Bloggers Dilemma. Advertorial or Review?
When a company pays a blogger to ‘review’ a product, is it an advertorial or is it really a review? This question came to my mind after a topic in the Ping.sg shoutbox which let to xizor2000 asking me of the following over WLM,
“In your experience…are you able to give an example of what u consider a review and what u consider an advertorial?”
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My answer to him was,
“A review would be a complete unbiased view of a product and an advertorial would be a ‘paid to be made positive Advertisement’“
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I never really thought of reviews or advertorials as separate entities before his question as I generally felt that most blogger opinions can’t really be trusted as they are paid to blog on the product. Before all bloggers swarm onto me like hungry Singaporeans with a plate of Char Kway Teow, let us be honest lar. How many bloggers in the right frame of mind will say what he/she really thinks about the product if he/she is being PAID to do so.
I mean sure, there are ‘ethical’ bloggers who will say what they mean. But the truth is, the ethical one is running the risk of having no companies approaching him or her for jobs. Like how Wendy puts it,
“if I were a company, I would be feeling quite dumb to pay people to say (possibly) bad stuffs about me”
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So when companies pays a blogger to do a ‘review’, are they actually expecting an advertorial?
So when bloggers are paid to do a ‘review’, are we assuming that it is actually an advertorial?
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I think that is why a top blogger like kennysia puts an ‘ADV’ in his header which represents ‘Advertorial’ each time he is paid to blog about a product. Firstly, it doesn’t mislead his readers that he is blogging about a product out of his own free will. Secondly, when readers see that it is an advertorial, the clever ones should understand that since it’s an advertorial, the opinions of the blogger should be taken with a pinch of salt.
I think companies and bloggers should adapt a common understanding that when a blogger is asked to blog about a product, it should be stated clearly if it is an Advertorial OR a Review. And this information should be CLEARLY represented on the post to let readers know WHICH it is.
Companies should understand that an Advertorial on a blog is just like an advertisement you see on TV, in between the shows. It’s a total biased view of their product that is in the form of a media to spread awareness of the products existence.
On the other hand, if the company is that SURE of a product, they should tell the blogger to REVIEW it with his/her total unbiased opinions. The company itself or others should also take heart in the true opinions of the blogger and not be afraid of giving the blogger products for review in the future.
If I am a reader and I am presented with the fact of whether the post is of a review or an advertorial, I can read the blog with the correct attitude. I know if I am reading about a product’s existence or the blogger’s true opinions on the product.
And wouldn’t YOU trust a company and a blogger that shows such transparency? I would!
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May 22nd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
true! that’s why i always categorise my advertorials under adverts and reviews under another category
nadnuts last blog post..Cringeworthy moments of the finals of Miss Singapore Universe.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
An advertorial is a paid insertion and is usually written by the advertising agency rather than the blogger/journalist.
Sometimes, the advertiser may specify that the blogger/journalist write the advertorial, in which case, they should be paying for copywriting + insertion.
A review can be positive or negative. Some advertisers specify that your review must be positive only, which means you are still to provide your honest opinion but only about the features that you like about the product/brand.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
1) U quote me wrong liao! My english not so laoya de! I dun say “stuffs”! It’s like saying.. “sheeps”. Anyway.
“The company itself or others should also take heart in the true opinions of the blogger and not be afraid of giving the blogger products for review in the future.”
Eh, this statement is flawed in the assumption that companies have to trust that most bloggers can articulately and maturely give unbiased reviews of products.
Cannot forget the XMMs/XBs out there who are damn popular but may just go “siNcE i wAz asKed tO giB an HoNesT rEviEw, u nOe wAts? DiS tiSsuE pApEr jUx dOeS nOt mAtCH mY sTYLE! tHe paCkAGinG is ShOoo aUnTiEexX!”
Yar. This is an extreme example lar, but u get what I mean… I hope.
And reviews have to go through the company before being released, so eh, the odds of a bad review going thru is…. minimal. Because well, which company would release a bad review about their own product? (Not just about being “unbiased”, they got profits ar, competitors ar, brand value ar, etc to think abt.)
