Marketing Roadmaps

Blogger relations

SciFi, Battlestar Galactica and building relationships with bloggers

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(warning, long post)

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I interviewed Michael Hinman of SyFy Portal about SciFi Network’s successful digital press tour and promised a follow-up with comments from the PR agency that arranged the event about why the network did the press tour and what it hoped to achieve.

Well, time flies. I did do the interview with Courtney White from SciFi’s agency New Media Strategies. I also chatted briefly with the TV Addict, Daniel Malen, another one of the online journalists who attended the Vancouver event, about his impressions of the tour and his relationship with the network.

But other things intervened. The post, which seemed pretty evergreen, kept getting pushed off the calendar.

And then about a week ago, actor Jamie Bamber (Apollo on Battlestar Galactica) told an audience at Dragon*Con that SciFi was considering splitting the upcoming fourth and final season of Battlestar into what effectively would be two mini-seasons of 10 episodes each separated by as much as a year. According to convention reports, he was less than complimentary about the possibility. His statements were backed up by Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol on the series) and subsequently apparently in comments by Mrs. Ron (Terry Moore, producer Ron Moore’s wife) on a sci-fi board. So, not a rumour.

And not surprisingly, fans, already unhappy about the long wait for the fourth season, blast- into-the-past direct-to-DVD Razor this fall nothwithstanding, were not too happy about this news. At all.

The shit hit the fan.

Which got me wondering. How do you handle a fan storm like this, especially when the bad news was leaked by a principal actor? According to the same convention reports, the next day, Bamber went overboard in his compliments of the network. Did the “hammer” come down? Did someone speak to him “sternly?” Maybe. Probably. But, as a fan, I’m grateful he spilled the beans, and since he’s a pretty smart guy, I’m sure he knew exactly what he was doing.

SciFi Channel is an enigma to me. Sometimes they get it so right, as with the digital press tour and other fan initiatives they’ve had. For example, the Battlestar Galactica fan video contest last Spring and the recent fan voting for the DVD cover for Razor. When you look at these efforts, it seems that they truly understand how important the fans are and want to “do right” by them.

And then you consider some of the programming decisions. Like this one. Which looks like nothing so much as trying to squeeze five seasons for the price of four. Show producers Moore and David Eick wanted a 5th season commitment from the network and only decided to end the series at four when SciFi wouldn’t make the longer term commitment.

Or the cancellation of Farscape. Still a sore spot with many fans, regardless of the possibility of its return next year as a web-based series

The latest report from SyFy Portal seems to indicate that the final decision on BSG hasn’t been made. Naturally, the fans are mobilizing their letter and email writing campaigns.

So my follow-on question for Courtney White: how do you handle this news? First the leak and then the ongoing internet shitstorm?

And for the digital reporters who cover the SciFi beat, did you cover the Dragon*Con leak any differently than you would have prior to the tour last Spring? Were you able to get answers to your questions quickly? Regardless of your feelings about the potential decision itself, was the communication from the network good as you were trying to cover the story?

I hope to have some of these answers for you in the not distant future, and have some additional thoughts at the end of this post. For those of you still interested in the initial case study, and the network’s decision to do the digital press tour, here’s the scoop.

Courtney told me that New Media Strategies has been monitoring online media for Sci Fi for a few years. This year, they decided to develop a digital media network to facilitate partnership with blogs and other online media. Instead of having to compete with the mainstream press for PR department attention, the digital media would have their own dedicated contact, Courtney.

They wanted to kick everything off with an event. Since it was considered very critical to have top talent involved, a large part of their discussions focused on what was possible. It ended up as the two-day event in Vancouver; in addition to the sets, they had access to the actors because most of the shows were in the midst of filming.

They invited sites they had been working with for a long time plus some newer ones.

“Our goal was to put faces to the sites and develop the relationships further. For some sites, who often acted as unofficial brand ambassadors for the network, it was also a way to say thank you.”

“At my company New Media Strategies, we think this would be amazing for other networks to do as well, and we hoped to show them how successful this sort of thing can be.”

I asked her about measurement of results. This is part of New Media Strategies’ proprietary service, so I didn’t get much detail, but she said that they have methods for measurement that factor in both tone and number of mentions.

Courtney was pleased with the good coverage the tour got, but stressed that the long term relationships were more important. I spoke with her just before ComicCon, one of the biggest conventions in the sci-fi world held in San Diego at the end of July, and asked if there was any difference in her relationship with the various sites, a month after the press tour. She said that when she was reaching out about ComicCon she definitely felt a difference between the 31 who attended the event in Vancouver and those who didn’t: “There is a lot going on and relationship matters.”

