Bloggerwave: Harnessing the Power of Bloggers for Company Advertisement and PR Campaigns
Before the Internet age, advertising and PR was simple. Agencies had to fill billboards, television time slots and newspaper pages with the all the right things. But with the advent of the Internet and eventually the Blogosphere — the epitome of self-expression on the Internet — things changed drastically. Consumers were given a voice.
As was made obvious during the iPad launch, which was eschewed by a good portion of the Blogosphere, businesses and corporate entities can’t fuel product launches solely on the merit of a strong brand or innovative ad campaigns. Unless the product offers something so exceptional that it gains sweeping positive appraisal based entirely on the virtue of the product itself, the Blogosphere is something to worry about. The Blogosphere is a market force: a potential wrecking ball that could shatter any clever marketing campaign. On the flip-side, the Blogosphere has the potential to usher a product into a sort of Nirvana status of consumer approval — the same place where iPod, Nintendo and The Cabbage Patch Kids exist.
Modern businesses are finally waking up to all of this, which is why Internet marketing services like BloggerWave are rapidly rising in popularity. With BloggerWave, companies can get their messages heard not through pre-packaged sales letters, PPC or private Web ads but through the true grassroots of the Internet: the Blogosphere.
Bloggers signup through BloggerWave’s homepage and, if approved, are assigned “jobs at hand,” which ostensibly come from clients looking to generate blog buzz for a product or service. The idea is simple and it may just provide some advertisers with a blogging bullwhip capable of taming the Blogosphere or even driving it in their favor.
Market Watch reports that corporate clients are “requesting larger, more international campaigns to coordinate with other advertising and media.”
Since the start of this year, more midsize and large corporations have increasingly focused on Bloggerwave’s capabilities to spread corporate news and product information across national, linguistic and cultural barriers. In addition to targeting U.S., European and Asian markets, Blogggerwave offers a “global package” that multinational businesses find highly cost effective and efficient in reaching multiple and diverse audiences. Campaigns may include from 1,000 to 3,000 bloggers. Moreover, each campaign employs a unique set of blogs. Such efficiencies are generated by the global range of the internet, the ability of internet search engines to index nationally, and the high quality of the Company’s large networks of bloggers who understand their individual audiences. In addition, blogging increases rankings and responses to business websites, with results that can be tracked by a variety of measures.
According to The OTC Investor, BloggerWave’s clientele includes some of the most recognized brands in the world including Sony Ericsson, Coca Cola, M&Ms, Citibank, and H&M.
The service does raise ethical questions that are similar to those regarding bloggers making money from recommending affiliate products. Can a blogger be impartial about a product or service if he or she is being paid to review it? The Blogosphere will have to decide.
Tags: advertising, blog trends, blogging for money, blogosphere, business blogging
I just wanted to address the last part of your post. I work with PR all the time , reviewing products. Yes, you can give an honest review even when “compensated”. There have been times where I have not liked a product/it didn’t work that I simply conveyed that to the rep, and declined to do the review. I’ve been really lucky in that almost every product I’ve “tested” has been something I really like!