Blog advertising cheap and useful to some, just hype to others

By Diana Day. Posted: 2005-05-20

Via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Pennsylvania Tourism Office is paying history afficionado Robert McCreary $3,000 plus expenses to blog his historical travels around Pennsylvania this summer, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Using blogs to advertise is a growing trend, said the Post-Gazette, and while BusinessWeek magazine extolled the practice in a recent issue, critics like Minneapolis marketing consultant Graeme Thickins are concerned that blog advertising is all hype. Blogs are antibusiness and grass-roots, not exactly a match with the corporate world, said Thickins. Additionally, companies cannot control what bloggers are saying about them.

But, businesses -- particularly small ones -- have found that marketing on blogs is a cheap way to advertise and to stay connected with customers.

"'Blogging has become one of the most popular forms of online communication,'" said an officer with the Pennsylvania Tourism Office. She defended the Office's support of McCreary's blogging project, saying, "'It's a direct conversation with our target audience in a very intimate and engaging way.'"

Comments:

From Jon Garfunkel on May 22, 2005 at 8:16 PM

"critics like Minneapolis marketing consultant Graeme Thickins are concerned that blog advertising is all hype. Blogs are antibusiness and grass-roots, not exactly a match with the corporate world, said Thickins."

Here is an article by Thickins which seems to say this. It tries to be blogbunk-busting piece, but he doesn't do a very good job.

I would argue that this it is hype in the sense that they call it a "blog" and they get press about it, isn't that wonderful.

By the way, this website is the Online Journalism Review. You could change it to the OAR, or OBR, or even the OMR (for Media) if you want...

From Diana Day on May 23, 2005 at 9:18 AM

But, it's important for journalists to follow what's happening in advertising. See OJR editor Robert Nile's article on the subject.

From Jon Garfunkel on May 23, 2005 at 9:15 PM

Right, and I understand Robert's comments to mean advertising within the pages of journalism. This post was just about advertising for the tourism bureau.

Pardon the snideness of my remark, but to largely focus on blogs and podcasts doesn't do much to distinguish OJR from other new media blogs/zines.