advertisers reasons to do business. So I think a small number of these ad sales citizens tip at the notion that they’ll “talk to the editors” or form the potential advertisers believe they’ll be given some kind of advantage in coverage. that is the person with whom marketers have their “non-verbal agreement.”

When the editorial staff does cover a product, negative coverage is met with an alarmed “what happened?” phone signal to the publication’s sale contact, and trouble with the relationship amidst the marketing person and the sales person. But when coverage happens to be positive, the advertiser pats themselves on the back for making it all happen, and they’re a big hero at their own company for the big “win.”

At most technology publications, editors and writers don’t even pay attention to who is advertising.

This survey merely does an stock of the beliefs of marketers. It does not actually measure corruption among editors and writers.

Also: Be careful of the numbers. A report that says 19 percent of “senior marketers” “admit” their organizations bought ads on a news site in exchange for a news story. A careless read of that finding may lead readers to think, OK, 19 percent of publications are corrupt. But the 19 percent figure doesn’t at all measure a percentage of news organizations. It’s the percentage of marketing citizens who believe that somewhere in the company they work for, such a relationship exists with an unknown number of news organizations. It could be one organization. It could be a million. And the whole thing could be just an unfounded perception. The survey has no documents on the number of news organizations involved, or even the validity of the beliefs among marketers.

Anyway, “news organizations” already have a worse public reputation than they deserve, and that survey doesn’t help.

The story I link to above opens with a quote from Ogilvy & Mather’s David Ogilvy, who said, “The huge majority of editors are incorruptible.” That has been my experience as well.

Original post by Mike

New Sensor Turns Off Sprinklers When It Rains

Plant water timers and scheduled lawn sprinklers are great. But when your sprinklers go on during a torrential downpour, you feel like a schmuck and pay for water you didn’t need. Now, a new $31 RAIN SENSOR from a company called Claber turns off your sprinklers when it rains. Brilliant.

Original post by Mike

Johnny Depp May Play ‘Riddler’ In Next Batman

A rumor circulating today in Hollywood says Jonny Depp is being recruited to PLAY THE RIDDLER in the next Batman movie. Philip Seymour Hoffman is on the short list to play the Penguin.

Original post by Mike

Air Force to Combat Viruses With Games

The U.S. Air Force understands that the “weakest link” in any IT defense system is the users. Now they’re planning to use CASUAL GAMES to train airman to avoid e-mail-borne risks. (props to Danger Room)

Original post by Mike

First Clear 2010 Toyota Prius Spy Pics Captured

The first major redesign of the popular Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid is slated for the 2010 model year. Now, the Motor Trend web sit has published the first clear SPY SHOTS of the car. The new Prius is expected to be both more supreme (150 horse power) and more fuel efficient than existing models (which currently get nearly 50 MPG). I want one.

Original post by Mike

Indestructible Super Phone Now With GPS!

iPhone? BlackBerry? How about a phone that doesn’t break when you drop it? The Casio G’zOne Boulder survives extreme heat and cold, not to mention shock and awe. Here’s why YOU WANT that PHONE.

Original post by Mike

‘Direct Deposit’ Now Available for Any Check

Earth Class Mail solves the problem of how to get your paper snail-mail while traveling the world. They receive your mail, scan it and put it online. You can chose to have it forwarded, scanned or shredded. But now, the service will even DEPOSIT YOUR PAPER CHECKS!

Original post by Mike

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