On Blogger Relations
I’m going to be frank: there are alot of prominent PR bloggers who are really pissing me off.
Blogging has only recently been able to make the leap to legitimacy. Alot of this has to do with the shift from web logs as journals to web logs as sources of value (i.e. information providers) and the steady increase of credible folks blogging (CEO’s, journalists, professors, etc).
With this shift came another one: the shift from commenting and participating in blogs out of interest to what marketing folks (and marketing communications folks, because there IS a difference) now deem “blogger relations.” Blogger relations is exactly what it sounds like, and in its purest form it is what social media is all about– building relationships! A frequented blog is a watering hole for knowledge-thirsty members of a similar species: if you want to meet and build relationships with top PR professionals in the blogosphere, you can bet they probably visit blogs like PR Conversations or Jeremy Peppers Pop! PR Jots.
It’s tough, though, to find purity wherever there’s the opportunity to cash in.
The blogosphere has been buzzing with the ethical dilemma of blogger relations (See Heather Yaxley’s post on Molson’s blogger outreach initiatives). Two days ago, I came across a Chris Brogan post that discussed his experience with Cirque de Soleil’s attempt at “blogger relations”– recognizing him and his blogging pals as VIP at a company owned club in Vegas.
How can anyone recognize this as “good PR?” These bloggers are selling their soul for 24’s of Molson, crappy Ford rentals and a view from the other side of the velvet rope. Where is the relationship between PR bloggers and any of these freebies? I see a blogger hoisting a product up high in a photo they’ve just posted on their blog and I see a pawn.
Is it right for organizations to give freebie’s in exchange for blog publicity? Bribery in journalism is so hyper-feared that many journalists won’t even allow a lunch tab to be picked up.
Many of us find real value in the blogosphere. And the actions of a handful of fools, who value themselves so poorly that they beg to be commanded across the stage like a marionette, threaten to rob this space of the legitimacy it requires.
This is a call to all PR professionals in the social media space: Stop accepting bribes under the guise of “blogger relations” and show some self respect.
~ by Brandon Carlos on September 24, 2008.
Posted in PR/SEO/SEM
Tags: blogger relations, Brandon Carlos, PR, social media
Thanks to Judy Gombita for pointing me to this post. I think I may be in love with your blog. lol We need more honesty injected into the whole PR blog party scene.
Personally, I’m fine with the freebies when they’re in honest review copy format. But when we get down to things like free beer, where anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows you’ll see “awww, wasn’t that nice of them?” posts as opposed to completely honest product or event reviews, we’re in a sad state (sorry – Molson’s repeated cheap publicity masked as blogger relations attempts still get under my skin – what’s worse are the folks who still don’t realize there’s a difference between publicity and any kind of relations).
You would think so-called professionals would have more self-respect, and it’s sad that some don’t. Maybe someday they’ll wipe the pseudo-celebrity stars from their eyes and get back to business. In the meantime, kudos to you for being one of far too few people in this industry willing to publicly speak their mind outside of the popular opinion pool.
Thank you, Jenn. There are a select few who hold our view– Judy is one of them– and while we’re few, we are no slouches. The cop-outs will always outnumber the real pro’s. Such is the benefit of being a Ninja– we’re used to multiple attackers =)
As another Ninja, my views on blogola are already on record. But what I find interesting from a PR perspective is how easy it is to impress the bloggers. I’m reminded of a couple of instances from my auto industry background.
1. I had a new MD when I worked for a motoring organisation who came from a banking background, where they were really strict on freebies and jollies. We were invited to an unveiling of a new sportscar by a client company, so new MD accepted, along with myself and our sales director (both of us being old hands in the car launch game). The MD was so excited and overawed by simply seeing a car have a silk sheet removed and getting a glass of champagne. I was really surprised being genetically cynical that he was that easily impressed and had suspended all judgement.
2. Working for a car company we launched a model intended to appeal to families and decided to run a competition to find two families to take on the launch in Switzerland so that the journos could get a parent/child perspective. It was a great success – not least because the families were just so grateful at being taken on this trip (jaded journos not being impressed by business travel, 5-star hotels etc). They also didn’t own new vehicles themselves and so raved about the cars, which came over in the coverage. (Which reminds me of a certain blog post.)
Now I don’t think either of these are unethical things to do – hospitality and a little sizzle are natural parts of socialising and building relationships.
However, as bloggers, we should value our credibility, our professionalism and our “space”. And as PR practitioners, we need to consider the way in which giving special access, freebies etc can be seen.
