Lots of interesting stuff from my blogroll today. I’ll start with a comment on the July 4th Hobson & Holtz report.
Early in the show, Shel and Neville discussed a query from a listener, Sebastian Keil. Sebastian has a client, a rental car company, that is considering having a character blogging feature on its corporate blog, where the CEO will also blog. The idea was to have an occasional post from a rental car about where it recently went. Neville and Shel discussed the whole character blog thing at some length, and both agreed that it was not a good idea. You should listen to the show for the whole conversation.
It seemed to me that in the discussion about the character blog aspect (a question of form) they were missing the most important element: WHY the company thought this might be a good idea (the issue of content). Because in the WHY was the clue to perhaps a better idea for the company. I sent the following comment as soon as I got home:
As you both know, I am not at all opposed to character blogs in principle. In this case, however, I agree with you both – a character blog in the voice of a rental car is not the way to go.
My advice: I’d focus on two things Sebastian said about the project, first the WHY: they want a way to show all the ways you can use a rental car, and part of the HOW: they plan to put disposable cameras in the cars for the renters to take the pics that would tell the story.
So – I’d go with a customer blog: put the cameras in the cars, and provide an incentive for the renters to tell their stories. Then you post the best ones in the blog. The incentive could be you’d give everyone who used the camera and provided a brief diary of their trip with a custom digital photo album created from the pix and for the ones you actually use, you could give them a free day or whatever discount makes sense. End of day: you get your stories and you increase customer loyalty in the process.
With this format you could do it as a separate blog or on the blog with the CEO, whichever you preferred.
There is nothing wrong with a character blog. It is just a form. But as marketers, we really should look first to the real voices available to us. Odds are, they will be just as, if not more, compelling. Executives. Employees. Customers. Evangelists.
If after evaluating the real voices, you still believe that a character blog is the best choice, by all means, try it. It could be just the ticket. Just remember: it is hard work to make characters real, believable, compelling and consistent. After all, if it were easy, we could all be best selling novelists or award winning screenwriters. And even the best fictional franchises have been known to "jump the shark." 🙂
A character blog isn’t a bad idea just because it is a character blog. But it is a bad idea if there’s a better way.
Susan -Character blogs are but one option. As with any marketing tactic, goals/objectives/ brand positioning should drive strategy.
Now if the rental company had a fleet of Herbie VW “bug” cars I’d say go for the character blog!
I’ve pondered character blogs for quite a while now. My feeling is that ALL bloggers have some sort of “voice” with which we blog. Precious few use a truly authentic voice/persona. Therefore, most are delivering some sort of character blog. As we move across the continuum, we hear increasingly artificial voices until we encounter complete artifice, such as Sex and the City’s Carrie Blog. We could even read, as Toby playfully suggested, a blog from Herbie the Love Bug! Which shade of gray is acceptable? Where is the line? I think it depends on both the purpose and the audience of the blog. Some readers want entertainment, others require facts. And we certainly aren’t going to stop people from trying on various voices. Conclusion: caveat emptor.
Thanks for the comment, Rick. I agree that to some extent we all create a blogging voice that is distinct from our “inner selves” – much like public and private faces. The blog face is the public face that you choose to present. I think it becomes a character blog when the presentation on the blog is no longer recognizable as you to those that know you in real life. In other words, you are writing so in character that it is a distinct persona.
And quite frankly, I don’t think there is anything wrong with the form of a character blog at all. I’ve defended it at some length over the past few months. I just think marketers should be cautious about employing it because it is hard to do well. They are better off looking at alternatives that are easier to execute and maintain. If in the end they do decide to do a character blog, they have to be willing to make the investments that will make it a good one.
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