Smart companies of all sizes are benefiting from what Wired magazine (April 2007) refers to as, ‘Radical Transparency’. Its cover article is titled, The See-Through CEO. Clive Thompson’s lively look at the (dramatically) open communication in business that results from CEO blogging. My view is, this article describes the new, new public relations for companies. In a nutshell. (Clive Thompson’s blog is here.)
Clive reports (in one example of many) about Redfin, a struggling online real estate brokerage startup. Redfin was being beaten up by traditional real estate industry die-hards. CEO Glenn Kelman explains, “Redfin was trying to turn the industry upside down by refunding two-thirds of the commission that real estate agents normally charge.”
You can imagine how happy consumers were about this new ($-saving) option for buying and selling homes. Agents were, predictably, not happy. They blacklisted Redfin’s customers and refused to sell to buyers using Redfin. The situation for Redfin was dire until CEO Kelman decided to out the blacklisting experiences of his customers. Right on his Corporate Redfin blog.
Typical of the how the blogosphere works (and rightly so) traditional realtors lashed back at Kelman on
his blog. He followed proper blog etiquette and left the biting realtor comments online for all to see. He responded, “If we don’t reform ourselves, and take out all the sales baloney, too, people will come to hate real estate agents the way they do tobacco companies and Big Oil.”
You can guess the outcome. Redfin customers rallied around the company and they began to close lots of deals. (Take a peek at Redfin in the news; they have been ruffling industry feathers and making remarkable business progress for several months.)
The Wired article highlights the radical changes in corporate communications from startups to Fortune 500s. Venture capital firms require their startup CEOs to blog. Sun and Microsoft are well known for their open blogging culture. The PR folks at Microsoft even (usually) do not interfere with candid videos on its famous Channel 9 video blog that opens up the inner developer/R&D workings to the world.
It’s not just for damage control that CEOs are tapping into the blogosphere. (Think JetBlue’s CEO YouTube apology for keeping passengers on board planes that could not take off for double-digit hours earlier this winter.)
Clive points out that “the very process of developing ideas, products, and messages is changing—from musing about it in a room with your top people to throwing it out on the Web and asking the global smartmob for a little help.” He observes “Customers become working partners.” He describes how companies can use blogging as a tool to manage their reputations online. His observation, “Google is not a search engine. It’s a reputation management system.”
I think Clive Thompson and Wired (with other related beefy articles/case studies on the new Radical Transparency) have scored a grand slam with these pieces. In fact, he wrote the article with help from the ‘smartmob’ of his blog readers after posting his article idea. Not the norm in the competitive magazine biz.
My suggestions for CEOs, business owners and PR and marketing folks:
- If you’re not already doing so, track what is being said about your company and your products on Google and Technorati (search engine for blogs).
- Make sure you know who the online influencers are in your industry.
- Add your industry influentials to your ongoing PR ‘keeping in touch’ program.
- Get to know the influential bloggers in your space.
- Do not simply add the blogging heavy weights to your email PR distribution list. Create a unique method for introducing your company to the blogosphere influentials
And my number one piece of (unsolicited) advice for companies without a blogging strategy is to assess the situation for your company. Blogging may not be the best fit for you. If you as owner or CEO are not comfortable writing and “thinking out loud” or don’t have the time to devote to blogging. You have other options.
How about a dipping-your-toe-in-the-water strategy, such as:
- identifying key thought-leadership or customer-oriented blogs to monitor
- joining your industry’s online conversation by commenting on selected blogs
- keeping up with your market’s direction by tracking key blogs
Any thoughts out there? Do you agree with Redfin’s Kelman, that "The people who clearly enjoy writing and blogging are like CEOs 2.0–they have a competitive advantage over other CEOs."
You can read the entire insightful Wired article by Clive Thompson here.
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