Monthly Archive for May, 2008

Fortune 500 and Corporate Blogs – Blogs Per Industry

Published
by
Anne Sobecki
on May 21, 2008
in Corporate Blogging and Social Media Marketing
. 0 Comments

While browsing through “Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki” a listing of companies with a corporate blog, I asked myself, “Which industries are “blog happy”? In order to answer the question, I classified each company based on their general activity or by identifying the segment in which the company had chosen to blog about.

The findings below offer some insights into the sectors and companies that are most willing to blog.

corporate-blog21052008.GIF

I also asked my colleague, Ian, for his thoughts and we had some comments after examining the table.

  • It was not shocking to discover that the IT industry represents nearly half of the blogs on this list however; it is surprising to note that several industries are at the bottom of the list or do not appear taking into account the benefits from blogs.
  • The cosmetics industry has much to gain from using blogs. For many firms, product development is largely based on innovation and the ability to offer products tailored to the consumer. Drawing intelligence from the pool of readers via a blog, companies could benefit from this raw source of information for their R&D projects.
  • The same is true for the automotive industry that is late coming to the blogosphere. Of the few manufacturers, GM does not hesitate to use the blog as an accompanying tool used in the market introduction stage of a new product with a personal touch that reinforces the campaign. As a result, the blog is read and grabs the attention of consumers as seen in the post “Invicta: A Product Progress Report” published on May 1, that received 67 comments! A mosaic of expertise, a pool of readers, ready to deliver their views.
  • The Coca Cola company for its part, decided to uphold the historical image of their brand by choosing Phil Mooney as its blogger. Mooney has been in charge of The Coca-Cola Company’s Archives since 1977.

During a brief discussion during the last Yulbiz networking cocktail, I asked Fred Cavazza about the companies in France that have a corporate blog. The answer was clear and boils down roughly to the following categories: i) Companies that have promotional blogs, ii) No blogs. But what about Michel-Edouard Leclerc’s blog that has been online since 2004?

Why is there a delay and a wide array of differences in the blogging practices?


Blog Directory - Blogged

Sustainability and Social Media : Is it a natural?

Published
by
Isabelle Poirier
on May 7, 2008
in Author-Isabelle Poirier, Corporate Blogging and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 3 Comments

Ten years from now, the Web 2.0 era will be seen as the turning point of our communication culture and collective intelligence paradigms. Business development and growth built upon collaboration, partnership, transparency and interaction will be seen as the buzzwords that best describes the decade.

This blog questions the willingness of actual industry leaders to embrace the 2.0 culture to look at corporate social responsibility and sustainable development in a different way.

Dow Jones Sustainable Index 2007 and web 2.0

Intel is the only company of these top leaders that has a CSR blog and demonstrates that CSR or SD engagements can be discussed and can evolve within a Web 2.0 culture.

Some might think that discussing about environmental externalities and community wealth is easier for an IT player than it is for a natural resource or heavy industrial player. Other might think that it is just a question of time.

Countries that can guarantee energy availability, political stability and access to natural resources are magnets for capital investments and growth. However, communities won’t keep quiet if they believe it’s not worth it. Blogs and social networks tools are the new natural channels to discuss openly about externalities linked to industrial and economic development. Ten years ago, discussion groups were often the blind spots for large corporations. Blogs have replaced them. An example of this new reality is how LNG (Liquefied natural gas) terminal projects can be challenged by stakeholders and how blogs are platforms to voice their preoccupation. The Tara Foundation uses its blog to bring local concerns to the public domain.

“Residents fear Kerry LNG gas terminal will threaten their homes”
 Up to 50 people living directly adjacent to the landbank between Tarbert and Ballylongford came together at a public meeting in Tarbert on Thursday night, where they presented their issues to two representatives of the Shannon LNG company, which is behind the proposed gas terminal.

It is expected that a residents group in Tarbert, Count Kerry, will lodge a detailed objection to An Bord Pleanála outlining their fears over the proposed LNG terminal. If their objections are upheld and plannning permisison is refused, it could sound the death knell for the multi-million euro project that is expected to create 650 jobs during construction and 50 jobs when the plant is up and running”

Could industry leaders, assessing risk and forgetting to take into consideration community’s and stakeholders’ capabilities to team up virtually to discuss and evaluate their value proposition be at risk?