Journalism is about telling stories. Each day our writers seek out the most exciting and surprising narratives. They speak to those making the decisions and the people impacted. They look beyond the noise to understand what is really going on and how the world is changing.
Our new unit in the commercial department under director Alyona Nevmerzhytska – KP Brand Studios – is about making that skillset accessible to companies that have a story to tell, but don’t quite know how to tell it.
By launching KP Brand Studios, the Kyiv Post is following a global trend. The New York Times, Bloomberg, the Financial Times and Washington Post have all launched divisions responsible for creating compelling branded content, sometimes referred to as native advertising. Their story-telling skills have served a wide range of organizations such as Google, Exxon Mobile, Toyota or even Netflix’s hit series Orange Is The New Black.
Indeed, in some cases this content has been good enough to win awards. It has been widely shared on social media because of how interesting it is.
As with our international colleagues, KP Brand Studios will combine a creative staff with business, design, data analysis and journalistic backgrounds. Together they will use the latest in story-telling techniques to create content – be it through articles, videos, infographics, or other forms of interactive visualization. Using media know-how on distribution will help make sure the materials they create reach the greatest amount of potential readers.
The objective of branded content is not to fool readers into thinking a given piece is editorial coverage – as sometimes happens with poorly marked “Special Projects” that do not clearly indicate who is paying and can confuse readers. Rather, it is about capturing readers’ imaginations through interesting, real and important stories that brands want to tell and audiences are interested in.
As a result, our branded content will be clearly marked as paid and posted by the brand in question.
Kyiv Post has long fought to bring the best international standards of both reporting and media management to Ukraine. We are proud to have been a pioneer in introducing a subscription-based model and paywall already back in 2013. This has made the Kyiv Post more financially sustainable, which is the single best guarantee of editorial independence.
Similarly, with KP Brand Studios we aim to set the bar for what great branded content is and keep the Kyiv Post strong so that it can continue to serve our community, and Ukraine, as its global voice.