In response to a query Monday as I was drafting this post, Michael Hinman also emailed me the following:

“Courtney put on an AWESOME event. In my real-life job, I deal with hundreds of PR firms, and many of the experiences aren’t a lot of fun. But Courtney and her crew knew exactly what they were doing, and that’s why they have 31 bloggers and online journalists who think she is absolutely amazing. :)”

Courtney was pleased with how well the event showcased the online media to the network.

“We work with these bloggers and sites on a daily basis. We know how professional they are. It was great to allow everyone else to see it . That they aren’t rogue bloggers, they are 31of the very best, representing blogs and online to the network. Acting and reporting like journalists.”

At the time we spoke, she felt it was a turning point, and hoped to be able to give even more exclusive coverage to the online sites.

What would you do differently? She said she would “definitely allow more time. Although we were planning it for six months, it was only a month out from the event when we sent out the invitations. Some sites couldn’t swing it in that short a period. I’d also have a longer event, with more time for the panels so we could showcase even more shows and actors. And I’d eat more of the free food.”

I asked her what she would advise other companies considering blogger outreach. She said the most important thing is to establish relationships. She also suggests that you kick it off with something “big” to show the people – whether they are digital media or bloggers – how important they are to you.

She also commented that “companies and the networks have to come down from on high and get to know the consumers, the viewers. Bloggers offer honest opinions and often a true fan perspective is more valuable than the filters of an editor.” That was one of the things that most impressed her about the SciFi event; network execs Bonnie Hammer and Mark Stern attended many of the events, both formal and social, and listened to feedback from the attendees as both journalists and fans (editorial comment below).

“We wanted this to be a first, not a last. We plan to do this more than once per year. We all learned a lot and as we move forward, it will only get bigger and better.And next time we would invite Susan.” 🙂

When I started writing this post in early August, I thought it would be interesting to get the perspective of an online writer who attended both the Vancouver shindig and ComicCon. Michael from SyFy Portal introduced me to Daniel Malen, the TV Addict. I asked Daniel if he sensed any change in the relationship with the network after the media tour, and particularly at ComicCon.

He said that unlike some of the folks who have been writing for a long time and who might have a different perspective, he’s only been doing the TV Addict site for a couple years, and SciFi has always been very helpful to him. Some networks won’t send him stuff because he lives in Canada, but he noted that Courtney recently had sent him the screener of Flash Gordon (Editorial comment: bit of a mixed blessing, that.)

He also said that she was really helpful before ComicCon, letting him know about the various events and press conferences. but he didn’t have much interaction with the network during the convention. Last year at ComicCon, he attended some press conferences but this year the convention was so crowded, he basically stayed glued to his seat in order to see both the Heroes and BSG panels.

Courtney says she loves working with sci-fi fans because they are so passionate about the genre. As I commented above, I wonder how that plays out when the news is not so good…..

As a fan, I’d hope that Bonnie Hammer and Mark Stern are listening to the fans now too, at least to the Battlestar Galactica fans, and will give us a good fourth season, rather than trying to milk 20 episodes into two seasons. Hell, if they’ve changed their minds and now want some sort of 5th season, I’m sure Moore and Eick can come up with a Plan.

Finally, speaking of Flash Gordon (SciFi), we watched it Friday and I was not impressed. Torchwood (BBC America), on the other hand, was terrific, and I highly recommend it. Be warned though: it does have some pretty adult themes. Doctor Who, Season 3? David Tennant is still no Chris Eccleston, but it seems a bit better… We shall see.

The $25,000 question: should I watch Heroes?

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Here are the questions I posed directly to Courtney, Michael and Daniel in an email before I published this post:

How do you navigate the waters when the digital media, who may also be fans, and the fans in general, don’t like what the network is doing? How does your relationship help? How do you balance everything? Especially if as fans, you aren’t crazy about the decision you may be reporting on as reporters.

Courtney’s reply:

“I’d say we have to keep in mind the medium we work in within this Digital space, and the very essence of what makes it successful.  People want to read the true opinions of those they have come to know and trust. I don’t ever want to put my partners in a position where they feel like they can’t be honest about a certain decision or property.  Instead, we like to try to honor that relationship by giving the partner site as much content and information as possible to use in the most positive way that they can, while being true to their feelings.  Helping fans understand the reason behind your decision, and delivering a good product after that decision is also key.  I’m lucky that working with the SCI FI Channel, most of the product that they put out is really great stuff – and their decisions are based on solid reasoning.

