Corporate America has a love/hate relationship with the freedoms created by the various Web 2.0 technologies like blogs. At the Blog-On conference last Fall, I noticed the audience broke into three sections. You had the corporate communications and PR teams, the technology providers (blog services, business intelligence/analytics, etc) and the revolutionaries. The corporations expressed an interest in embracing and using these new technologies to better understand and communicate with their customers and employees. They also asked for help on how to leverage these without losing complete control over their brands. The technology providers, excited by the notion of big revenue, offered up a variety of services and solutions to help Corporate America. However, in the end, it was the Revolutionaries that had the final say. They frequently commented that these new technologies gave the average Joe (or Jane) voice and Corporate America could not silence them. They could embrace this future and put their brand out willingly to be dissected and discussed by the masses or have it dragged out involuntarily. This was not the answer Corporate America wanted to hear and is why it is very slowly adopting these solutions.The most recent test of this is Microsoft. Microsoft has encouraged its employees to publicly embrace blogging. They believe, rightly, that it gives Microsoft voice in many corners of the net as well as providing a more authentic presence out there. The most popular is Robert Scoble while a recent "insider" in the spotlight is Mini-Microsoft who blogs anonymously and has recently been commenting and revealing the considerable disatisfaction with Microsoft’s internal operations and politics. It will be interesting to see how commited Microsoft is to this open approach going forward. Will corporate PR try to reign things in? I am a firm believer that open always wins and I give Microsoft credit, so far, for their efforts. Time will tell. Either way, this will provide a great learning environment for the rest of Corporate America.
Red Herring Article: Postings on company blog reveal low morale over Vista delay.
Postings on a Microsoft blog by company staffers over the past week reveal dismay, anger, and demands for high-level resignations in the wake of the company’s delays of consumer releases of its Windows Vista operating system and Office desktop productivity suite.
This is definitely an interesting time for corporate relations and PR. I am very eager to see how this all plays out and I think, as you point out, Microsoft could be a huge indicator. Corporate America will take notice of whatever decision Microsoft makes here and will probably follow Microsoft’s lead into the future.
I am also of the opinion that openness will always win so I applaud Microsoft and all of the other companies out there who are transparent with the public. Sometimes this may hurt but, in the end, it will probably pay off (assuming your company isn’t actually evil of course).
This is definitely an interesting time for corporate relations and PR. I am very eager to see how this all plays out and I think, as you point out, Microsoft could be a huge indicator. Corporate America will take notice of whatever decision Microsoft makes here and will probably follow Microsoft’s lead into the future.
I am also of the opinion that openness will always win so I applaud Microsoft and all of the other companies out there who are transparent with the public. Sometimes this may hurt but, in the end, it will probably pay off (assuming your company isn’t actually evil of course).
Clearly more and more firms will get it and roll out effective corporate blogs and communities. Success will be driven by whether they leverage the many services of FeedBurner! 🙂
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PING:
TITLE: The Hobgoblin USA Catalog Contents Page
URL: http://us.zp.ua/v.html
IP: 216.73.53.5
BLOG NAME: USA Catalog
DATE: 05/29/2006 12:33:47 PM
This Catalog is for use in the USA only, we try to keep these items available from our inventory here in the US. If you want goods sent outside the USA, …
Clearly more and more firms will get it and roll out effective corporate blogs and communities. Success will be driven by whether they leverage the many services of FeedBurner! 🙂
—–
PING:
TITLE: The Hobgoblin USA Catalog Contents Page
URL: http://us.zp.ua/v.html
IP: 216.73.53.5
BLOG NAME: USA Catalog
DATE: 05/29/2006 12:33:47 PM
This Catalog is for use in the USA only, we try to keep these items available from our inventory here in the US. If you want goods sent outside the USA, …