buying into blogs
March 3, 2003
Go take a look at Project Blogger. It's a service being run by Richards Interactive, designed for marketing products by weblogs and to webloggers. They were apparently involved in the weblogs launched by Nokia, and have since branched out into a new campaign for Dr. Pepper's upcoming (I kid you not) extreme milk brand, Raging Cow.
The Project Blogger site has some pretty healthy disclaimers, demonstrating that the Richards folks are keenly aware of the sensitivities of bloggers in regards to their personal credibility. Indeed, the site says, "This isn't advertising" and "We will not tell you what to write." That's obviously not true, as advertising clearly extends past paid placement of logos and is increasingly embracing what the music industry refers to as "street teams", enthusiasts recruited to evangelize products during their initial stages of promotion. When I worked in the music promo industry, I had some label execs tell me that in the early stages of a campaign for a new artist, as much as 90% of the online discussion for an act was generated by people who were being paid either directly or indirectly (through freebies and promos) to talk about the music. I don't doubt that the same is true for Raging Cow.
So is the attempt to put products in front of bloggers for attention a bad thing? Not necessarily. Indeed, the original motivation for the site BlogCritics was pretty much naked greed, an attempt to get some free CDs in exchange for reviews on the site. Despite this pedigree, the site's been pretty well regarded since it launched, indicating that webloggers aren't nearly as anti-commercial as they were 3 or 4 years ago.
But the credibility gap seems to come into play when the idea of promoting the products comes from the companies who advertise them, instead of from the bloggers themselves. Indeed, as Jesse dug up over on BlogRoots, there are already a handful of sites linking to the milk campaign. My immediate reaction, likely informed by the Rubberburner and Super Greg efforts, is that all the sites that included the badges were fake. A little poking around indicates that the sites, if fake, are extraordinarily comprehensive, including months of entries and using several different weblogging tools. So it's perhaps more likely that these are people who actually completed the survey on the Project Blogger site and signed on to promote the products.
There are other less significant issues with the campaign. The name "Project Blogger" seems like a pretty clear clash of intellectual property with a certain existing weblogging tool, which is especially relevant given the recent track record of its parent company's protectiveness towards its brand names.
More to the point, this is the first evidence of there being a concerted effort to reach webloggers in their native medium. Past attempts to reach these audiences have been transparently obvious or so lamely executed that there was no real danger of success. But by seeming to be up front and recognizing the traits of the medium, Richards seems to be having the first blush of success in weblog marketing, learning some of the lessons that others have outlined about how to approach bloggers.
So what's the significance? That remains to be seen. The coming of the marketers was inevitable. And their first efforts were obvious and ineffective. But they seem to be honing their tactics, and it's only a matter of time until some large part of the weblog realm is suffused with messages that are sponsored by commerical interests, especially as greater numbers of novice bloggers with lower levels of media literacy start up sites. The short term effect will be an immediate raising of suspicions and questioning of people's credibility, but once that first wave of suspicion passes, a return to complacency will lead to tolerance of people's weblog writing being for sale.
What can be done about it? There might be, as webloggers tend to hope, a technical solution. The trust networks everyone likes to babble about could be formalized, or perhaps a language for encoding a weblogger's personal code of ethics could be created. (Imagine checkboxes for "accepts gifts from individuals" "accepts gifts of under US$100 value from companies" "accepts gifts of over US$100 from companies) But more likely people will continue to use the subjective analysis of a weblogger's entire site and inbound links from friends as judgement over the credibility of their writing.
Given the almost subversive subtlety with which weblog marketing campaigns can be carried out, there are going to be people who slide under the radar, promoting commerical products in exchange for reimbursement without their readers ever being tipped off to the transaction. So we've turned a corner. The next stage will be quite interesting, I think, as that's we discover the impact these new influences have on the weblog ecosystem.
3:06 PM
11 TrackBacks
Anil comments on Project Blogger - Which seems to tie in nicely with the prior post. Read More
Ever since I wrote about the I Love Your Work blog (or whatever it is), I've been thinking a lot Read More
I've always joked around about how cool it would be to test market stuff like digital cameras and mobiles with Read More
Project Blogger is a new marketing initiative whereby companies can harness/subvert weblogs in order to have their products mentioned. Read More
Quite fascinating watching this debate over blogs being used as marketing tools (thanks Tom for such a comprehensive round up). Read More
Now the one brand of sites that was always (almost always) advertisement free is being leaked into by the advertising media. Anil covers the news of Richards Interactive is the culprit, Project Blogger is the weapon, and victims look Read More
Now the one brand of sites that was always (almost always) advertisement free is being leaked into by the advertising media. Richards Interactive is the culprit, Project Blogger is the weapon, and victims look like Raging Cow. A weblog Read More
Now the one brand of sites that was always (almost always) advertisement free is being leaked into by the advertising media. Richards Interactive is the culprit, Project Blogger is the weapon, and victims look like Raging Cow. A weblog Read More
Everybody seems to have jumped to conclusions on the sudden appearance of Raging Cow on the blogging noosphere, with comments... Read More
At the weblog business conference that I'm at, Liz just said that she and Nick are frequently pitched by media... Read More
Stavo seguando la cosa distrattamente, poi, due post hanno fatto scattare l'interesse vero. Martina Zavagno � sempre attenta alle cose che riguardano il web-marketing e puntualmente ha Read More
27 Comments
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- Earlier: maybe it's not just hype
- Next: oprah opportunities
Anil, you make a good point. But we shouldn't go overboard here, either. While there will always be some bloggers who can't stand the thought of their medium growing up, others might be quite excited to learn about exciting products like Raging Cow™ brand Extreme Milk Beverage.
