"It's stylish and hip"

The era of the branded feature (as what used to be called advertorial has come to be called) is blossoming, judging by an article in Media in Canada about a deal featured in the current issue of 2 magazine. (You'll remember that 2 was one of the magazines started a couple of years ago with a $75,000 cash injection by the Ontario Media Development Corporation.)

2 is for young, hip, urban couples. The 2's Coffee Table Dinner Party spread features products available from Grocery Gateway, the online grocery delivery business now owned by Longo's.

Food brands such as Dr. Oetker, Knorr and Pillsbury -- all found on Grocery Gateway's site -- are featured within recipes. A virtual grocery aisle has been created with all the ingredients for those wanting to recreate the spread's perfect coffee table dinner party. Last week, the idea was promoted on CHUM's Breakfast Television.

"This promo is really driven by brands with content integrating on the back end," says Diane Hall, 2's publisher and president. "We shopped the whole party from Grocery Gateway and we offer this feature as an added value to our advertisers. Contextual selling is what they're buying. It's stylish and hip."

We would like to hear more about that "back end".