I think wanting unbiased reviews is too “tian zhen” (idealistic). They are a business leh.
Wendys last blog post..Explanation for site downtime.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Hahaha… You really put in some thought into this.
Princessas last blog post..Unveiling the Next Wave of HTC Innovation – HTC Touch Diamond
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Nice one Kris! I think companies who’re seriously looking into hitching a ride in this New Media world, they have to be prepared for negatives feedback. Some bloggers do give bad reviews even when they’re “sponsored” to do it you know?
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
The business world will never work this way, unless everybody stops using money.
Dingos last blog post..Uncle Long arms
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I think if I ever do get the chance of being asked, I’d refuse doing an advertorial that would require one to only give the good stuff, unless it is really that good.
Personally, it’d wouldn’t feel right to be paid to say I think highly of a product, when I really just think it’s crap, on my own blog.
niks last blog post..CIP… So… Interesting…
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:45 pm
I always felt that if a company has asked you to do a review. It means that you can honestly tell your readers about the positive and negative points of that product. However, your negative opinion should be toned down and sound more like asking the company to improve a certain feature and such.
Bernards last blog post..Nudity and PETA
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:46 pm
* rant * Abraham Lincoln did not shoot John Wilkes Booth, Titanic did not sink a North Atlantic iceberg, and commercial bloggers are neither fair nor balanced. This are simple fact intelligible to most adults, most children, and even some of your more discerning domesticated animals.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:16 am
Haha nice post. I did think about that too. In my opinion, the best (in terms of ethics) is a review. In a way, it would be great when a company launches a new product and allows selected bloggers to play with the product (let’s say a new handphone), and give their reviews on it. But whether this is feasible is another story. I wouldn’t mind doing a review for free if I am allowed to play with a gadget..hahaha..and I guess a review (in a fair way) is a good reading material for all of us to decide whether to purchase a product.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:45 am
Damn. I’m not that smart. Never knew what it meant cos never as to do review before… ZZZzzzz.
The Horny Bitchs last blog post..Recent Weeks
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:01 am
nadnut> Good for you! Model blogger lar you…
precious> If a company says “Hey, do a review, but you can only talk about the POSITIVES”.
Erm.. Then what is the difference between a Positive only Review and an Advertorial?
Wendy> YOu go check Ping’s shoutbox history.THAT WAS EXACTLY what you typed lor!. And i know how idealistic it is. But just like how we want people to stop killing sharks for tasteless fins, somebody has to start somewhere.
Princessa> Yep! And you had some part to play when you asked some questions in the shoutbox.
claudia> By saying ‘bad reviews’, i assume you mean ‘negative reviews’ and not the example that wendy gave for XMMs and XBs. Anyway, until companies accept negative reviews, the ones who give the negative reviews will have to understand that they might be lose popularity with the companies.
Dingo> Like how I answered Wendy. This is just an idea. However idealistic it may be, I do hope we go that direction unless someone thinks of a better way. Bloggers need to gain trust and Companies need to accept criticism.
nik> Actually, if you do it like nadnut and categorize ADVs and Reviews separately, you still can be morally correct towards your readers and yourself without sacrificing ‘business’
Bernard> I think you touched on a more in-depth perspective of this. I do agree with you and I do believe its called ‘Constructive Criticism’.
Xizor2000> I think you are more realistic than I am and I agree that such transparency won’t happen NOW lar. But who knows what the future holds?
ignorantsoup> Yes, a good review (ie. a honest one) is what we are all looking for. But if the blogger and the company do not show transparency, bloggers will still be untrusted in the future. Case in point: XX once ‘reviewed’ a restaurant and made it sound fabulous and me and KKNN went down to eat. It wasn’t even moderately good. I don’t blame XX totally as I was gullible enough to think tt it was a review when it was actually an advertorial.
THB> I’ll direct all future companies like DUREX and OKAMOTO to you. Wahahahahaa
May 24th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
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May 26th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Hello
I do agree with you on this man, if a company wants to invite a blogger to review their products, they should do it with a open heart, and let bloggers write their true opinion, with criticism there will be improvements : )
Cheers
Brad
June 15th, 2008 at 8:52 am
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