What’s in it for the average blogger?
Two networking events brought bloggers and advertising types in contact in Dublin over the last week, and both spurred a ripple of chatter on Twitter and through blogs.
The first was Casting Couch, a pre-launch event at which bloggers were given an early heads-up on Bord Gáis’s Big Switch launch, a day ahead of the traditional media, but with an embargo that prevented them from doing anything with the information until it went on general release.
The other was the second iteration of Damien Mulley’s Collision Course, a collaborative affair where bloggers and PR types were encouraged to mingle, work together to solve a problem, and share ideas.
I didn’t attend the first, but from what I gather, Bord Gáis unveiled the product behind their anonymous Big Switch campaign, which had established an online presence using Twitter and a placeholder website, without revealing anything of the substance of the offer beforehand. Bloggers were bound to an embargo, after which they were free to blog away to their heart’s content, extending the reach of the campaign, for the cost of a few bottles of wine and some nibbles to the organisers.
The column inches and quantifiable hits were the desired result for the PR folk. But what, if anything, was in it for the bloggers? What use was this to them apart from the ability to say ‘I was there’ or, after the embargo has passed and the news is out there, ‘I already knew that’?
Erm, thanks, I think.
I did attend the second (nice to meet you all), and enjoyed working through a problem with a mix of bloggers and PR types. The format has potential, and the discussion about how to improve it further was good, but I came away feeling that although I had contributed to a worthwhile discussion, I hadn’t gained all that much, or felt like we had broken any new ground. The usual touchpoints were hit/buzzwords mentioned and at one stage of our discussion one of the PR folks observed that a certain tack might ‘score brownie points with Damien’, meant in jest but illuminating. It reminded me of this post. (Update: and this video)
Any networking opportunity is valuable in itself, but I couldn’t help but wonder what tangible gains there are from this form of interaction, if any, for the average blogger. In the Big Switch case, were bloggers not set up to be used as pawns by the PR firm in question, with little to show for it bar a few free drinks?
Bloggers have long craved respect and recognition from the mainstream, a recognition of worth rather than the ‘insolent child’ treatment that was doled out for so long. But in a rush to be ‘engaged’ by the big boys, have we mistaken being involved for being used?
Exemplifying the one-way benefits of the new PR/blogger interaction was a presentation at Collision Course II from Emily Hughes, a PR Masters student from DIT, who was behind the successful ‘Bring Back Wispa‘ campaign. Emily gave a thorough presentation on how she conceived, implemented, and handed over a stunningly effective PR campaign to Murray Consultants, using free social media site, Bebo. The campaign, started spontaneously by Emily while studying in UCC, garnered huge viral support through Bebo, with a sister campaign on Facebook in the UK. Murray, who handle the Cadbury account, didn’t take long to notice the traction it had gained, and jumped on this very lucrative bandwagon, supporting the girls in their quest to bring back the bar.
Emily admitted that her campaign had generated a massive rise in sales for Cadbury (1.2million Wispas sold in the first week alone, 70million bars by mid-December 2008) , and Murray were put forward for a PRII award on the basis of the campaign, which kicked off completely independently of them. The award category, incidentally, was for campaigns that came in under €30,000, and continuing their budget outsourcing, Murray cleverly roped in students to design their campaign t-shirts, again harnessing the student sugar kick to best effect, and engaging a key demographic cheaply to boot.
Emily vacillated on the point of remuneration, saying at one stage that she received ‘some remuneration’ for her extensive media work on Wispa’s behalf, then saying that she ‘didn’t see any of the money’ that Cadbury had earned, and at another stage indicating that she wouldn’t talk about the money. While it may have helped her in her interview with DIT, it smacked of exploitation, and not merely the kind of pro bono effort one puts in for work experience to get a foot on the ladder – this was a full-on media campaign with a quantifiable and substantial financial benefit to Cadburys, with the apparent credit going to Murray Consulting for piggybacking on a blogger’s momentum. Unless Emily’s holding back a considerable secret bounty (no chocolate pun intended), it seems she got seriously short-changed.
Bloggers are all too happy to talk up the benefits of social media and engagement – but, without being greedy, what’s in it for us? Talk is cheap, and a lot of us are giving our ideas and our abilities away for free, or for little gain. So, aren’t some of us being a bit naive? I may be speaking brashly, but if I was to shift 70million units of a product on the back of my initiative, the very least I would want is the guarantee of a job on the back of that, starting with a hefty signing bonus.
As belts get tightened, the open-source model of blogging becomes cheaper and cheaper in relative terms, and ‘blogsploitation’ has the potential to get out of control. Giving it away for free, up front, makes it even harder for any of us to turn around further down the road and claim that we deserve a slice of the returns, beyond a clap on the back and a wry smile.
The advertising world is akin to a swarm of locusts at times. It will descend, all abuzz, and feast on the goodies in any given area until its worth is exhausted, and then move on, leaving nothing but tumbleweeds. (Don’t believe me? Talk to those selling space in newspapers, or airtime on radio – tumbleweeds). Bloggers are right to engage, but need to be more savvy if they are to avoid being treated like a field of defenceless corn.
There are plenty of opportunities within this post to pick it apart and spit back at me. The blogosphere is chock full of cheerleaders who are happy to rally to any cause when it’s a fellow blogger blowing the trumpet, often without applying a critical analysis. They’re just as ready to take you out at the knees if you question things at times, too.