I think it also comes down to the relationship the fans have with the network.  Do they trust that network’s vision?  Do they trust that that network is really listening to them?  If so, I think any
property will be given a little more slack to find it’s place.  Things like the Digital Press Tour and Comicon invitations have helped us to show the fans that they are important and being heard – and that has really worked in everyone’s favor over the past few years. ”

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Blurring the lines — just what is advertising on a blog?

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Most online advertising is easy to spot. Skyscrapers  or banners with blinking lights and  flash animations. Text ads with the clear tag "XYZ Ad Network" or Google Adsense.

But what about blogs that are sponsored by a company. For example, Scratchings and Sniffings, a pet blog sponsored by Purina.

Or Pay Per Post? Or blogging networks like Parent Bloggers Network in which companies pay a consulting fee for review coordination and the bloggers keep the products?

Or blogger relations — where companies reach out directly to bloggers with products and exclusive stories and other blog-worthy material?.

Are the posts that result from these efforts advertising or editorial? It has to be one thing or another, right? After all, in the" good old days," it was black or white. It was advertising or it was editorial and never the twain shall meet. Right?

I mean, we’ve never had evaluation labs that did paid reviews of products and applied a seal of approval. Oh wait a minute. Yes we did.

Magazines and newspapers never sold editorial-like space for advertisers to write their own stories. Oh wait a minute. Yes we did. And do.

And it wasn’t really a problem. It just was.

And is. Readers have always been, and still are, able to apply their own judgment to the material they read, no matter how stupid advertisers seem to think we are. The Web is no different.

And all these approaches have their place in our informational ecosystem. So, let’s put a little definition around the issue.

What is advertising, what qualifies as "advertorial," and when can we expect that a blog, podcast or Web site is serving up "pure" editorial content?

Advertising. The advertiser has complete control over the ad content and landing pages. Paid or pro bono, using rate cards not that different from the old magazine CPM. Examples: site advertising, Google AdSense, BlogHer ad network, Blogads.

Advertorial. This is where I put things like Pay Per Post and blog networks like Parent Bloggers Network. In the print world, of course, the advertiser has complete content control and the magazine simply dictates a common format. Online, it is a bit different, but the end result isn’t. Online, the advertiser has control over the initial factors — what is to be reviewed or written about and who will be writing. But, after that, the blogger is more or less free to write what he pleases.

That said, we can certainly expect a certain cognitive dissonance effect; paid reviewers will be more likely to be positive about  a product, regardless of their opinion, or lack thereof, before starting the review. While they aren’t being paid to voice a view contrary to their own opinons, as were the subjects in Leon Festinger’s original research in the 50s, the mere fact that they are being paid by an entity with a vested interest is bound to shape the review.

But so what. Readers can make up their own minds. And will. However, full disclosure of relationships is absolutely essential. If the service or network does not require full disclosure, I strongly advise both advertising companies and bloggers to stay away.

Sponsored blogs fit in the advertorial category. Even if the writer is totally independent, a certain sensibility is bound to affect the blog. The sponsor may not say "don’t trash me" but the writer isn’t going to. Unless there is such an egregious situation that the blogger wants to divorce the sponsor. Likewise, I consider review networks like Parent Bloggers to be advertorial because even though the writer is free to write whatever she wishes about the product or services, there is a prior agreement that there will be a post.

Caveat: Do not confuse pay-per-post type writing with freelance writing. Paid posts on a personal blog reflect the personal opinion and style of the blogger — some are short and breezy, some funny, some deep and introspective. The clients are not paying for the in-depth research, impartiality and writing skills that we might see on a sponsored blog or from a professional freelance writer.

This does not mean that bloggers cannot be freelance writers. They can. It just means that we need to understand that there is a real difference between pay-per-post writing and freelance writing, and the fees each type of writing should command.

Independent editorial. The blogger may take advertising, but the expectation is that the blog contents are 100% owned by the blogger, in all senses of the word. The blogger may be receptive to pitches from blogger relations, marketing and PR firms, but there is no quid pro quo. The company making the pitch had better tell a compelling, relevant story that offers something of value to the blogger. Or risk being ignored, or worse, ridiculed.

