Brand Autopsy Reader Mail

Jeff Johnson writes …

John, good job at the blogging enterprise meeting. I'm a branding guy too, and was the one that asked the question about weighing the risks of content control versus uncensored blogs. As one who has spent a career creating brands, I still struggle with the idea that if I create a blog, anyone in my company can add to it, and anyone outside can too.

One of the presenters at the meeting said that the old communication paradigm was that companies had the same message in brochures, Press releases, Web, etc., and this paradigm is dead. But what about the time-tested technique that "repetition builds retention." A blog post is a moment in time. How can you build a brand using point in time, one-off comments?

Jeff

---

Hmm … lots to chew on here Jeff. I’ll start, but I’m sure others will chime in and offer their perspectives.

First, a blog post is one moment in time. But a series of blog posts are many moments spread across time. By consistently writing compelling blog posts, it makes relevant the old school technique of “repetition builds retention.”

Now, when the speaker mentioned something about companies putting the same message in all its marketing collateral pieces, my takeaway was the speaker was referring to the highly refined and superficial language that many companies put in their brochures, press releases, etc… The best blogs reject superficial language for real words with real meaning. It’s less formal writing but more meaningful reading. Customers today are becoming more immune to super glossy marketing copy and many are appreciative when companies eschew hype for realness.

As far as struggling with the idea of giving up top-down marketing control so that anyone anywhere can change/modify/add-on to it from the bottom-up … I must quote from BRAND HIJACK:

---

“Marketing managers aren’t in charge anymore. Consumers are. Across the globe, millions of insightful, passionate, and creative people are helping optimize and endorse breakthrough products and services – sometimes without the companies’ buy-in. What exactly is going on? Let’s call it brand hijacking.

Brand hijacking is about letting customers (and other stakeholders) to shape brand meaning and endorse the brand to others. It’s a way to establish true loyalty, as opposed to mere retention. We’re not talking about creating hype here. We’re talking about a new template for going to market. We’re talking about a complex orchestration o many carefully though-out activities. An above all else, we’re talking about being willing to collaborate with a group of people you’re not use to collaborating with: consumers.”

[Source: BRAND HIJACK | Alex Wipperfürth | pg. 6]

---

Comments

[Dave Cooper]

Hi there!

"The best blogs reject superficial language for real words with real meaning."

I think this is true of *any* message an organization publishes in any medium. I fight often and vigorously with clients whose stated marketing goal is to spin, fluff, pad, BS, and so on.

If a business has nothing meaningful to say to its market, that's evidence of business problems that no blog or brochure can fix.

Kudos to you, Jeff Johnson and Brand Autopsy for raising important questions.

All the best,
Dave

[David St Lawrence]

Jeff Johnson misses the critical point that blog posts persist! Comments persist! They are NOT a point in time. They persist....... :)

Think of a post or a comment as graffiti that can't be erased. Understanding this is vital if he is ever to harness the power of blogging.

Someone writes about your product and it will not go away. Legal action to shut down a site produces indelible records of the whole sorry mess, complete with comments and amplifications that just do not quit.

Don't fight it, use it! A weblog is the most powerful tool available right now to get your message out and influence an unlimited number of readers. It is a dialog that increases in value with every comment whether bad or good.

Stop thinking in terms of managed communication or you will be hopelessly outgunned. Blogging is a conversation. Those who have developed that skill will succeed beyond all expectations. Those who struggle to manage the conversation will be shut out or heckled into insensibility.

Two way communication is a powerful force to effect change. Use it.