Whose Your “Chief Blogger”? March 27, 2009
Posted by Blair Garka in Corporate blogs.Tags: chief blogger, Coca-Cola, Kodak, Marriott, Shel Israel
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In two of my previous posts on corporate blogging, I discussed the CEO blog. There are many opinions about who should manage the blogging function in an organization. Some experts think the CEO should blog, and others think they should not. Whether it’s the CEO, the corporate communications department, or a hired individual or group, it would be wise to designate one of them the “chief blogger.”
The Advertising Age article “Does Your Company Need a Chief Blogger?” shared that companies such as Coca-Cola, Marriott, and Kodak all now have a chief blogger. It is their job to tell the companies’ stories and engage consumers. The chief blogger shares the brand voice. Companies that have a chief blogger are more focused and effective. This makes sense because there is only one person trying to post an idea. One blogger also ensures that all the posts have the same brand voice.
In the video below, Shel Israel expanded on the importance of chief bloggers telling company stories. I think he was on point when he said, “When you’re blogging, you need to be giving something to your reader that compels them.” I think that readers will only continue visiting a blog if they are getting something interesting from it. I also thought he was right on target when he mentioned that people don’t want to hear lists of “corporate pearls.” His blunt thoughts on boring blogs from corporations, PR people, and legal teams warned bloggers to keep their posts focused on stories.
A story is important to keep the reader’s interest. I agreed with Israel when he suggested that companies should tell stories about their struggles and times when they failed. I feel that blogs are successful when they share company interests and tell what the organization is really like, because the audience will feel like they can trust the company.
I think Shel Israel said it well, “tell a story”. If corporate blogs were more about the stories of the company, the ups and downs, ins and outs, personal feelings I think they would be very effective and draw more employees and media to the blog. They would come back to visit more often to see what the new story is in the company. Each corporation needs to have a “chief blogger” who is the voice for the company. The messages need to be consistent and each story will have the same sort of character. One company blogger that is mentioned over and over again is Sun Microsystems’ Jonathon Schwartz. He is the “chief blogger” for his company and he is the CEO. I looked at his blog and found his posts to contain a story. He makes outside references and ties them into his company, while telling a story of Sun and who they are. His posts are very interesting and truly have a voice. Here is the link to Jonathon’s blog.
http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/