 |
||||||
| Friday, November 20, 2009 |
Contact Us
|
 RSS
|
|||||
|
|
| |
|||
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
|
ANALYSIS
March 2, 2009
Sagging Index no longer reflects what’s going on in the market, some say, Replacements? Google it, to start.
March 2, 2009
Downward price spiral will actually boost the cost of capital for most companies. CFOS, take note.
March 2, 2009
The latest bailout at AIG could be a preview of how the president will deal with Wall Street.
March 2, 2009
No corporate defaults. Big debt offerings. Percolating CP issuance. Things may be looking up in the capital markets.
|
|
|
|
April 28, 2008 12:01 AM ET
Andrew Walker
BLOG, BLOG, BLOG David Armano (at left), Geoff Livingston and Sean Howard say the focus should not be on the title “chief blogger” but on how social media can build a corporate brand.
“It's a good idea to have a chief blogger,” said Mack Collier, a social media consultant and blogger at the Viral Garden, citing Dell's Lionel Menchaca and LinkedIn's Mario Sundar as examples of a personality positively affecting a brand. At the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, in March, “[Messrs. Menchaca and Sundar] were getting hugged in the hallway,” Mr. Collier said. “And that popularity is bleeding over into Dell and LinkedIn.” Today, just over 11% of Fortune 500 companies have corporate blogs, according to SocialText, and only a handful have a designated chief blogger. The number of corporate blogs has risen slowly and steadily since the end of 2005, when just 4% had any kind of blog. “The period of "we've got to do this too' has passed, and now people are evaluating blogs as tools,” said Paul Gillin, media consultant and author of The New Influencers. “It's going mainstream because companies are realizing this is a tool that has utility.” He counts about 60 corporate blogs among the Fortune 500. While the title of chief blogger is seductive, analysts and industry insiders said the title shouldn't be the focus. What's essential is the brand voice, whether it comes from one chief blogger (such as vice chairman Bob Lutz on General Motors' FastLane Blog or CEO Jonathan Schwartz on Sun Microsystems' Jonathan's Blog) or a group working together, such as those on Southwest and Wal-Mart's blogs. No one is saying that a chief blogger or blog voice is right for all brands. Bloggers and analysts said companies that want to blog should identify a specific reason to do so, such as to humanize the company (like Microsoft), make the company more open (like Dell) or advance the fun-and-happy company image (like Southwest). “Everybody right now wants to or is contemplating starting a blog, but it's the wrong place to start,” said Sean Howard, director of strategy and innovation at Lift Communications and blogger at CrapHammer.com. “They really need to start with reading, following their customers, commenting on communities. Then think about creating something.” There can be a downside to corporate blogging with a single chief blogger, if that blogger becomes a lightning rod for online communities' disdain. “The whole idea of having a chief blogger when social media is so grass roots still smacks of companies trying to control this,” said Jim Nail, chief marketing officer of Cymfony. In fact, Dave Armano, vice president of experience design at Critical Mass and blogger at Logic & Emotion, touched off a minor storm when he posed a simple question for this article: “Any thoughts about the whole "chief blogger' thing?” Most of the responses fell into one of two camps: “No way; it's too formalized and a bad idea” or “Yes, it's a dream job I'd love to have.” Mr. Armano—and many others interviewed for this article—were in a third camp, arguing the focus should be less on the chief blogger title and more on how social media can be used to benefit the brand. “I'm all for the effect that the chief blogger title creates in saying these are full-time jobs, because they are—it's hard work. I just think it's the marketing on it that's off,” Mr. Armano said. “It should be a director of community engagement. That takes the focus off the medium and puts it on the interactions.” Geoff Livingston, CEO of Livingston Communications and blogger at the Buzz Bin, agreed. “The problem is that too many people focus on the actual tool: the blog,” he said. “What they need to focus on is the principles behind social media that make it work—like participating in a larger community works, and not controlling the conversation works.”—Advertising Age Here are the rest of the stories in this week’s Focus on Technology: A Peek Into Corporate Blogging There’s Info-Arbitrage In Cyberchatter A Free Alternative To Alternative Research
|
|
|
|
CRAIN'S BENEFITS OUTLOOK 2009
SPECIAL REPORT
MOST POPULAR
|
MORE ANALYSIS
Crain Financial Group:
InvestmentNews |
Pensions & Investments |
Workforce Management
Copyright ©2009 Crain Communications Inc
All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy |
Terms & Conditions