Red Bull, Toyota & Apple: Native Content That Works

Native content succeeds in selling products by blending seamlessly with the platform’s environment while delivering valuable or engaging information. Here are 22 examples where native content has been effective:

1. Red Bull’s Adventure Videos: Red Bull’s native content includes extreme sports and adventure videos that align with their brand’s energy and excitement, enhancing brand visibility and driving product engagement.
2. BuzzFeed’s Sponsored Lists: BuzzFeed creates sponsored listicles (e.g., “10 Reasons to Try This New Snack”) that match their popular content format, effectively promoting products in a way that feels natural.
3. The New York Times’ Branded Content: The New York Times publishes branded content like sponsored articles that provide valuable insights or stories related to a brand, blending with editorial content.
4. Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” Campaign: Coca-Cola’s campaign featured personalized bottles and interactive social media content, making the product part of a social experience.
5. L’Oreal’s Beauty Tutorials: L’Oreal partners with beauty influencers to create makeup tutorials featuring their products, which appear as native content on platforms like YouTube and Instagram.
6. Ford’s “Built Ford Tough” Content: Ford creates content around rugged outdoor adventures and challenges, integrating their trucks into stories that appeal to their target audience.
7. GoPro’s User-Generated Videos: GoPro features user-generated content showcasing exciting footage captured with their cameras, providing authentic and relatable product promotion.
8. Nike’s Athlete Stories: Nike shares stories of athletes overcoming challenges, integrating their products naturally into these inspiring narratives.
9. Tasty’s Recipe Videos: Tasty creates short, engaging recipe videos that feature ingredients from various brands, subtly promoting products within the context of cooking content.
10. Patagonia’s Environmental Campaigns: Patagonia publishes content about environmental activism and sustainability, aligning their products with their brand values.
11. Airbnb’s Travel Guides: Airbnb’s native content includes travel guides and local experiences that promote their platform in a way that feels like helpful information.
12. Microsoft’s “Surface” Features: Microsoft uses native content to showcase real-world applications of their Surface devices through tutorials and user stories.
13. Sony’s Movie Promotions: Sony integrates promotions for upcoming movies into content on entertainment sites, such as interviews and behind-the-scenes looks.
14. Adobe’s Creative Tutorials: Adobe provides tutorials and tips for using their software in creative projects, positioning their products as essential tools.
15. Whole Foods’ Recipe Content: Whole Foods shares healthy recipes using their products, blending product promotion with valuable content for their audience.
16. Tiffany & Co.’s Style Guides: Tiffany & Co. creates content around fashion and style that includes their jewelry in a natural and aspirational context.
17. Hershey’s Interactive Recipes: Hershey’s offers interactive recipe content that incorporates their products into delicious, easy-to-make dishes.
18. Samsung’s Technology Reviews: Samsung collaborates with tech influencers to produce reviews and demonstrations of their latest gadgets, presented as informative content.
19. Chick-fil-A’s Customer Stories: Chick-fil-A shares customer stories and experiences with their food, creating relatable content that highlights their products.
20. Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” Campaign: Apple showcases stunning photography taken with iPhones, demonstrating product capabilities through compelling visual content.
21. Toyota’s Adventure Series: Toyota features stories about adventures and road trips using their vehicles, effectively integrating product placement into exciting narratives.
22. H&M’s Fashion Lookbooks: H&M produces fashion lookbooks and style guides that feature their clothing lines in a way that provides fashion inspiration and promotes their products.

These examples demonstrate how native content can effectively integrate product promotion into engaging and relevant content, making it more likely to resonate with the audience and drive sales.