Advertisers Want to be Publishers

Publishers and producers create "content" (newspapers, magazines, movies, tv shows) and advertisers either sponsor or buy ad space. Right? No longer. Since traditional advertising channels are no longer getting the job done for a lot of marketers, they are trying to attract an audience by creating their own content. The employment options for creative professionals are expanding rapidly. You can work for a publisher or take a contract or job with a marketing company and do the same tasks. If your editor or producer can't see it your way, look for a sponsor who does.

Online Publishing Insider: Welcome To The Next Seller's Market by Mike May, April 6, 2006

Only a few years ago, ... I would have taken Coca-Cola's Webmaster as a conference keynote, and allowed him to spend 45 minutes talking about meta tags and referrers. A few weeks before OMMA Hollywood, by contrast, I spent 30 minutes on the phone with the director of media and communication at Coca-Cola about his proposed role at the show. He noted that he was looking forward to telling the Coke story on stage.

"We're doing amazing work with wireless and gaming in Europe and Asia, and it's time we get some credit for it, instead of it all going to Yahoo," he said. One of the world's biggest advertisers chomping at the bit to steal an online publisher's thunder? Times have changed.