The L.A. Times Brand Publishing product is built to scale. Rather than integrate sponsored content amongst editorial content, the Times has grouped it all together into subsections with descriptive headers such as Entertainment, Business, and Real Estate. Instead of disclaiming every article as sponsored, the header of the entire page serves as a constant reminder: "This is sponsored content." Banner ads are tasteful and consistent with the overall visual tone of the site. Overall, this is a design-forward product offering.
Overall: 7.5

Revenue Potential: 7

The revenue potential of the Brand Publishing product seems very strong, given its design for scale and distribution. For some reason, there seems to be no option for readers to opt-in for updates on topics - which seems to be a missed opportunity for reader revenue in the future.

Value to Brand: 8

The L.A. Times has done something unconventional here. The publication's willingness to be so conspicuously forthright in announcing branded content to readers is a breath of fresh air in a publishing world where many do their best to disguise native ads. This alone should win the trust and respect of many readers, which does wonders for brand value.

User Experience: 8

The design is slightly different from the editorial content; though it benefits from the wider redesign, which is a departure from what the printed paper looks like. This is a section geared for consumption on the screen. Any editorial page becomes your de facto 'home page.' Recommended content is a few scrolls away, all supported with accessible interactive elements, such as share lines, quote share and comment tabs. It would be great to see some of those innovative editorial features - sharelines, suggested content through infinite scroll - make their way into the Brand Publishing section. These could possibly serve as the entry point to the rest of the content, both editorial or sponsored.

Published by the L.A. Times
Brand Publishing