What, me worry? Given the developing economic slump in the United States, if not throughout the world, corporate blogging expert
Paul Gillin thinks that even the best corporate blogs are keeping their pens -- if not their heads -- in the sand and just try to ignore our festering troubles.
As
Debbie Weil points out, Gillin's headline says it all: "
Corporate Blogs Blather While Markets Tumble."
After reviewing blogs for 15 blue-chip corporations, Gillin writes:
Between checking Marketwatch.com and commiserating with colleagues, it’s safe to say there wasn’t a lot of work getting done this week. Nervous investors flocked to the Web for some sign that the turmoil in the financial markets would soon die down.
With so much attention riveted on the future of the economy, this seems an ideal time for corporations to use their blogs to provide guidance and reassurance, or at least perspective, on the Wall Street meltdown. However, a quick tour of 15 prominent sites demonstrated that they were doing anything but that.
Three companies from Gillin's research are worth calling out because they bucked the trend set by the rest.
- General Motors, which is famously synonymous with the U.S. economy, has a recent post on its highly regarded FastLane Blog containing a YouTube clip from CEO Rick Wagoner favoring federal financial intervention in the form of loans to automakers to meet fuel economy mandates. Give GM lots of credit for currency and realpolitik on this one.
- The BenettonTalk blog has had two entries on the crisis. On Sept. 30, Benetton's blog addressed the economy's disintegration. And the next day, the economy was back with a blog review of Americatown, an HBO serial that looks at a near-term future in which U.S. economic dominance has waned.
- PriceWaterhouseCoopers addresses the crisis from the standpoint of corporate directors.
On the other hand,
Southwest Airlines, whose
Nuts about Southwest blog just won the best blog award for the second year from
PR News, has said little about the financial markets crisis.
I agree with Gillin's conclusion about the need for straight talk and clarity about the economy and our roles in it. Here's how Gillin concludes his review:
My point isn’t to ridicule these companies as much as it is to demonstrate how far we still have to go in achieving the culture of openness that new media enables. Here was an opportunity for some of America’s most respected corporations to offer guidance and thought leadership to frightened consumers. Instead, most have chosen to serve up the same old happy-talk mush they’ve delivered for years. That’s their right, but that isn’t leadership.
These are historic times that offer businesses the chance to break through the noise and do something daring and different. So far, corporate America has fumbled the opportunity. Perhaps, as the economic picture becomes clearer, some will start talking with their customers instead of marketing at them. That would be a welcome development.
Recent Comments