Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Dell learned recently about the growing power of the blogosphere when it recalled 4.1 million laptop batteries after a video that showed one of its computers bursting into flames was posted on the Internet.
The brief clip zig-zagged through cyberspace and went from cult viewing to national television.
Many firms have started to pay attention as a rapidly expanding slice of cyberspace is devoted to vitriolic, often obsessive blogs listing the shortcomings of well-known companies.
There are well over 35 million blogs on the Net. Keeping abreast of all of them is impossible. But Nielsen BuzzMetrics, a New York firm, has developed an expertise in monitoring blogs — it works for 150 of America’s Fortune 1,000 firms.
“It’s a new culture, a new world,” says Nielsen BuzzMetrics’ marketing vice-president of Max Kalehoff. “For every company there’s a huge, long tail of blogs with many, many niches.”
He maintains that although blogs can be a thorn in the side of carefully nurtured brands, they can also be useful in alerting executives to hazards ahead.
It is taking time for bigger firms to catch on. “Most Fortune 1000 companies are not of the cultural mindset where they talk directly to their customers,” Kalehoff adds. “They’ve built so many walls and silos that they’ve lost that direct communication.”
However frustrating blogs’ contents may be, companies still need to breathe deeply before responding to them.
Andrew Clark
