Two minutes with…James Murphy, Director/Content Lead, Tan Media

Please tell us a bit about yourself, Tan Media and the concept of native advertising?

Having spent over a decade working in content creation for organisations including the BBC, Disney, PA and IMG, I now head up content at Tan Media – The UK’s leading true native advertising network.

Native advertising is advertising that matches the form and function of the website or platform on which it appears.

The best native advertising – whether it be long-form articles or native video – sits within the editorial feed, seamlessly adjusting to its environment. By serving sponsored content in this way, we can help communicate with and engage customers at a receptive time, helping build brand affinity.

What is the biggest challenge for native advertising? How can these challenges be overcome?

The biggest challenge for native is communicating the wildly different formats available to agencies and advertisers and ensuring that the selected format is aligned to the goals of the overall campaign.

What’s next for native advertising?

Joining up the formats. Using true native (articles) in combination with native display and native video for maximum impact and performance.

If you could give one piece of financial advice to a teenage version of yourself, what would it be?

It would be career based – say you can do it first and work out how after!

What is your biggest pet peeve, or makes you angry?

Feet on train seats.

Now, tell us a little about your life outside of work, do you have any hobbies?

Art, gym, rugby, theatre, food and walking Nigel, my dachshund.

What would you do if you received a windfall of £10,000?

Bank it.

What is the one column or website that you read every day?

Twitter, for multiple news sources – hopefully I’m not in an echo chamber!

What three things would you do if you were head of the FCA?

Anything that ensures that today’s teenagers are prepared for a wildly different future than their parents.