“A pervasive myth”: Why advertisers and media agencies need to rethink ‘brand suitability’

Published Mi3

Addled thinking around “brand suitability” has led some advertisers and their agencies to avoid placing ads in news. It isn’t based on facts, and evidence strongly contradicts any suggestion that brands suffer from being placed in news content. What’s worse, evidence also shows that advertisers are damaging their brands – and their growth prospects – by avoiding news.

GroupM’s outgoing CEO recently told US senators that the group only allocates 1.28 per cent of spend to online news sites. His explanation: “brands prefer to avoid” news, which he characterised as “content related to war, scandal and political division”. He claimed advertisers prefer alternatives like “sports and entertainment”.

To be honest, I’m glad he made those comments, because “brand suitability” thinking regarding news has spiralled out of control across the media world. It’s damaging brand growth and pushing hard won budgets into channels that may be far less suitable and far less effective. So, it’s something we need to address and a debate we need to have.