Blogging for Brands

You read them; you comment on them; and you might even write one every once in a while. But as passé as blogs have become  to those of us in the industry, the fact remains that the technology is just not being used to its full potential by business at large. A recent report on MSNBC noted than only about 60 of the Fortune 500 companies have active blogs. With such a small percentage of corporate blogs active today, there still are enormous opportunities for companies that jump in now.

So just in case the point hasn’t yet been made clear, here it is: Your brand needs a blog. Still not convinced? Let’s dig deeper.

In January, 2007, Bill Marriott, the then 74-year-old chairman and CEO of the Marriott International, the worldwide hotel chain, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the business his parents built by opening his 3,000th hotel and starting the company’s first blog. In his first post Marriott admitted up front to not being very good with computers, but stated the following:

“I believe in communicating with the customer, and the Internet gives me a whole new way of doing that on a global scale. I’d rather engage directly in dialogue with you because that’s how we learn and grow as a company.”

And what does Marriott blog about? The ins and outs of the hotel business? The daily life of a CEO? In fact, Marriott blogs about whatever he feels like, including the hotel’s history as a family business, current events, his hobbies, the travel industry and politics. Ultimately, he blogs about things that get him excited. The passion evident throughout the blog reminds people that Marriott isn’t just a brand name; he’s a real person—a human face behind a massive brand. And Marriott keeps things personal by routinely responding to individual comments on the blog, whether readers offer suggestions or complaints about service they’ve received.

On the corporate side of things, the blog affords Marriott the ability to respond immediately to events that impact the brand. Only a few hours after the bombing of a Marriott property in Islamabad, Pakistan, Marriott was able to provide up-to-the-minute information about the incident on his blog. Subsequent posts offered Marriott’s personal thoughts on the tragedy, and the announcement of a fund established to help those affected by the incident.

According to Marriott, individual posts routinely received hundreds of comments and bookings directly from the blog totaling $4 million in incremental revenue since its inception.

Bottom line? The blog yielded tremendous results both in consumer engagement with the brand and in tangible incremental revenue. How much more quantitative evidence does your brand need before it begins to blog?

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