Looks like Leah Jones has just whipped up a passionate discussion with her blog post, ‘Is his Trust?‘. The crux is, ‘Can you trust bloggers at all?’. The main point is about Chris Brogan, cozying up with Sony, 8 months after he got a Panasonic-paid jamboree. Leah seems mighty upset with this ‘jumping ship’!
Huh? No, make it an all-caps, HUH?
Do bloggers go around declaring their allegiance to one single brand? Does a brand really need that at all?
Who is a blogger? Regardless of celebrity bloggers (who’s only extra criteria is that they have a sizeable and influenceable audience ready)…we’re discussing normal people who merely happen to air their opinions online. They air their opinion in the hope of building a better connect with their audience – so what they say, or who they endorse is entirely upto them! The audience will decide if they continue to be trustworthy, credible and above all, readable, based on the blogger’s opinion.
Take a look at the Indian scenario, where blogger outreach is at its infancy. Do bloggers care about who calls them for reviews/ blogger meets? Oh sure they would…the more well-known the brand, the better.
If they get a call from a competitor after having attended, endorsed a particular brand, do they care? Of course, they wouldn’t. Why is that important?
The relationship built by the PR agency (on behalf of a client brand) with the blogger is based solely on the basis of the product/ service/ offering of the client brand. It does not tie the blogger with the overall brand or product and any hint towards that would only deteriorate the relationship.
Its the product/ service/ quality characteristics that should tie the blogger to the brand – not a PR agency’s explicit word. If the client is upset with a blogger changing loyalties…tough luck! Get used to it and try wooing the blogger better, again.