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It’s safe for brands to advertise next to ‘bad’ news content – study

By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024

CMOs and their agencies worry about their ads being adjacent to news content that consumers may dislike. Researchers say it’s no problem.

 

Are the concerns of marketers and ad agencies about their advertisements being placed next to ‘bad’ news – even in a quality news outlet – well founded? A new study suggests not. 

 

The research was conducted in the US by Stagwell, a marketing consultancy operating in 34 countries and part of global research company HarrisX, but the findings may be relevant to CMOs and their agencies across the globe. 

 

According to Stagwell, the 50,000-respondent survey shows advertising placed adjacent to stories covering politics, inflation and crime (which may be categorised as ‘bad’ news) perform as effectively as ads placed next to business, entertainment and sports stories (which are either ‘safe’ or ‘neutral’). 

 

This discredits a common theory that advertising placed next to news content that is unpleasant or concerning – or contradicts the views of some consumers – will somehow be associated with that content. 

Photo by Burak Argun from Pexels

 

People are smart enough to know the difference 

 

The researchers believe that people “are smart enough to know the difference between a news story and an ad, underscoring the current standards used for ‘brand safety’ are too broad and limit advertisers from engaging with valuable consumer audiences”. 

 

Says Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO of Stagwell: “Our research shows brands shouldn’t fear advertising on news – but rather relish it. Instead of feeding the vicious cycle of news de-monetisation that hurts quality journalism the most, advertisers should kickstart a virtuous cycle of investing in news that allows brands to reach valuable audiences and gives quality news content the financial stability it needs to thrive.” 

 

Additional findings include: 

 

  • Among Gen Z, the average purchase intent for brands whose ads were placed next to high-quality news articles on the Middle East conflict was 65%, compared to 66% for inflation and 67% for crime – differences that are statistically insignificant. Purchase intent was 69% for sports (widely considered a ‘safe’ news topic) illustrating a minimal four percentage point difference between the ‘riskiest’ and ‘safest’ topics. 
  • Among moms, the average purchase intent for brands whose ads were placed next to articles on inflation (a potentially negative story), and business (a more neutral story) were each 70%, showing no difference between the two. Purchase intent was only two percentage points less for brands whose ads were placed next to a news story about crime with the words ‘subway shooting’ in the title – words that get blocked as a matter of course with today’s brand safety practices. 

“Brand safety considerations have become prevalent in the media and marketing industries, but they require serious scientific evaluation and more rigorous metrics to assess whether brands really face dangers from news adjacency,” says Dritan Nesho, CEO of HarrisX, which conducted the study.  

 

“Our study shows clearly and repeatedly that ads next to news content that is currently considered ‘not brand safe’ performs on par with ads next to what is currently considered ‘brand safe’.” 

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