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Blogging: risky business or good business?
To blog or not to blog, that is the question. I was chatting with a friend who works in college admissions about the "view books" and the other collateral that goes to potential students. It sounds like the view book is really for parents -- glossy, looks like the school is a good investment, etc. But what is it that lures the potential student and makes them beg, plead, bargain with mom and dad to go to a small and pricey school? I'm not thinking it's the view book. We talked about student blogs (there are many of them) and how the admissions group could feature them, promote them to students, etc. But, that would NEVER go over well with the administration, college president, etc. It's too risky, and the students might say something "unauthorized" about the school.
If you're catering to a generation that has seen hundreds of thousands of marketing messages and has started what some call "Brand-lash" or the backlash against branding, you have to know they have really fine tuned bull s**t meters. They know the view book is the official shtick, and they also like the authenticity of hearing something not-canned and not always positive about the place. What do you think they're hearing when they hang out with current students in the dorms? It's the same stuff, just onlline and easier to get to.
It got me thinking about this post from Scobleizer: Are you afraid to blog? In it he offers some key observations:
1) People don't trust corporations.
2) People don't like talking to corporations.
3) That old "markets are conversations" thing.
4) Which is more believeable? A press release from, say, Ford Motor Company, or a few blog entries from the people who designed the new Ford Mustang's powertrain.
5) Blogs build customer evangelists.
6) Blogs build market momentum and get adoption.
And then there's this post on Corante that's talking about the PR risks and benefits. I disagree that the CEO can't have a blog, but the gist is that it's good for you.
...the best thing the PR department in most companies can do with respect to corporate bloggers is to get out of the way.
Enough said.
November 10, 2004 in Weblogs | Permalink
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Comments
My apologies, Kathleen - I certainly didn't intend to convey the impression I'd think a CEO should not blog. Quite the opposite, in fact.
As an actively blogging company president, that would have been kind of a silly thing for me to suggest.
Posted by: Michael O'Connor Clarke at November 12, 2004 05:24 PM