The new New Republic is launching an in-house native advertising division called Novel, the company announced today.
“Leveraging proprietary marketing technology and The New Republic’s authority as a mission-driven media organization, Novel will partner with brands to conceptualize, develop, and launch long-term content marketing initiatives aimed at creating positive social impact,” said the announcement.
This is the latest in a string of changes to the 100-year-old magazine, which tumultuously reinvented itself as “a vertically integrated digital media company” this past December. In March, TNR brought NewsCred’s Kayvan Salmanpour in as chief revenue officer, and announced that his duties would include building “a team to provide creative services for advertisers.”
“As brands shift more of their marketing budgets toward content development, it is important that we help our ad partners develop content that engages our coveted audience — both within and outside our walls,” Mr. Vidra wrote in a memo at the time.
Novel will be led by Mr. Salmanpour and director Amelia Pisapia, NewsCred’s former head of editorial. Andrew Essex, who recently left ad agency Droga5, where he was vice chairman, will join TNR‘s advisory board to focus on Novel.
Forming an in-house native advertising division is being embraced by everyone from The New York Times to Vice and BuzzFeed as publishers see brands as a lucrative revenue stream. Just last week, Condé Nast debuted its first campaign, a Samsung-branded cover for food mag Bon Appétit, from its new native advertising unit 23 Stories, which it announced in January. Unlike TNR‘s Novel, which will be kept separate from editorial, 23 Stories made headlines for allowing advertisers to work directly with editors.
