“Will consumer blogs bypass professional advertising agencies?” –Rance Crain* in Crain’s Ad Age
The publisher of Ad Age considers consumers’ power to shape brand images on their own today, in both positive and negative ways. He wonders if consumer-run sites will become more meaningful to brands than anything their ad agency or internal communications department might ever create. These are good questions.
I’d like to see consumer sites that help define what the brand really means in the culture. This will only help the brand in the end, and those charged with its care.
I also propose brands enter the conversation now. Find the bloggers in your midst corporate America. Then empower these people to become voices for the corporation. You will humanize your corporation in the doing. People like to buy from their friends. So be a friend, hang out for a while, discuss.
*Rance Crain’s company publishes 30 magazines including Advertising Age, Electronic Media and Crain’s Chicago Business. The company was founded in 1916 by Rance’s father, G.D. Crain, Jr, and his mother, Gertrude Crain later served as company chairman.
