In April 2008, Tesco had a sobering experience of social media gone awry. Simon Uwins, the marketing director of the chain's US operations, unwittingly (or honestly, depending on your point of view) revealed in his blog that the roll out of their ‘Fresh & Easy' stores would slow down. This triggered a massive share sale among nervous City traders and about £900 million was temporarily sliced off Tesco's market value.
Some companies dread social media because they fear the consequences of losing control - as exemplified in the story above - and some because they still haven't got their heads around it. Either way, corporate blogs were one of the first forays of many corporates into the brave new world of 'market conversations'.
Blogs are a totally new phenomenon, right? Not exactly. Proto-blogs can be traced all the way back to 17th century London newspapers, as revealed in Andrew Marr's book My Trade. These humble sheet newspapers featured blocks of white space next to the news for readers to write their own comments. Families often added private news and views for their relatives to read in the shires to whom the papers were often sent by coach, once finished with by the city folk.
Technology companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Hewlett-Packard, with their cohorts of gurus used to speaking to challenging audiences at numerous conferences, were amongst the first to adopt corporate blogs. The good examples have created a sort of a trend. According to Wired magazine, 12% of Fortune 500 companies now blog.
Today, it is almost rude of a company not to have its own blog. But, what are the ingredients to success? Here are the main ones:
1. A company blog is not a press release; making it just another channel for company fluff is the fastest way to kill it.
2. Company bloggers should be people who are free to express their personal opinion. If not, their self-censorship will take over and turn it into the shipping news.
3. Company bloggers should be recognised as experts in their field (unless it's a CEO, in which case (s)he will be read if only to catch any slip ups)
4. A blog should be about something that interests customers (or other specific audiences, if it's an expert blog); if it is too inwardly-focused, it is not worth writing.
5. A company blog should address a communication ‘niche' that other blogs (particularly competitors') do not provide. Such as an unusual angle, unparalleled insight, or just greater honesty.
6. A blog should occasionally reveal some harmless, yet interesting, insider information. The more readers believe they're being given the ‘inside track', the better the blog's perceived value.
7. The more engaging/humorous/eccentric the writer is, the better. In essence, a blog is writing like any other and good prose is required to keep everyone, not just the most dedicated analyst, reading.
8. Does the blog have a comment section and is it moderated or not? This is a hot chestnut in the corporate blogging arena as it requires additional resources. However, If you don't allow people to comment on your blog, they will do it elsewhere.
In a nutshell, a good corporate blog is akin to a good comment, not a piece of propaganda.
Lazar Dzamic is digital planning director at integrated agency Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
