Blog Marketing

This week’s show discusses how advertisers are looking for new ways to connect with consumers and some have found success through blog marketing. Either through sponsorship with athletes or sending bloggers promotional materials, blogs are increasingly being seen as a great way to increase awareness for new products. Blogs also are being seen as alternative ways to get news. Some blogs are challenging news organizations and are gaining legitimacy.

This week’s Brand Rant discusses how McDonald’s is requiring all of its franchisee owners in the United States to out new coffee making machinery in their stores at a hefty cost. And in the Brand Spotlight, we look into how cities are banning plastic water bottles because of the pollution they cause. We also look at how bottled water manufacturers are trying to make less polluting bottles. Hashem Bajwa joins us to discuss how blogs have grown in popularity so quickly and how they are being used for marketing purposes.

Related Topics:

Link to an article that discusses how bottled water manufacturers are being shut out of public offices.
http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/newfullstory.asp?section_id=3&news_id=28082&tag=22988&pict=16

Star athletes are using blogs to discuss personal feelings, sometimes angering sponsors.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119145182094648247.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Check out Gilbert Arenas’ blog here.
http://www.nba.com/blog/gilbert_arenas.html

Network television executives are attempting to attract bloggers to create buzz about new shows.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117919274561702788.html?mod=blogs

Blogs are becoming legitimate news sites. The Huffington Post shows how it is possible for a blog to be a legitimate news outlet.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/008033a2-7033-11dc-a6d1-0000779fd2ac.html

Northwestern Mutual is using internal blogs to produce productivity of its employees.
http://www.webpronews.com/blogtalk/2007/10/03/insurance-company-benefits-from-employee-intranet-blogs

Blogs are increasingly being used to market products. But what types of products are more successful at doing this?
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=67352&Nid=34271&p=252029

An Australian blogging site is losing users by the day after it allowed third party advertisements on personal blogs.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,22447742-7582,00.html?from=public_rss