In Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal Interview, Richard Edelman: PR Executive Turns to Bloggers To Spread Messages for Clients, Edelman stresses the need for transparency and the importance of blogging in that effort. As we have noted in previous unscientific google analyses, the Edelman firm has long seemed to “get” blogging, and Mr. Edelman says some things that the (still!) fearful corporate America needs to internalize. Some relevant snippets from the interview that relate to business blogging:
Bloggers need to disclose sponsorship arrangements:
“For me, and I think this applies in mainstream media as well as in the blogosphere, you’ve got to make sure that companies understand that they have to identify themselves, tell why they are doing what they are doing and make clear whatever financial arrangement there is with a sponsorship. This is an era of total transparency. In a video news release, for example, I think it has to be absolutely clear that this is sponsored, for whatever company it is. It’s very subversive to credibility to have any other kind of structure.”
The letter to the editor is no longer the preferred way to respond to the press. The blog is.
“Look, if you’re in business, and you don’t like the way a story comes out, whether it’s in The [Wall Street] Journal or The [New York] Times or whatever it is, you can post documents on your Web site…you can post back to a piece you don’t like and say, ‘Hey, there’s a different take on this,’ because the only latitude we used to have was a letter to the editor. While a letter to the editor is yes, [still] one of the techniques, we have the ability to have an alternative story line. What I tried to say is ‘Your piece is not necessarily the only word on the subject.’ There are other channels available that companies own, channels like the blogosphere, and then other media.”
The power of the press is now in the hands of the people:
“I really see that this area of self-expression is bridging, clearly, into mainstream media…[traditional media outlets] are trying to accommodate a world in which the citizen feels as if he wants to not just be a spectator but also in some way a player, or have his voice heard…if companies want to be in this world, they have got to give up control. They’ve got to cede control in return for credibility…”
“They’ve got to cede control in return for credibility…”: This is a phrase that speaks volumes, and one we will refer to frequently as we meet with corporate clients. Blogging done right yields high returns on gaining credibility with an audience. It’s well worth the risk of being more transparent.
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