Every major publisher has one. Call them studios, call them labs, call them content solutions divisions – actually, don’t call them that – but for a few years now publishers have been investing in them.

Why? For publishers, it’s about going after new revenue as they are challenged by ad blocking and declining rates for online display advertising. For brands, connecting with audiences in a more meaningful and effective way is the prize.

These divisions work on native advertising programmes for brands that traditionally might have bought display ads. Last time we spoke a little about what defines native advertising. One key thing is that the content creators work for the publishers and know the style and audiences of a publication well. This is different to the brands creating the content themselves.

So if you’re a brand interested in your options, we’ve created this list of major publishers and their commercial content units.

The BBC: BBC Storyworks
Bloomberg: Kinection
City AM: City Talk
CBSi: Studio 61
Dezeen: Dezeen Studio
Digiday: Custom (“A creative content agency…”)
The Financial Times: FT Squared
The Guardian: Guardian Labs (‘GLabs’)
Hearst: Custom Content studio (link no longer available)
The Huffington Post: Huffington Post Partner Studio (link no longer available)
Immediate Media: Imagine
Monocle: They do it, often and well, but don’t like to put a name on it.
The New York Times: T Brand Studio
The Onion: Onion Labs – America’s Most Trusted Media Empire
Reuters: Reuters Plus
Time Inc: The Foundry
The Times (of London): The Newsroom
The Washington Post: WP BrandStudio
Wired: Wired Brand Labs
WSJ: The Trust

If you work for a publisher and would like to be added to this list, please contact us via one of the usual channels at the bottom of this page.
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