If you’re not using blog posts to meet your customers’ needs in a way that’s unique to your brand, you’re missing an opportunity. See how one example of financial education content from Umpqua gets it right.
By definition I am a mommy blogger, but don’t you dare call me one. The category irks me. Or maybe the stereotype irks me. Most mommy bloggers I know don’t blog “just” about being mommies, and they certainly don’t blog about coupons or cleaning products. They blog about things like relationships, half-marathons and poetry, like I do (though I sometimes take weeks off between posts despite knowing better through my day job).
Do not refer to me as “soccer mom” or “hockey mom,” either, though my sons play both sports. You should also avoid “SAHM” (though I was one for a while) and “working mom” (duh, isn’t every mother? The President says so, anyway). Yes, what they say about people who assume is true, and mom stereotypes are old-school. I don’t drive a minivan or a humungous SUV. I don’t buy diapers, lunchmeat or fruit roll-ups. I don’t organize bake sales (who would dare to these days?) or hide in the bathroom for alone-time.
The Huffington Post may be hanging with The New York Times in the Pulitzer Prize club, but the pair couldn’t be more different:
As a Conversation Manager, it’s my job to be completely entrenched in all things social. I’m constantly researching new tools, updating myself on the latest trends, and berating my husband for not having a Facebook account exploring the pros and cons of different platforms, features and updates. At the end of the day, I take everything I know and use it to help my clients be the best “at social” they can be. Sometimes I forget that not everyone is as engrossed as I am. Sometimes, when new or potential (or even old) clients come to Media Logic for help, I’m reminded that some people don’t really know that much about Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. And you know what? That’s totally fine (and why we’re here!). Just this past week, in fact, I met a new client who wanted our help with starting a blog-based community site. Trouble was, he didn’t really know that much about blogging in general. To help get the ball rolling, I started compiling a list of best practices and guidelines that immediately came to mind.
I’ve been a blogger in my personal life for years, so I was hardly unbiased earlier this year when The New York Times announced that short-form social media, like Facebook and Twitter, were causing the rapid decline of blogs. Even though I fell into the, ahem, older age group for whom blogging was reported as increasing slightly, I bristled at my most beloved medium being labeled out of favor. In February, an impassioned debate followed The New York Times article, “Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter”), and the internet lit up with posts (blog posts, mainly) on both sides of the argument that everyone began to sum up as “The New York Times says blogs are dead.” Fast forward to yesterday when The New York Times’ Fashion & Style section published an article about the power of bloggers as influencers.
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We’ve seen brands respond to the challenge of conversation-centric marketing in vastly different ways. Some have reacted by becoming even more cloistered; others are testing the outer boundaries of taboo. Charmin’s latest promotion shows that CPG, at least relative to this brand, has chosen the latter path.
John Jordan, a member of Media Logic’s xTeam, came across a CNET.com article this morning about Charmin’s promotion. It generated quite the conversation at Media Logic:
From: John Jordan Odd story, but should be interesting: Charmin to pay 5 people $10k to blog, and share experience in a makeshift bathroom.
From: Patrick Boegel It might be insane, but the methodology from P&G is likely spot on. This campaign will generate attention and receive coverage from bloggers and the media. Regardless of the tenor of the coverage, good or bad, people will be writing about this promotion for awhile.
From: Ron Ladouceur Maybe it’s because I came of age in the earthier 70s, but to me this sounds like a fantastic Social Juice promo (though, in this case, “juice” might be an ugly word). Can you imagine how great a sell it took to get a bunch of P&G execs to sign off on “enjoy the go?” Hats off! Frankly, I think the author of this review sounds a bit constipated. She could use a Charmin break. Time will tell if Charmin’s latest promotion will be a success or failure. But, at least around here, it’s got people talking. What do you think? Does the latest Charmin Times Square bathroom campaign push past the boundaries of good taste or is it an effective exploitation of a taboo subject?
Pepsi sure has stirred up a storm with its ‘AMP UP Before You Score’ iPhone App. Bloggers are all over it, accusing the makers of a kind of casual sexism we haven’t seen in decades. Defenders suggest that since women were involved in the concept and development of the App, there’s nothing to see here. Tell us what you think. See what others think. Take the Z&C Poll. And be sure and come back and give us a quick comment.