Brands
such as O2 and Topshop have been quick to jump on the social networking
bandwagon by using sites such as Facebook to target consumers , but a more
recent trend — and one that carries some risk — has been the use of
personal blogs as a communications tool.
Last month Waitrose managing
director Mark Price, nicknamed the ‘chubby grocer’ , launched a blog
on the retailer’s website in which he shares his experiences on a
healthier eating regime and tracks his efforts to lose weight — as well as
arguing for the introduction of tea trolleys to airport immigration halls.
Price’s actions are
relatively unusual, as corporate blogging is still in its infancy in the UK.
However, it is thought likely that it will become as popular as it is in the US,
where practitioners include General Motors vice-chairman Bob Lutz. Several other
brands, including Dell and Benetton, also operate blogs where employees and
consumers can interact.
The appeal
is obvious — blogs are a way of achieving vast reach at a minimal cost.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates
spoke about the benefits of communicating with customers via blogs at
Microsoft’s CEO Summit in 2004. It had advantages over more traditional
communication methods such as emails, he argued, which could be too imposing or
exclude potential audiences.
Microsoft encourages its staff
to talk to consumers through blogging; it claims that more than 2000 employees
use blogs to keep people up to date with their projects. “It is a great
way to communicate with a wider audience,†says Dave Gartenberg, HR
director at Microsoft UK. “We are lucky that some of the most prominent
bloggers in the world are based at Microsoft.â€
Ian Pearman, managing director
at Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, which handles Sainsbury’s advertising,
believes many consumers will react well to chief executives taking full
responsibility through blogging. “It implies the kind of care and
provenance that might be expected of a smaller business rather than a big
corporation,†he says.
However, this comes with
substantial caveats. Unlike traditional advertising campaigns , blogging demands
long-term investment by a company or individual. “Chief executives
can’t start a conversation and then stop it on their own terms,â€
stresses Pearman . “Once the floodgate is open, the responses will keep
pouring in and every one will expect a response [from the blogger].â€
This was demonstrated in 2006
when Charles Dunstone, co-founder and chief executive of Carphone Warehouse,
started his corporate blog at the same time as the company launched its
‘free’ TalkTalk broadband offer. Dunstone stated that he would
“update his blog regularly to keep [customers] up to date with
what’s happening†, but as the firm struggled to cope with the
demand for its latest offering , leaving thousands of customers angry and
frustrated, Dunstone stopped blogging.
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