Buzzing the Blogs

"Do you blog, have lots of friends at your MySpace page, and love music?... [L]ooking for skilled, motivated interns to promote artists on social networking sites like MySpace, Purevolume, Facebook and others.”  From a position posting by Sony BMG noted in the NYT’s ‘What’s Online’ column.

Could ordinary people’s buzz about products be bought and sold by agencies like so much time on TV or radio? [The interns will get college credit for their work with Sony.] That’s the question addressed in this week’s Ad Age and reported on Going Social. Chris Perry, the author of the blog, notes that this change in the business model for leaders in WOM marketing begin to align it more firmly in an advertising context where agents are the channel and creative is fed through it, rather than a model where P2P marketing and communication is considered in a more dynamic and collaborative manner. From another POV, it looks like the attempt to establish reciprocity in communications with consumers and priority audiences is trumped by the one-way, ‘inoculation’ model of communications.  Now the question is whether this decision is based on efficacy of one approach over the other or simply a way of generating increased revenues.

Data cited on the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) site finds that about 85% of survey respondents say WOM is credible, compared with 70% for advertising and PR. About three-quarters rated media stories about a company as credible, and 84% found the opinions of company employees believable. Only personal experience with a company scored higher than word-of-mouth, with 92% of people calling it credible. [Link]  If a company is interested in using credible sources for its communications, the implications are apparent.  However, if WOM or P2P communications looks like it's being paid for, or sounds like its being paid for, then I think we can anticipate what the audience response will be - something analogous to 'duck.'

The corporate interest in blogging and other social network marketing is gathering momentum; take Proctor and Gamble’s initiatives for developing a network of ‘influential moms’  and ‘influential teens' (The Tremor Crew), and Edy’s Ice Cream's 'Random Scoops of Sweetness' program.

Programs such as these are reflective of the Me2 Revolution that Richard Edelman has talked about. His idea is that it is time for companies (and nonprofit and government agencies?) to move away from top-down communications. What is now required is a combination of outreach to traditional elites, including investors, regulators, and academics, plus the new elites, such as involved consumers, empowered employees, and non-governmental organizations. I’ll add innovators and early adopters as well as ‘behavioral evangelists’ and witnesses for social change to the list.

As WOM or P2P marketing takes off, some public health programs and not-for-profits have been taking small steps in this direction: FreeVibe has been posting images reinforcing their anti-drug messages that can be downloaded for use on personal websites and blogs, VERB has been encouraging the use of Ecards and IM icons to promote physical activity, StreeTheory has been using a more traditional approach of posting ideas for youth advocates to stimulate local actions to prevent tobacco use, and the National Wildlife Foundation has launched the Green Hour blog to support its program to help parents encourage their children to spend an hour a day outside playing and learning.

For health communications and social marketers in the public and voluntary sectors, I have talked about some of the more obvious challenges and considerations for launching a blog.  The Word of Mouth Marketing Association has also published a draft set of ethical standards on their website.

And for those who may want to further explore how blogging is working in the corporate world, the recent online survey and indepth interviews with corporate bloggers by Backbone Media found … that corporate blogs are giving established corporations and obscure brands the ability to connect with their audiences on a personal level, build trust, collect valuable feedback and foster strengthened relationships while and at the same time benefiting in ways that are tangible to the sales and marketing side of the business.

As public health and social change organizations consider strategies for achieving their mission and objectives, blogging and other P2P communication technologies will need to become part of the discussion – if not part of the toolkit.  Plenty of knowledge, experience and resources are accumulating in the blogosphere to help guide you.