Payola done right: plan A & plan B.

By Gonzalo López Martí – Creative director, etc. / LMMiami.com

• Yes, I’ve been offered money many times to publish faux-news in my weekly op-ed.
• Sometimes the offer is overt, awkward, insulting.
• Sometimes it is subtle, oblique, vague.
• Please don’t waste your time.
• Or mine.
• That’s not how it works, folks.
• First, it’d kill my credibility (or what’s left of it after years of venting my lunacy in this most prestigious of publications).
• Second, Gene would kill me.
• Gene as in Eugenio Bryan, founder and editor-in-chief of HispanicAd.
• Third, why resort to clumsy pay-to-play tactics when there are other great ways to promote your products and services?
• Most people who read my rants know this weekly op-ed is just a hobby of mine.
• I am not a member of HispanicAd’s staff, I am a just a contributor-at-large.
• My real job is specified in the byline of this very column, if you happened to miss it.
• So, if you want my help, here’s what you should do:
• —Plan A:
• Just contact me and we’ll put my strategic & creative ninjas to concoct a brilliant ad campaign for ya.
• We’ll even run it on your behalf on digital, social, mobile &/or traditional media.
• At laser speed, with measurable results and at highly competitive prices.
• HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PRICES, as in a fraction of what your WPP/Omnicom/Publicis shop is overcharging you.
• We can also throw in the services of Pino, a side business of mine devoted to graphic design, digital development, post production & motion graphics (HelloPino.com)
• —Plan B:
• If what keeps you up at night is obtaining coverage on HispanicAd, well, in that case we can resort to a so-called “native content” or “sponsored content” approach.
• We’d be delighted to make it happen for you.
• AdAge, Adweek and most major publications do it all the time: it is a form of coverage that resembles the look, feel & style of a publication (usually it is even created by the publication’s own staff) yet it is paid for by an advertiser who reserves to itself the right to final copy approval.
• With full disclaimer about its paid-for nature, of course.
• So don’t just sit there, call or write anytime.
• Don’t be shy.