'Wired' Bringing Advertisers and Its Blogs Closer Together

It may have taken nontraditional publishers like Federated Media to pave the way for “conversational media,” in which advertisers mix more directly with the blogging community. But now premium content brands want to get in on the act.

A prominent example is Wired, which is running ad-sponsored blogs that let advertisers commingle their messages with editorial content. Wired publisher Howard Mittman says the topics started as Wired editorial ideas that needed ad support and were not generated by the advertisers themselves, as would be the case with much conversational media. (Separately, the magazine is also publishing some advertorial blogs where the content is driven by the advertisers, currently GE and BMW.) “We’re not creating push-style content; what we’re really doing is trying to create conversations that engage the community,” Mittman says. “These are a new way for us to connect brands with consumers.” Kristin Haarlow, associate media director at digital media agency Spark Communications, says interest in conversational media has grown as advertisers have recognized the importance of peers’ opinions in influencing what people buy. The format has also evolved to become more dynamic.