While I was out

I've been away visiting friends and enjoying warm Southern hospitality all the way from Little Rock to Toad Suck, Arkansas, with a terrific stop at the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville.

While I was away, my latest column for The Conference Board Review came out.

It surveys the shiny new thing in marketing variously called "native advertising," "brand journalism," or "sponsored content."

You can read my column here.

Ironically, the advertising column in today's New York Times notes that the development has begun to attract the interest of folks over at the Federal Trade Commission.

All in all, I think that's a good thing. Whether "native" or "sponsored," content created by "brand journalists" won't work unless (1) it's genuinely useful and (2) its source is clear. 

But it can be a powerful way to deepen customer relationships, which is what marketing should be all about.