[ TheSoko indulges Mercedes-Benz ]
February 18, 2008 | By Chris Powell
Lifestyle site TheSoko.com has partnered with Mercedes-Benz on a sponsored section called “Indulge Yourself.”
Housed on TheSoko’s homepage, the “Indulge Yourself” section is comprised of articles such as “3 trendsetting British fashionistas,” “Manicure 101: a guide to great nails” and “7 expensive beauty looks for less.” All content is updated daily by TheSoko.com’s 25-person editorial team.
Non-traditional ads including advertorials and text links promote the luxury automaker’s compact luxury crossover the GLK. Clicking on Mercedes ads adjacent to the editorial content takes readers to a Mercedes microsite.
“As a brand, Mercedes GLK resonates well with our audiencethat’s why this special content feature works so well,” said Jonathan Davids, director of TheSoko.com. “Not only is the content of interest to our readers, but it ties together the theme of the brand in a way that is simple and effective.” The campaign runs through the end of March.
TheSoko.com has embarked on similar ventures in the pastincluding a venture with Ford’s Fusion brand last yearand is planning a campaign with food company Dr. Oetker that will include video content.
“We realized that this is something there’s a bit of a thirst for,” said Davids. “Advertisers are looking for more creative executions [and] they’re really effective because they get far more exposure than they do with a display ad.”
TheSoko.com draws an estimated 200,000 unique visitors a month, and caters primarily to women 25-54.