Companies that get this right can have long, mutually beneficial relationships with bloggers. Get it wrong? Just ask Wal*Mart.

Pay Per Post and other paid blogging services can supplement blogger relations, but in my opinion, do not replace it.

They can however coexist. Just as advertising, editorial and advertorial have been working together to tell us the story for years.

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Bad pitches… everybody gets them

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Just to follow up on both my previous post and comments I’ve left on a number of blogs this week:

All bloggers — even PR and marketing bloggers — get crappy email pitches. I thought I would share a couple with you. Names redacted because I’m irritated, not mean.

Dear Sirs:

COMPANY will be releasing a revolutionary new software package that I thought might be of interest to you. It is easily adaptable to any language and to vendor private labeling.

We are notifying certain companies involved in Online Marketing to let them know about our software, prior to its release to the General Public.

Below is a copy of the Press Release that will be going out.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRODUCT creates quality web content from wasted web pages.

PLACE August 1, 2007 – A new age of e-commerce dawned today with the release of PRODUCT; the software package that makes dynamic web pages visible to the Search Engines.

PRODUCT creates static HTML pages, which Search Engines can easily index and use, from dynamic pages like shopping carts, forums, blogs, databases or ANY link-navigated web pages created from a database.

PRODUCT uses a two-step process; first creating a static page from a dynamic page, then changing the URL address of that page to one the search engines will visit.

Search Engines do not give dynamic web pages much import and they seldom appear in Search Engine top listings, if at all. Until PRODUCT, there has only been a partial solution; using complex server-installed modules beyond the range of 99.9% of web masters, which offer nothing to help the readability of the resulting URL. Unlike these previous so-called "fixes", PRODUCT is simple-to-use, quick-to-setup, easy-to-understand and the program installs on any web master’s personal computer that runs Windows.

COMPANY’S PRODUCT has changed the face of the Internet by turning wasted content into visible pages for the search engines.

About COMPANY

Established in 1997, COMPANY has over 250,000 copies of its ANOTHER PRODUCT, in use in over 30 countries.

NAME, CEO of the company says, "COMPANY is dedicated to helping businesses to become more successful on the web. Ten years ago, we changed the face of the Internet by developing the first linking software and now we are changing it again by making the ability to optimize websites available to the average web master. There are over a billion web sites on the net, and if you are invisible to the search engines you are virtually INVISIBLE. If the search engines cannot see your pages, they cannot visit them and list them. We have just changed the face of the industry, by making it simple to index hundreds or even thousands of pages of previously wasted content."

Yeah, this PR person took some time to get to know me. Susan. Before they sent me a release in which I have absolutely NO interest. YAWN.

And here’s another beauty. No cover note.

Publicity Firm To Represent Former PLACE Prosecutor in News Marketing Campaign
COMPANY will market former PLACE prosecutor NAME OF PERSON in a campaign for news publicity.

DATELINE / August 2, 2007  The news publicity agency, NAME, which has landed clients on Good Morning America and into the pages of top national magazines, today added a former PLACE prosecutor to its list of publicity clients.

NAME is a former PLACE criminal prosecutor. He’s now a criminal defense attorney in ANOTHER PLACE and a professor at A COLLEGE teaching Criminal Law.

“NAME has the qualities that news executives and booking agents look for in a legal expert,” says PUBLICIST, of PUBLICITY FIRM. “He’s smart, knows his stuff and has the experience to debate topical legal issues with the best attorneys around and I look forward to seeing him do it.”

PUBLICIST is a former reporter, investigative reporter and anchor. He left a successful TV news career after 20 years to form his own publicity agency. He represents individuals and businesses seeking news publicity.

“My goal is to make NAME a regular on local and cable news,” says PUBLICIST. “I think he’s got what it takes to do really well.”

NAME is a graduate of A UNIVERSITY. While with the PLACE District Attorney’s office he was assigned to the Narcotics Bureau where he prosecuted drug crimes. He also has extensive experience prosecuting and defending drunk drivers.

About PUBLICITY FIRM: PUBLICITY FIRM is a news publicity agency that specializes in writing and distributing press releases and representing elite clients in their quest for news publicity. PUBLICIST, a former TV news reporter, investigative reporter and anchor, who left a successful career to start his own publicity agency, runs the company.

Lovely. Really. I wish them well in their quest to make NAME a sought-after legal expert. But why in the world would I care? Last time I looked, I was neither local nor cable news…..

Want to read some more bad pitches? Head over to the Bad Pitch Blog.

