Branded Content Policy
1. What is a “Brand Partner”?
A brand partnership is an agreement between two or more businesses or organizations to achieve a common goal. Through these partnerships, Secret Media Network and its partners assist one another to increase brand exposure, breaking into new markets, and adding value to their products and services. Therefore, our goal is to mutually enhance our audience, reputation and overall brand message.
What do we look for in a perfect partnership? Secret Media Network wants to bring the best out of each other, so we look for similar values, targets, objectives and goals, while also having complementary skill sets that can offer mutual benefits and, above all, trust.
2. What you need to know about promoted content on our Secret Media Network™.
Branded content is an optimal way to connect with our SMN readers and share our partners and advertisers’ values with them. Both in terms of editing and look & feel, all our branded content is treated as SMN content, with the same requirements and respect for the reader. This allows us to create relevant brand content perceived as native SMN content by the reader.
Any feature on a SMN article sponsored by a particular company or advertiser that is developed independently by the SMN team is clearly marked as an advertisement and as “Brand Partner” or “Paid Partnership”. Our funded content falls into three categories:
- A. Native advertising / Branded content.
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- This is controlled editorially, which means an editor at SMN has given it the go-ahead if they think it will appeal to our readers, and it has our look and feel. Our editorial team creates it and it’s overseen by our partner. It’s signposted by the byline “Written by SMN in association with [brand]”.
- B. Advertorial content.
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- This is editorial content created by our partner and published on our website, respecting SMN editorial values but it doesn’t necessarily have our look and feel. Both SMN and the partner have sign-off. It’s labeled as “paid content” with the byline “Created and paid by [brand]”.
- C. Advertising.
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- This is where we give space in our platforms over to a partner. This is overseen by our sales team, and there’s no sign-off from SMN – the only instances where we’d intervene is if we think it’s inappropriate for our readers. Ads aren’t labeled but you’ll know them when you see them – they don’t look like SMN content.
For more information on our editorial policy, contact us here. editorial@feverup.com
3. Advertising with Secret Media Network™ .
We run only one type of advertising: mobile-friendly sponsored content that is clearly marked for the audience’s sake. Advertisements and Paid Content do not necessarily reflect the views of SMN or our editorial teams.
- A. Language requirements.
- All advertisers must stick to decency and language standards: SMN prohibits all content that is offensive, obscene, violent, denigrating, racist, discriminatory, defamatory, illegal, that incites illegal behavior, threats or insults.
- B. Restrictions.
- SMN reserves the right to decline, at its discretion, any submission that includes content or a topic that SMN deems inappropriate, unfair, offensive, discriminatory, in poor taste, potentially libelous, or otherwise objectionable. SMN will not run certain types of ads, including those with: phrases like “breaking news” that may mislead the audience to believe it’s journalism; commercial promotion of tobacco, firearms, diet pills or cryptocurrency; negative caricatures of people; disparagement of competitors; disrespectful use of national symbols or flags; and, sponsor names that do not accurately represent the funding entity behind the campaign. SMN also reserves the right to, on occasion, request source material to substantiate factual claims made in a branded post.
- C. Affiliate Links.
- Some of the content published on SMN may contain marketing links, which means our company will receive a commission for purchases made via those links. SMN employs a commerce team to optimize certain content for affiliate revenue, and such content is marked as such by including an affiliate links disclosure.
- D. Giveaways.
- From time to time, SMN will conduct contests and giveaways for readers. We will post rules for each contest, which will be binding on contestants who decide to participate. While giveaways or contests may be sponsored by an advertiser or partner, they should not necessarily be considered as endorsements of the companies involved or their products.
If you want to become a SMN brand partner, please click here.