This article is well past its "Best Sold by" date. We apologize for any mold and can only blame TypePad as it decided to eat this post 4 times in a row.
P&G launches social networking site for women
Thanks to Kate for the Capessa announcement and the link to Mack at The Viral Garden who puts forward a strong argument for P&G to be more forthright in their sponsorship and usage of the site.
"But perhaps most troubling to me is, P&G is monitoring the user's
contributions to the forums, without telling them they are doing so. 'This is not about selling products. It's about better understanding of
consumers and learning about their needs and habits,' P&G spokeswoman Robyn Schroeder explained."
Read Mack's full article.
Kohls gets it wrong. Big time.
We all make mistakes. And frankly, if I had to run a nationwide chain of discount clothing stores, it would likely resemble my bedroom at first (read: piles of clothes). But I'm a businessman. And after sales or complaints started to come in, I'd sharpen up and quick.
Hee Haw gets a Kohls response
Besides, I'm an anal control freak. So my stores would likely not look like my bedroom. Sort of funny that I'm not as anal when it comes to the bedroom. Oh boy. Go easy on me.
The troublesome first days of corporate blogging
Brendan Hodgson has a wonderful writeup on a metro transit authority and their efforts to launch a blog.
Here is my favorite quote taken from a comment on their blog by a member of the "general public".
"The blogosphere appreciates the engagement, but you must understand,
you cannot keep us at arms length either. If you and/or your bosses are
not forthcoming with answers to our questions and in a timely manner,
we will roast you. It is nothing personal, but we will not be denied
either. Evasion and doubletalk won't fly. I would suggest you don't
even try, the results won't be pretty. We will be all up in your
business. We are nosy, and we are relentless, and we have more than one
source of information to draw upon. Lies will be found out."
Brendan gives some GREAT insight for corporate bloggers. I've summarized a few below. But check out his full post as it goes into wonderful detail on all of these.
- Listen. Don't just cut and paste PR verbiage. Listen to your readers and respond appropriately.
- Don't take it personally. "Articulate, respectful, thoughtful responses and postings will always rise to the top..."
- Do your homework. Don't respond with the company line unless you have the "proof points" to back it up.
- Be flexible. You don't own the conversation. You just have a voice in it.
My hope is that the transity authority in question will continue on with this experiment as they have taken a great step in opening a dialog with their constituents.
P.S. Can you spot the "non-capessa" photo used in this post?
Image credit: bayat
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