After all, with five exciting flavors, including Pi�a Colada Chaos, Jamocha Frenzy, Dairy Apocalypse, Vanilla Caramel Overdose and Chocolate Seizure, there will be an exciting flavor combination to suit any blogger. And no other beverage gives you the energy you need to keep posting to those blogs, day after day, while at the same time providing you with the calcium and vitamins you need to stay healthy.
So rather than worry about paid shills spamming your blog, why not just relax, and tuck into a fresh Raging Cow™ milk beverage? All the A-list bloggers are drinking it!
Reading the phrase "Dairy Apocalypse" made me spew Raging Cow™ out my nose!
I think that one of the big important issues is around identity.
In my own journal/web log/blog reading I encounter three primary forms of Blogs.
1. Anonymous/pseudoanonymous personal journals, common on sites such as LiveJournal, but also all over the web - these tend to be highly personal (or focused on one niche) but draw a line at identifiable details (name, address, phone, company etc)
2. Personal journals associated with one person (or less often a group of people). These are sites such as dashes.com, but are present also on all other forms (blogspot, LiveJournal even) - here some are personal, some are topical, some are professional - but are also clearly linked to and identified with a real person - plenty of ways to reach that person, often links to their resume/business etc. My own journal falls into this category.
3. "Corporate" blogs - either by "professional" journalists (ala many media critics, Salon.com etc) or sites such as LooselyCoupled or Corante which are businesses which also publish blog content - generally less personal, generally with a specific agenda or perspective (some technical, some political)
I think that given these, the "danger" lies in the first category - which are probably the easiest to "spoof" - but also suffer from the least "trust".
In the second category and in the third, I think that people adopting a common standard of disclusure (like journalists in mainstream media) would be a good thing, but also difficult to enforce other than by community reaction.
i.e. a parenthetical note such as (I got my copy of this book for free. or "I work for these guys, but these are my opinions" or "I do own 1000 shares of stock in this firm" etc)
In the mainstream media you also see notes such as "the owner of this company is also the owner of the company covered in this article" (usually with the specific names clearly documented)
Personally I "trust" a site more when I have detailed information on the auther (either I know them personally offline, or online they have published identity information - ideally that I can verify in some means). Sites that are then well embedded - lots of historical linkages etc are usually percieved by me as more trustworthy as well.
(perhaps a new Google feature - age of linkages? i.e. for a search of Anil Dash and dashes.com sites have existed since 199x vs. for "randome spooffer site" the first link is from 14 days ago when the media campaign was just launching...)
So, Anil, how much they pay you for your post about the VPR Matrix laptop? ;)
I broke this down last night. I can't help but wonder if Dr. Pepper isn't opening themselves up to some kind of legal liability here.
I would just like to publicly take credit for coining the term "milkbloggers" to refer to paid shills, claques, and marketers who are on the take when composing entries for their sites.
Anil, Thanks for the mention and I am pleased to hear that we are "pretty well regarded." YOu are right about the origins: my very first germ of a thought about it was to do PR aimed at bloggers, saw none of the companies were ready to hire someone for such a quixotic enterprise, then flipped it around to determine the level of interest in getting review material from bloggers.
It was high. Logistically, it was very difficult to collect all the material and then send it out to the writers, so again we flipped it and just tried to hook up interested writers with labels, publishers, etc.
My point is that once the concept took on a life of its own - between the announcement of the idea and the launch of the site - it has created its own logic and grown and mutated pretty organically.
When it became clear that there wasn't going to be a bonanza of free CDs without the effort of dealing with the labels themselves, many of the early enthusiasts fell by the wayside, which is as it should be.
I'm pretty excited about where we are now and where we are going, and after a purge of the disinterested, we are back up to over 200 writers again.
I have been very happy with the overall quality and variety of work, and though I still write about half of the posts, the other half is what keeps it fresh.
Speaking of which, why don't you join us and drop one of your pearls on us now and then. You're a pop culture guy and we could use your perspective.
