Fear & Loathing In Blogland

Uber-players Martin Sorrell, WPP's boss, and his arch-rival Maurice Levy of Publicis agree on one thing it seems.  While Sorrell spoke last week of 'panic' among media owners watching their ad dollars and quids slip online at a 'tremendous pace', Levy says the ad industry is on a 'cliff edge' moment where it keeps on pedalling madly, only to look down and see it's in freefall.  'Panic' and 'freefall' are reactions I come across fairly regularly when talking about blogs and the world of consumer generated media to brands and corps.  The state-of-mind is well expressed in Forbes' crazed diatribe...

..which describes blogs as, "online lynch mobs spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective".  While Tess Alps' (Chairman of PHD Group) article in the Guardian is another reflection of the strange mixture of excitement and fear that surrounds the subject - "Our advice to advertisers wanting to enter the blogosphere is first: "Don't". Second: "If you do, respect its culture and play fair."

But of course, the truth has very little to do with lynch mobs and no-go zones.  These days the blogopshere is a self-organised public forum that reflects every aspect of today's mainstream culture.  There are lots of nooks and crannies for gentle-folk looking to swap bread recipes, just as there are forums for people looking to take issue with the failings of corporations.  Others just enjoy waiting for big companies to serve themselves up - as so many seem keen to do.  And while some blogs are looking to provide news value - in a way that so enrages the 4th Estate's *cough,cough* high principles - most are just looking to pass the time of day and express what's on their mind.

So, I can understand that blogland can seem like a dark, strange place if you have spent the last 40 years in the world of command-and-control marketing, but really it's best just to test the waters and recognise it for what is - progress.

Comments

[Johnnie Moore]

"Our advice to advertisers wanting to enter the blogosphere is first: 'Don't' "

The trouble is that in one sense the advertisers don't have a choice. Their brands, their often daft advertisements, their whole faces, warts-and-all, are already in the blogosphere being discussed and debated. The real choice is whether to carry on regardless in the hope it all goes away... or take part. The first option will look increasingly like denial to me.