SKM Lab formalizes an existing offering

Since its inception, theSkimm has generated advertising revenue exclusively through branded content, a strategy that lets its newsletter-centric model maintain a sophisticated design and net lucrative payouts. 

With SKM Lab, the publisher aims to formalize this suite of services and make it available to clients regardless of whether they want to advertise with theSkimm.

SKM Lab joins a saturated field of creative agencies vying for brands’ advertising budgets, but it aims to differentiate itself by leveraging its expertise in understanding and speaking to female audiences, Murcko said.

Outside of work for clients, theSkimm has also used its storehouse of insights for its own campaigns, including its recent Show Us Your Leave initiative. The publisher believes it can channel its experience into activating female audiences for other brands looking to do the same. 

The launch of SKM Lab also reflects a broader evolution in the efforts of publishers to meet the increasingly complex needs of their advertising partners, according to Whitney Fishman Zember, the former group director of consumer insights at GroupM.

“TheSkimm has a very specific audience, which has its pros and cons, but brands cannot underestimate the power of genuine immersive expertise,” Zember said. “There is a reason why certain digital publishers, such as theSkimm, have been able to cultivate such a loyal audience.”