PR puff… not the way to blog

James Cherkoff of Collaborate Marketing Solutions is a true evangelist for marketing blogs and he’s doing a great job of raising awareness of blogging’s commercial possibilities. He often pops up in places like the FT (hard to beat) talking up the benefits of blogging and offers workshops on the phenomenon that, I’m sure, are worth attending.

Blogging, like the rest of the internet, remains a very young medium and blogging is still a novel component to the marketing mix. Like James, I’m a believer but it’s important to recognise that, like most technology, blogs can be used for evil as well as good. Like Stefano Hatfield says in the Independent: ‘There is so much “emperor’s new clothes” going on’.

Jumping to blogging’s defence James has mounted a vague attack on Stefano Hatfield and defence of GM Motors FastLane blog. The problem is FastLane’s full of puff: puff on price promotions, puff on product tailoring. Meanwhile, the rumour is GM’s heading for bankruptcy. What’s FastLane got to say on that? Nothing.

As blogs begin to mature as a medium, early adopters are going to have to recognise that their idealistic vision isn’t necessarily held by all. GM blogs, but blogging plays no role in its communication on the issues that really matter. The bar needs to be raised and bloggers need to learn the same lessons on separating advertising from editorial that their opposite numbers in the mainstream media learnt long ago.
Contact Stephen Newton

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