The Guardian is making ready to launch a product advice vertical on its web site this summer time. Its core level of differentiation might be its deal with sustainability, in accordance with an individual accustomed to the venture.
A job itemizing related to the brand new, unnamed enterprise describes it as a method to information Guardian readers towards sustainable choices and assist them use their merchandise higher and for longer.
A consultant for The Guardian confirmed the brand new enterprise.
“This summer time, The Guardian is launching a trusted suggestions part on our web site, serving to our readers to make extra knowledgeable, extra sustainable shopper selections,” mentioned the spokesperson. “For our readers, this might be a house for The Guardian’s shopper journalism, and our evaluations and options will at all times be editorially unbiased. We’re initially launching within the U.Ok., with different territories to observe.”
The media outlet‘s new product will place The Guardian extra prominently within the product evaluation and advice house, which might broaden the income it generates from affiliate hyperlinks. Comparable ventures, comparable to The New York Occasions’ Wirecutter and The Wall Avenue Journal’s Purchase Facet, allow publishers to leverage the belief they’ve with their viewers into a brand new line of enterprise.
Differentiation via sustainability
The brand new vertical’s deal with sustainability might assist it navigate two of the core challenges that newcomers to the affiliate house face: differentiation and relevance.
Throughout the pandemic, as extra purchasing moved on-line, publishers flooded the house in hopes of producing affiliate income. The ensuing glut saturated the ecosystem, making it difficult for publishers to distinguish their evaluation choices from opponents.
In response, retailers have labored to emphasise what distinguishes their product evaluation choices from their competitors. Some have led with the rigor of their testing, whereas others have pointed to their historical past within the house or served a extremely particular area of interest.
The Guardian, in specializing in sustainable merchandise, will look to solid that standpoint as what distinguishes it from its aggressive set. The writer has lengthy cultivated a status as an environmentally minded outlet.
