Will native advertising be the big marketing story of 2014?

The Marketing Society Forum: Content-quality and a focus on servicing the needs of the consumer will decide whether native ads will be a hit or a miss over the coming year.

Each month The Forum questions members of The Marketing Society on a hot topic. For more on membership, visit www.marketing-society.org.uk.

Bobi Carley, Commercial director, Disneymedia+ UK & Ireland, The Walt Disney Company

 The term native advertising, and the debate about it, seems to have  gathered momentum over the past few months, and I have no doubt it will  continue into 2014 as marketers and the media seek to get to grips with  the possibilities it presents.

 Especially given the news that publishers, including Forbes, Financial  Times, Yahoo! and Buzzfeed are looking to incorporate a higher  proportion of native advertising; not to mention the Sunday People, which  is set to relaunch its website to be solely funded by it.

 What remains to be seen is whether native will attract headlines for the  right reasons in 2014.

 Creating great-quality, engaging content that will fit  seamlessly within  editorial - or, ideally, better it - will be the challenge for  many brands,  especially if adequate creative resource is not availablehttp://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1225609/will-native-advertising-big-marketing-story-2014?DCMP=EMC-CONMarketingDailyBulletin&bulletin=marketingdaily