December 12, 2007

Biznology Blog by Mike Moran

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Corporate Blogging and Oxymorons, Take 2

I had several interesting responses to yesterday's post on corporate blogging, so I thought I'd come back and hit the topic again today. Most were along the lines of, "Sure, some bloggers within corporations have successful blogs, but that's not really corporate blogging." I disagree.

As someone who has worked in a corporate behemoth for many years, I know that a "corporation" is nothing more than a big pile of stock. And a stock certificate can't write a blog post. Blogs can come only from the people inside the corporation.

So, sure, all examples of successful corporate blogs are from individuals (and sometimes teams) within corporations that have a particular, personal point of view. That's exactly what corporate blogging is. No more and no less.

All blogs (at least all successful ones) have a personal point of view, whether they come from corporations or not. If we equate "corporate" blogging with some form of anesthetized PR communication resembling not much more than a press release that allows comments, then I think we're missing the point.

Large corporations, probably more than any other kind of business, have a desperate need to connect with their customers. Letting their employees out of their Legal-PR imposed cages so they can interact with customers is their best hope of overcoming the risk-free, homogenized brand images that we equate with corporate "personalities." Perhaps companies clinging to the vanilla brand image of years gone by, afraid to show the real people within their walls, are running the biggest risk of all. Customers are beginning to demand more and blogging is a cheap way to give customers what they want.

As a follow-up to Monday's post on the Blog Council, I spoke with Andy Sernovitz of the Blog Council yesterday and he cleared up the controversy over accepting comments—I've updated my post.

Posted by MikeMoran at December 12, 2007 7:56 AM

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Comments

Mike:

Nice clarification. I especially like this line:

"Letting their employees out of their Legal-PR imposed cages so they can interact with customers"

As they might say in the Cluetrain - if it isn't human, it isn't a conversation.

TO'B

Posted by: Tom O'Brien at December 12, 2007 2:33 PM

Mike,
I don't have an intelligent response to this that also lets me continue to be right. Dammit. ;-)

Seriously, you raise some great points, but don't you think that these corporate bloggers are representing their "personal brand" as much, or more so, than that of the company for whom they work? Sure, Scoble gave Microsoft a human face, but I'd argue Scoble benefited from his corporate blogging as much as Microsoft did. In your opinion, which has better cred within the space today?

I've got a chart over on my blog (http://www.timpeter.com/blog/2007/12/13/what-happens-to-your-brand-when-your-corporate-bloggers-leave-your-company/) showing what's happened at Search Engine Land ever since Danny Sullivan arrived from Search Engine Watch. While we can debate whether Danny - or Scoble - represents a typical corporate blogger, the question remains: who stands to benefit?

To come back to the original point, I can't argue that all blogs are personal to some degree and that corporate blogs, by breaking down the walls, can help companies meet customer demands. I also think that brands need to understand exactly what consequences, - intended and unintended, positive and challenging - they'll receive along the way.

Posted by: Tim Peter at December 13, 2007 9:38 PM

Tim,

I agree that every corporate blogger benefits personally--that's a big part of the motivation to do it. (And I should know.) But I think my company also reaps big benefits, and not just in brand image. I'm asked to speak in places where my company is rarely found (and the conference foots the bill). I've been asked to work with large IBM customers on these problems, helping to cement my company's relationship with them. So, like most things, blogging must work for the employee and the company or else it disappears because one or the other calls a halt to it. Your post asks a great question about what happens when a blogger leaves a company. To me, the high-profile departures of A-list bloggers from companies are the price to be paid for the ride. If the company is smart, they have others in the wings that can continue to capture some part of their customers' time.

Posted by: Mike Moran at December 14, 2007 6:59 AM