Perhaps I’m just becoming slightly disillusioned, but I’m not the only one. Niall Harbison’s post on Twitter could be applied wholesale to blogging, or any new media that reaches a critical mass and goes mainstream, the aul ‘I loved it before it went so commercial’ chestnut. Perhaps it’s too early in the current model of interaction to be talking like this, but it’s important to have it in the back of our mind, lest our souls are sold.
Flame at will.
12 comments
I suspect that Emily’s example is slightly unique. ‘Bring back Whispa’ has simplicity on it side. It’s brilliant since it really was built for the click-and-support momentum (though you’re right, a lot of people would be miffed at the idea of not seeing anything of 70 million units).
But a lot of the sphere is not well understood but tradtion channels. ‘Viral’ is being brought up more and more in board meetings and you can bet your life on this being wrongly understood as a ‘strategy’ rather than an effect.
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Hi Mark. I think this a very thought-provoking post. It’s something I have been pondering on myself from both the viewpoint of an oldish (!) PR and a relatively new blogger. Bloggers will usually be at risk of blogsploitation because PR will have a strategy and goal to gain the most positive coverage for their product/service/organisation/idea…or they should have! On the other hand why do most people blog? Usually because they feel they have something to say and feel passionately about, just want to get something off their chest, vanity publishing or just to play at ‘rock stars’ comparing the number of their followers – for some, size does matter, to the point of obsession. So if you have a passion for mountain bikes, etc, and write about it, you’re going to be quite pleased if someone like Specialized offer you a bike to try out – it gives you recognition that you have something to say. Which is possibly all you wanted. Until, as you point out, bloggers aspire for something more, and additionally, in my mind, have a clear plan to achieve it in the same way a PR would, blogging will remain ‘just’ a great opportunity to share ideas, meet people who you would never bump into in the street, and hone your ideas for the greater good!
I think I need to defend myself after you “plucked me out”.
I’ll go with this one example of the Bord Gáis meetup. This wasn’t a scheme dreamt up by a PR firm, this was Bord Gáis doing it themselves. All the bloggers that attended did so out of curiosity. None of us knew what it was going in.
If we did, I suspect a different group of bloggers would have shown up.
If you want bloggers, ask bloggers who blog about your area. For the event the ideal group would be business bloggers, consumer affairs bloggers, green affairs bloggers. Oddly enough marketing and advertising bloggers would have been interested too.
Or to put it another way, would you invite a music journalist to the launch of a new cheese? (No jokes please)
I know that not everyone who attended blogged about it (yet at any rate). I know that it ended up being one of my longer posts.
From what I can tell, it was the first attempt at blogger outreach (not just their first attempt, but THE first attempt following the Collision Course).
Lots of information was freely given. It was interesting to see a “grown up” product that few would describe as “sexy” being used for outreach. Things are changing in the marketplace, bloggers may be invited to more, but that is no guarantee of a write up, let along a favourable one.
The early inviter will get the “well they invited us” posts, but if it becomes more commonplace, the “I was there” won’t be blogged. The “I’m interested in this topic, give me the info” will take over. After all, most (if not all) Irish bloggers are amateurs. They have work, school or other duties in the mornings. They can’t attend a day-time press conference (or film screening). They don’t all live in Dublin (interesting to see how many of these things will take place in Cork, Galway, Kilkenny or Limerick). And bloggers are under no real obligation. A day without posting isn’t going to cause much harm. Not the same can be said about mainstream media.
Or to use your analogy, the swarm of locusts may find the field is empty when they get there.
Of course, locust only swarm then their serotonin levels increase. That’s the happy chemical of the brain.
Who says that bloggers make a happy meal?
[...] is interesting. Markham Nolan blogged about, well, bloggers being used and abused by marketing types and quoted the example of The Big Switch outreach done by Bord Gáis electricity. Go read it and [...]
This post started off as an interesting insight into another bloggers mind and opinion regarding the Bord Gais entry into electricity supply in Ireland. Admittedly I did follow Will Knot’s reply to what he perceives as an attack…
Sadly after the first few paragraphs I realised that I too am guilty of the same crime, (probably too often) – of going on for just too long! While we are all entitled to our opinions, regardless of whether I agree or not, I think that you lost the focus of this post very quickly…
Sorry to be so critical, but that’s just my two cents worth! No doubt there will be some back lash, but thanks for opening my eyes…
@ Kat – I suspect you’re right. Perhaps in this case, it was a case of a lack of targeting, in that as it was the first outreach initiative of its kind, it really didn’t segment its audience, or couldn’t, because to do so would have been a tip-off.
@WillKnott – you raised the above point, and I suppose it will come in time. For now, simply being the first and reaching out is enough to get them written about.
@Polly – really, I had no intention of talking about the Bord Gais launch itself, rather the method used, but had to set the context.
Great post Markham, insightful as ever. As someone who is new to this blogging lark it is always good to hear the lastest from the cold face. Good debate after the post as well. The Wispa thing is really interesting, I didn’t know the details of the campaign – was too busy handing out the chocolate bars I got delivered to my place of work at the time. It illustrates the power you guys can have – that Emily could generate that many sales on her own is pretty impressive. Unfortunately, as Jerry Maguire says, we live in a cynical, cynical world. Although you have to admire the PR company for its chutzpah on seizing on what was already a solid idea.
@McG – you had me at insightful
Dear Mark,
Let me start with Congratulations on winning Best Blog from a Journalist.
I’ve written you an Open Letter on my blog. I’d be grateful if you’d read it.
Paul
@Randy – another good tactic is not writing comments that make you sound like a Belarussian spammer. Just saying, ‘sall
[...] a week ago I warned bloggers to beware that they were setting themselves up to be used and abused by PR types. [...]
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