Dear PR:
This is your newsflash. Newspapers and Magazines are closing and dying all over the country, yet 50,000 blogs open per day on the Internet. The sad truth is, media print is dying. But it doesn’t have to happen with only negativity. The good news is you have a choice and the choice is to be reborn with the times, grow, and create new relationships with influential online website owners and bloggers and flow along side the voices of today’s generations.
It never fails to amaze me when I contact a company inquiring about working with them on a project or pitch, to have them tell me they don’t provide products for or work with bloggers.
Let me let that sink in.
It’s basically a cop out of not working with bloggers. I think I remember Target making the same statement regarding not working with “nontraditional media” and swallowing their pride less then a year later and working with some of the biggest mommy blogger names out there. It didn’t take them long from opening their mouth and inserting foot till they were signing the paychecks that provided online bloggers to believe their real estate stock could actually be worth something someday.
To me, its cultural suicide to not be a part of the movement and even worse to admit it.
I was in an email conversation with Whirlpool/KitchenAid today where she said:
While we may desire to help all those who contact us, it is not always possible. I regret that we are not in a position to help as we do not provide products to blogs at this time.
And I couldn’t help myself, call me feisty, annoyed, defensive, or just wanting to educate, but I responded with:
For the record, I think that you should consider working with blogs. The base of people that purchase online and listen to bloggers for product reviews and recommendations is massive. Print media is dying and we would love to see larger companies embrace the power and the far reach for almost zero cost to the company.
And she responded:
I handle almost all inquires (blogs, donations and sponsorship) for KitchenAid and I have not provided any products to this point for blogs.I apologize for the inconvenience, but we will be unable to provide product.
Yep, that’s right, KitchenAid, one of the most popular products in a home that women lust over for their kitchen, do not actively work with women online. How is THAT for irony? (And no, I won’t be linking their name so they can utilize my PR4 Link juice.) Talk about a target audience gone array. PR, or public relations, are constantly trying to find new ways to bring products into the peoples faces, hands, and households. And we are presenting them with opportunities to do so as bloggers.
Who are the bloggers? The face of the American people. In fact, I would say, the face of the world at large. “Mommy Bloggers” are not just women that sit at home eating bon bons and wiping off dirty faces 2/3rds of the day because we have “no other choice”.
We are women that often CHOOSE to stay home, and you will find education of all kinds spread over the net, experiences of all kinds, connections of all sorts, and like women gathering to discuss anything imaginable. Unfortunately, many companies are turning their heads and shrugging their shoulders in resistance. The interesting part is that bloggers often determine how well a site does in the Search Engines (SEO) via links, they can on a large scale move a product to the forefront of the minds of the people in purchasing decisions, and the costs are significantly lower to advertise or work with a giveaway/review blogger then to hire a PR firm to push via regular, and often failing, campaigns. With zero formal education in marketing or PR, I could run circles around a company struggling with how to work with the online community.
I cannot think of a time I sat down to watch a show where I didn’t DVR through the commercials. And since you cant reach me that way, how are you?
I call it ignorance or behind the times. Much like a grandmother that can barely work a mouse on a computer, or teaching an old dog new tricks, PR is the old dog and we are the new tricks.
Whats amazing is that bloggers want to work with PR. They want to talk about companies that please them, they want to test out new products, they want to form relationships, spread ideas, and talk directly to the companies that are out there. I can personally say that a company with a strong social media presence and positive feedback and advertisements on sites I visit frequently are 10 times more likely to receive my inquiries or hard earned cash in today’s economic crashes. If I have a choice between two products, I am more likely to recognize one I read about online in a supportive role as an advertiser, giveaway, or review, then from a commercial.
And I am not the only one.
According to a study on BlogHer, women control the spending and women are particularly valuable to the Fortune 500, with completing 83% of household spending. Women make up 53% of the Internet compilation. 21 million moms are publishing and 15 million are reading a month.
I no longer want a nameless corporation feeding me what is on sale to get me to purchase something on a whim. I want something of value, something recommended, something that is solid, safe, and I feel in tune with. Even John Andrews has brought a name to the face of Walmart, so even the largest most powerful stores are not immune to who buys what and where.
Still, it amuses me that as we are into 2009 and even more drastic changes are yet to come with the web with how websites are formed, information is spread, and people interact, blogs are in large part viewed as a nuisance for free products, rather then a true percentage of the buying population.
If you own a business, it’s time. It’s time to embrace the social changes and realize the personal touch you can have with your consumer. Its time to realize that as consumers, we are far more educated and less easily fooled, it’s time to relish the fact that thousands of online communities can bring more reputation to your company viraly in a day, then an ad in a magazine can do for you in 6 months.
Yes, even you Whirlpool, it’s time to clean up your act as well.
~Trisha
P.S. If your a company that needs a connection to learn more about social media and how you can jump on board, I am a consultant. Feel free to email me directly MomDot@live.com
April wrote:
I think it is okay to respond back becasue maybe they are unaware of the benefits of blogging. As long as you are respectful it shoudln’t hurt bloggers at all.
Print media may not be dead, but print advertising is surely dieing. I would much rather buy a product based on the recommendation of a real mom like me, versus a hired actor or model that throws me a pitch.
Great post! It is bizarre to me as well that not all companies are there yet. ESPECIALLY in the mommy/baby product range. But it also makes me appreciate even more the ones that are on it in regards to the mommy blogs!
While I don’t think that print media is dead (there will always be people like me who enjoy to read magazines/newspapers/etc.), I do believe that companies are missing out on a huge opportunity when they don’t engage with online media such as blogs.
I’m surprised that Whirlpool has not updated their advertising/ marketing plans. Hopefully, they will do so soon. They really are a great company and support moms in other ways (i.e. their annual Whirlpool Brand Mother of Invention Grant).
@ Jamaise:
I dont tell every company, but I honestly feel like as the forefront of a strong mom community, i share a partial responsibility in assisting companies with what they are too scared to venture on. I suppose it depends on your approach or how you intend to have your outcome with them.
I would bet that this woman would have sent me a denial and forgot I existed, she never would have contacted me again. But with our exchange, im probably not going to be forgotten. While she may still never contact me, atleast she knows I was educated well before they were and can respect as a business woman to know when someone is helping out.
Yes, disney gives cruises, but no, they are hard on anything else. If it helps, we were looking for some info on something and emailed them and was put off by their response. It was vacation related, they are just short in general.
There are reps that rep disney PRODUCTS, you are best to find them for real results.
trisha
@ trisha:
“even Disney courts bloggers” – Yeah with cruises, not with $30 game cards.
So do you mind if I include a link to this article in some of my intros? Also, if a company doesn’t respond to a review request, is it my responsibility to inform them of what they are missing out on?
You, or each of us should have a template letter, that says basically what you just said, that can be used to inform.
Andrea wrote:
Dysons product is almost double a kitchenaid mixer in cost and they work with blogs every day. They are also well trusted and even sought after.
Leap Frog…another big brand online. Thomas the Train, Harry Potter, Hoover, Dirt Devil, Bissel, Pepsi, even Disney courts bloggers…. I could go on and on, but we have worked, and so have other blogs, with hundreds of well known businesses and products. That is exactly what branding is about. It wouldn’t be a name we DO know and trust if it wasn’t talked about.
New consumers are born and die daily. How will new generations know of products? If companies don’t move to more modern advertising techniques, they wont gain a competitive edge.
KitchenAid is such an expensive product that unless people ARE talking about it, they are worthless. This goes for ALL products in todays age and its going to get even stronger where people rely solely on opinions and online advertising to make household choices.
Trisha