Packaging Blog Ads

VC Blogger Fred Wilson, who recently joined the FM Publishing network, reveals details of a sponsorship deal with digital music technology company Sonos.

• The advertiser came to him originally; he passed the lead along to FM.
  
• Sonos is sponsoring a Typelist (a favorites list) called “In Heavy Rotation.” Wilson regularly blogs about his favorite music. The sponsorship involves “skinning” the list with a Sonos logo in an implementation I’ve not seen before.
  
• The deal also involves banner ads and calls for Sonos to give Wilson a demo unit. Presumably, Wilson will blog about his experiences with the device. But what if he finds it crappy? It’ll be interesting to see how that’s handled. I’d say Wilson should blog both pros and cons about the device and be completely honest. The dilemma would be if he didn’t find any particular pros.

UPDATE: Wilson has posted a review of the Sonos system, with acknowlegements that he was reviewing a free unit provided him by a sponsor. Despite the title — “Sonos Rocks” — it seemed a fairly balanced review, with drawbacks as well as benefits mentioned. Would there have been more drawbacks if he’d shelled out the dough ($1200) to buy the system himself? I suppose we’ll never know.