It really grates on me to get to the end of a heartfelt article like this and smack right into a corporate plug like "…and that's why I created iFixit.com - your free repair guide for everything!"
I'm not begrudging the founder of a company the opportunity to talk about who he is and why he created his business, but the way you do it matters. Is this an article about iFixit.com? Fine, I'd probably be interested in that, go ahead and let me know, then tell me about your grandfather who inspired you.
If it's an article about your grandfather, then just say something like "he inspired me to create my own business that helps people learn to fix things." You don't have to give yourself a plug. Lastly, if you absolutely must plug your company name, at least try to do it without making it sound like a line of ad copy. After a few hundred words tugging on my emotions and making me care about your personal story, it feels like a betrayal of my trust at the end to leave me wondering if I just read an advertorial.
I liked it. I was in fact not aware of the driving idea behind iFixit, and I was inspired to check it out after hearing about this guy's values and where they came from.
I don't see it as a plug but more of a validation. His grandpa raised him the right way and taught him the value of hard work, perseverance and dedication. Those are things that you need in the startup industry and yielded success in his grandchildren's work. Ifixit is already well known, so it stands to be an example rather than cheap marketing.
Yeah, but this is The Atlantic, a 156-year-old magazine with a reputation for literary and journalistic excellence. It's discomfiting to get to the end of an article in a publication of its caliber and be left wondering "what did I just read?"
"Yeah, but this is The Atlantic, a 156-year-old magazine with a reputation for literary and journalistic excellence".
The first thing I think of when I see The Atlantic is when they ran sponsored content as if it were a normal article, and the comments on that article were moderated by the marketing team so they were all positive. I think they really screwed up their brand that time.
Is a plug really that offensive when the thing that's being plugged is a 100% community commons licensed repository of repair manuals and is described as exactly that?
I'm not begrudging the founder of a company the opportunity to talk about who he is and why he created his business, but the way you do it matters. Is this an article about iFixit.com? Fine, I'd probably be interested in that, go ahead and let me know, then tell me about your grandfather who inspired you.
If it's an article about your grandfather, then just say something like "he inspired me to create my own business that helps people learn to fix things." You don't have to give yourself a plug. Lastly, if you absolutely must plug your company name, at least try to do it without making it sound like a line of ad copy. After a few hundred words tugging on my emotions and making me care about your personal story, it feels like a betrayal of my trust at the end to leave me wondering if I just read an advertorial.