Hmmpost

Seriously. It makes me kind of queasy when I see people throwing around power of bloggers, the new PR, blah blah blah. Bloggers saying bloggers are powerful is the most worthless statement in the world. It’s like people named Jen all declaring that people named Jen are the smartest. Yes there are a lot of us and we all have a voice, but if we all banded together and banned your company’s product from our homes…you wouldn’t go out of business. But back to my point… From business-minded listening (I guess when you don’t call it customer service you get paid more than $12/hr.) to new media PR - this is all the same old stuff with a new bow. And companies are paying through the nose for it.

Motrin pulling their ad? Stupid move. Dr. Pepper responding to Guns N’ Roses angry mail? What a joke! Burger King bowing down to protesters because bloggers are saying they are commercializing rural areas? Come the hell on.

The reason companies freak out when bloggers complain is because we are smart, we are early adopters, and people listen to us. The same people listen that blog. Other than some coverage on CNN and a few other channels, plus a Good Morning America interview here and there as well as some other morning shows it is a closed loop. Walmart shoppers that go to buy Motrin? How many of THEM read blogs? Hell, how many wear their babies? They’re too busy working two jobs and worrying about not losing the house or farm or whatever. Catering to web dilettantes because you think they control the world - unless they are your primary/core demographic - is wasting money and time and is utter stupidity. Yes, bloggers are important and can bring notoriety and presence to a company’s brand. Heck yes they can! But if you make them mad, apologizing will only make them feel more superior and angry…it won’t make them loyal to your brand when they were mad…because most bloggers are grudge holders. It’s part of the demographic that spends more time sharing their thoughts and lives with a monitor and keyboard than in a large group in a restaurant on a Friday night. I’m not saying the companies above should have done nothing, but kissing ass is not going to get them anywhere. Equal and opposite reaction, but from a different angle entirely, could have strengthened the brand while not bowing down to the demands of a petty and elitist mob. Then companies could spend their money selling things to the other gajillion people that aren’t reading and writing blogs. Throwing everything you have into emerging technology when you don’t understand where it’s going is like being a venture capitalist investing in laser discs. If you don’t know what those are…well…that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? There is absolute and measurable value in having a social networking and media presence for companies. But if your company is going online, don’t be a fool and get into an ass kissing contest with your fellow companies because small segments of the blogosphere decide they don’t want to play ball with you and talk smack about your company to everyone they know. You could still run your company and make oodles of money if every blogger on earth stopped buying or using your product. Unless you’re the owner of Typepad or Wordpress. Then you’d be way screwed.