According to new research, Australians are reluctant bloggers, lagging behind the rest of the world. The SMH article by Julian Lee Executives are wary of not being in control of communications claims that despite all the talk about wanting to engage with its audience, corporate Australia is hanging back, afraid of losing control of the message.
Some interesting points from the article:
Travis Johnson, business director at media agency Universal McCann, points to a number of factors impeding adoption. “They [companies] are wary of the individual versus the company,” he says. “How much leeway do they give them? What can they be allowed to say? What is confidential? And how much does their personal opinion reflect that of the company?”
He says another factor is the need to feed the beast that is a blog. “It needs to be constantly updated. You have to make it compelling reading that people can’t find anywhere else … that they come back for time and again.”
The most inhibiting factor is the unwillingness of companies to let go of the control that they normally exert over their communications. “Are they going to want to announce new news in this way or are they sticking to the usual public relations channels?”
They are worried about how they control the whole thing. Allowing people to make comments on your blog is a big concern.
One question businesses always ask “How can we control this?” The simple answer is that they cannot. Commentators point out that, whether companies like it or not, consumers are praising or panning companies in blogs.
Universal McCann found that Australia’s level of active blogging – which refers to people who read blogs as well as write their own – was among the world’s lowest. The number of people writing them was also among the lowest, as was the case in Britain and the US. Asia led the way, with a boom in blogs in China, Korea and Japan, Universal’s study, Power to the People , found.
However, in the past six months blogging in Australia appears to have grown fast, driven by social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo. Universal expects sustained growth.
Its digital innovations director, Michael Lane, believes that companies will come to the blog party, albeit tentatively. “It seems to be the bigger the brand, the harder it is,” he says. “And then there are certain categories that are always going to generate more interest – you can’t compare xBox to Coles.”
Sydney Public Relations Agency, CP Communications provides specialist media, traditional and online PR strategies that get amazing results. Contact us today. For more great tips visit our website www.cpcommunications.com.au.