Having someone write about an experience they’ve been given can be very useful coverage – especially if this is a unique insight or an exclusive interview. We see that all the time with journalism.
That experience in itself shouldn’t influence any opinion or recommendation of a company or its products, especially if the writer is professional enough to retain their objectivity. But like my MD or the families on the car launch, can bloggers do that? Are they so impressed with being feted and worried about being excluded next time?
Many bloggers do seem to lose their critical faculties.
There is also a difference in endorsing a freebie and championing something based on your own experience, especially if you’ve paid for that genuine viewpoint. I’ve worked with enough celebrities blagging cars to know they aren’t worth anything like those who don’t contact the company and pay out of their own pocket. Especially as we know that the first lot have contacted every car company since they want something for nothing.
The comments on Chris Brogan’s post showed that Cirque de Soleil offers a great experience and has lots of fans.
The problem for me in hosting the bloggers was that they wrote more about the fact the access was free rather than the Cirque experience. The post didn’t seem to tell us anything more than “look at me”.
This can’t be as valuable as genuine endorsement from those who’ve paid their own money. And, if I was in a queue and saw freeloaders getting special treatment, that’s what I’d be writing about on my blog. Let’s not forget, bloggers can be anyone – even the poor sap who is standing in line ready to part with their hard-earned cash.
[...] efforts were chalked up as “an appalling attempt at corporate blogger relations” by Brandon Carlos of PR Ninja. “. . .What Cirque has done here is give VIP status to a group of bloggers who otherwise [...]
Why You Must Show Up and Shake Hands (like Cirque du Soleil) » The Buzz Bin said this on September 26, 2008 at 9:34 am |
From my perspective as a former journalist and current PR guy, I think one of the strengths of blogging is its potential to really open people’s eyes to the many realities they may not have previously seen, and I think that an honest approach to blogging about freebies can reveal more truth than avoiding such situations. For example, were I to attend an event as a journalist and be given back-stage access (with all attendant bonuses like free food and drink), the primary reason for my accepting the invitation would be access to sources of news and information; the conventions of traditional journalism would prevent more than passing mention of the ambience and the attempts to ply me with free junk; the reporter him/herself is expected to keep his/her voice out of the story.
However, if I were to attend such an event as a blogger, it’s expected that I use the first-person and create a “you are there” feeling, including bold-face emphasis on how these folks are trying their hardest to get good press by keeping Molson on ice for me.
And, further to the point that anyone can be a blogger, dishonest bloggers who let themselves become enamored with their pseudo-celebrity status and become shills for the folks who gave them the VIP treatment can expect to be called out for their perfidy by those who respect the purity of the medium.
I think the critical point, therefore, is that bloggers need to continue accepting invitations to be VIPs, but they should leverage that access, and the fact that they are part of this free-form information exchange, and tell the whole story – the story that “traditional” journalists can’t tell, or at least would run into resistance from their editor if they tried to tell.
Research shows that the very smallest of tokens given initiates a human response to reciprocate. The very smallest of tokens. You’re fooling yourself if you think you’re immune.
Pam, research also shows that ethics in business, including ethical investments and product purchases, is on the rise. Now, either you’re a monster or you’re fooling yourself if you think YOU’RE immune.
I discussed this issue with an automotive journalist recently and we recalled the late George Bishop who used to write a column in Car magazine (I recall it in early 1990s, but it had been going for years). His focus was always the hospitality rather than the car being launched.
My problem isn’t really with provision of VIP access per se, it is the relevance of that to “blogger-relations.” If it is pertinent to the “story”, then getting behind the scenes does offer opportunities for interesting coverage and insight. It does also build relationships and we are naive if we don’t think that the intention of that is to a large extent, to influence (but that works both ways).
When the focus of the coverage becomes entirely the access and hospitality, it is more questionable from both sides. Integrity is lost if the blogger is seen to be in it for the perks only, and the PR practitioners run the risk of looking stupid. That’s why I don’t understand the targeting of PR/marketing bloggers.
I’d never invite PR Week on a launch or VIP event unless it was in someway worthy of coverage as innovative. It just seems like massaging your own ego to seek coverage in such titles – although of course, as a consultancy, you have a different agenda!!
On the ethics question, Brandon, can we honestly say that ethics in business is on the rise? I think one thing the current economic crisis is showing us is that the same old cynicism and looking after #1 is evident in many, many businesses.
They say your values are what you protect even when it hurts – in many organisations we’re seeing a little bit of hurting means abandoning even basic ethical values, sadly.