Companies Increasingly Look To Blogs As Spokesmen
By Kristina Peterson, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- As the ranks of bloggers continue to grow, more may
be wearing pinstripes than pajamas. Increasingly major companies are turning to
blogs to fulfill functions traditionally performed by spokesmen.
Recently a Microsoft (MSFT) spokesman declined a journalist's request for
comment, but sent along two links to employee blog posts. Professional sports
teams have also been among the early adopters in leaning more heavily on player
and employee blogs as a source of access for both the media and the public.
"This is an increasing trend, but I don't think spokespeople will ever go
away," said Lance Morgan, chief communications strategist at Powell Tate. "There
aren't enough blogs in the world to accommodate all the questions all the
journalists in the world have."
Just under one-third of Fortune 100 companies have corporate blogs, according
to a Burson-Marsteller social media study the public relations firm posted on
its own blog. Technology and telecommunications companies dominate the corporate
blogosphere, according to the late July 2009 survey. Microsoft alone has over 2,
500 corporate blogs. Meanwhile only 9% of the Fortune 100 oil refining companies
have blogs and none of the major health-care or property insurance companies do.
Blogs can help businesses field questions on sensitive issues without directly
refusing comment, said Rick Murray, president of Edelman Digital, the digital
division of public relations firm Edelman.
A blog is useful for companies "if they know it's a point where they'd just
rather not have a conversation, but here's our point of view," Murray said.
Still, blogs pose challenges of their own. Public relations experts said they
advise clients to remember employee posts should provide quotable information in
an appropriate voice, without entirely abandoning the informality of the medium.
"A company blog, when written by employees, has to balance the genuine nature
of the blogosphere with the needs of the company," said Erin Byrne, Burson-
Marsteller chief digital strategist. "We never recommend that companies take a
personal approach from the perspective of sitting around in your pajamas."
Byrne highlighted the Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) blog, "Nuts About
Southwest," as one that navigates that balance well. In a recent post, "Why Do
They Hate Your Bags?" emerging media specialist Christi Day reminded readers
that Southwest does not charge for the first two checked bags.
"Did anyone else see the news today about a competitor who wants you to pay
more than $249 a year for your bags to fly?" Day wrote. "Did anyone else think
it was an Onion article headline?"
Still many company blogs hew closely to language that a few years ago would
have only been found in a press release.
The title from a Feb. 10 post from a Microsoft blog was unlikely to divert
traffic from the Huffington Post: "Comparing Search Data Retention Policies of
Major Search Engines Before the E.U."
Nor the following day's post: "Microsoft, Girl Scouts Join Forces to Improve
Online Safety."
Blogs can help companies meet journalists' tight deadlines when lining up
calls with executives is hard to arrange, said Jennifer Houston, senior vice
president at public relations firm Waggener Edstrom.
"When it's a last-minute thing, pointing someone to a blog will allow that
reporter to get that information faster," she said.
And unlike advertisements, which can only fit so much information on one page,
blogs can take up as much room as they would like, Morgan noted.
"The advantage of the Internet is you can go on and on forever," he said. "But
the disadvantage is no one wants to read on and on forever."
-By Kristina Peterson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6619; kristina.peterson@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-12-091016ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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