Best, EO
I just suggested a potential forat to deal with this. Maybe it will help:
More details at
http://www.tnl.net/blog/2003/3/3#Marketer,Marketet,wherehaveyoubeen? (full disclosure: this is my own blog :) )
Re:"Despite this pedigree, the site's been pretty well regarded since it launched, indicating that webloggers aren't nearly as anti-commercial as they were 3 or 4 years ago"
You still don't see any of them peddelling Amway (or "nameyourfavouritemultilevelmarketingprogram") products, do you? ;)
So advertising isn't dead, it just smells funny. (Apologies to jazz and Zappa.)
i don't see it really much different than fake persuaders, secret marketers, infomercials, ADM ads on PBS, linux evangelism or any other crank with an axe to grind or a GREAT PRODUCT to sell.
hell i bought some oxyclean after seeing it on tv :) and i tell other people how great it is every chance i get! if people are bothered by it they'll eventually either just ignore it, tell them to shut up (just as bad methinks!) or figure out some bayesian learning network algorithm something or other to filter them out :)
Last fall I was reading a certain blogger who one day devoted an entire post to how much she loved her new Gilette Venus razor. I stopped reading her after that.
Mrs. Kennedy: that's part of the problem. I've talked many, many times about things I love. Often by brand. I'll probably continue to do that, because I don't see anything wrong with an honest recommendation. I have found music, books, hell--dishwashing liquid--through my online reads. These people were no more shills than I am.
I suppose now I'll need a disclaimer. A trust network of some sort might be a good idea. I know I'll think twice now before posting about a consumer product I enjoy. It seems like a small bit of speech to give up, but it's irksome nonetheless.
Very thoughtful article, Anil! As a blogger who both wants to keep his blog personal and intimate but also would like to somehow make some money from it, I am torn about trying to get into this blog marketing you mention.
Someone out of the blue offered to pay me monthly to link her sites, and that was no problem for me.
I personally wish I could market for pay for the entertainment/film industry, since I am a huge buff and gush about their latest releases anyway. Know how I could get into that?
Barbie, Madison and Chelsea have weblogs too... Wonder if they drink "Raging Cow."
http://www.myscene.com/blog_archive.asp
I enjoy your site.... thanks...
Anil -
Good post. I wrote up a much shorter post yesterday on the topic on my blog (http://purecontent.blogspot.com/). One point re: the music label street teams is that--normally--the kids get involved because they like the bands and the music already. The CDs are a nice perk, but it's more of a desire to help the scene that drives them.
Anyway, I thought you had good thoughts.
IT would be nice to hear from someone who is actually doing 'project blogger.' As for meme-theft in the name, I suspect that it came from 'project mayhem' more than anything else.
The line to commodify your dissent starts here.....
Clearly, the web of trust has just discovered new usefulness. Soon blogrolls will have gpg keyids, and when you link to another persons blog you'll also sign their url (and key) to vouch for them, right?
Rafe [rc3.org] made an interesting point about Project AboutToBeSuedByGoogle requiring participants to insert a piece of code on their page. Surely, daypop or someone will present a list of all participants in the very near future... And then we can MOCK them, while we plug our blogs with TRACKBACKS on ANIL DASH's site.
OK, "milkbloggers" is Anil's for keeps.
Mine's "scumblogs" ...
Evil or no, I'm buying a damn bottle next time I see it in the grocery store.
I'll probably never buy it again, because that's not my particular cup of tea, but they're strategy worked well enough for $1.99 of my money.
Mine's "carpetbloggers." Seeking private gain (of some kind) by promoting a faux blog in the real community. When their marketing pitch is done, they can then move on to another product.
since when did it become altruistic to run a blog?
This is interesting, particularly after having just read William Gibson's newest book "Pattern Recognition" (which was fabulous, by the way, and no, I received no incentives from Mr. Gibson, his publishers or any bookseller to say that) in which there is a character who is being paid to hang out in pubs and chat with people and just happen to mention things - products, restaurants, bands - which her employer has asked her to help create buzz about. Pretty much the same thing and it raises the question "How can you tell the difference between a disinterested, honest opinion and cleverly masked advertising?"
It should also be noted that this technique can work for negative buzz just as well or better than positive.
Personally, I will keep commenting on products, services, etc. which I like or dislike a lot. Presumably, those who know me will read it as an honest opinion and those who don't will ignore it or note it as a mention of unknown provenance.
I'm curious to know how one can casually insert an opinion about what brand of flavored milk one is drinking without losing the street cred that makes one's blog semi-popular in the first place.
I've just come across your really
informative post. You make a good point.
The post provides fresh pieces of information and
makes clear how the marketing tricks work.
And where does Alan Meckler fit into this? Nothing subversive or subconcious here... just blatant promo. Could Alan this be the new Frank Purdue or Dave Thomas?
http://weblogs.cdxpo.com
ya website sucks