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Post-BlogHer Recap: In Which I Contemplate the Woodshed

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This summer, BlogHer was a completely different experience for me than in past years. It was the first time I wasn’t speaking, although I did end up volunteering at the Birds of a Feather sign-up, which was a great way to see everyone, if only for a few moments. It was also the first time I went as both a marketer and a mom. In previous years, including this past Spring at BlogHer Business, I went to the conference with pretty much with just my marketing hat on. Don’t get me wrong – I was a mom then too, but I didn’t have a personal blog.

I do now. Snapshot Chronicles is all about taking pictures of and with my seven-year old son. A major reason to attend BlogHer was to talk about SC and a photo contest for kids I am co-sponsoring this summer with a couple of other women bloggers, Tracey Clark and Sheri Reed.

But I also had my marketing hat on.  I’ve developed a project for a client that I truly believe mom bloggers with a specific interest will want to participate in. I knew quite a few of the women on my "possibles" list would be at BlogHer, making the conference an ideal opportunity to quietly sound them out. How did I know they’d be there? Because I read and comment on their blogs. And for a lot longer than a week before BlogHer.

What does this have to do with the woodshed? Patience, grasshopper, I am getting there.

BlogHer itself was great, especially the unconference on Sunday (more on that in my next post), and I felt like I accomplished what I set out to do over the three days. However, I was a little disturbed by the anti-PR sentiment at the state of the momosphere panel on Friday, and my feelings of unease have only intensified over the past few days as the posts, and comments, have been flying fast and furious about taking PR people to the woodshed and how much we (marketing and PR folks) suck.

I’m not taking it personally, mind you. At least not too much. Helping companies do blogger relations right has become a large part of my professional work. I write and talk about it all the time,and work very hard to make sure that my clients’ programs are a win-win for everyone. In fact, I advise clients if they aren’t willing to do it right, don’t do blogger relations at all. Spend your money on advertising or trinkets & trash.

So even though I know it is not personal, it’s hard not to take offense at the blanket statement that "we know you don’t read our blogs."  I do read the blogs. I read about 500 blogs on a regular basis — mom blogs, food blogs, military blogs, tech blogs, travel blogs, health blogs, film blogs, marketing blogs, PR blogs, education blogs, and more. Sure, I enjoy the mom, marketing, photo and PR blogs the most because that is where my personal interests lay, but you cannot do blogger outreach well if you don’t get to know the people behind the blogs. Because it isn’t about inanimate things called blogs. It’s about people.

And getting really personal here, I think the momosphere has forgotten that there are people, real people, on the other side, trying to do this right. And a lot of them are women. An awful lot in fact. PR as a profession is well known to be a female-dominant industry. And by that I mean there are a lot of women in it, most often at the lower and mid levels. No matter what anyone tells you, PR is still male-dominated; men run most of the big agencies. And we sort of kept that meme going at BlogHer, since Jory only had time to call on two people from PR, both men.

Today, I feel like you want me to apologize for my chosen profession. And I just don’t feel like apologizing. Not for what I do for a living. Not for corporate America. Not any more. Women do that way too much for things they didn’t do.

So, my friends, readers and fellow BlogHers, I ain’t going to the woodshed. Not today.

Many of us want to get this right. And for outreach to all bloggers that our companies and clients might want to talk with, not just moms. Because those of us that "get it," get that there are much better ways to reach out to our customers. Not mass, generic, white-bread messages designed to appeal to all, offend none, and end up doing nothing much for our companies or our customers. 

Simple stories that speak directly to people, not at them. Programs that give the bloggers access to people (Gloria Steinem), places (backstage at Sci Fi Network) and things (umm "toys") that in turn provides fodder for posts and podcasts. Not to mention the possible other benefits 😉

Programs that donate both goods and dollars to charity, often chose by the bloggers themselves. Outreach that focuses on the bloggers and their needs/wants, not just the company’s. There are good blogger relations programs, and good PR/marketing folks. Really, we aren’t all assholes. At least not all the time.

So judge me, judge us, on what we do. Not on what others do. Or don’t do. As I said, I try hard to get it right. If I fuck up, tell me. If you have suggestions, tell me.

But don’t assume that every PR outreach will be lame and impersonal. Some will be, but some will be interesting opportunities that you’d want to do. But you won’t get the chance if you completely close your mind to the possibilities.

One last comment, and then I will step off my soapbox. There is a diversity issue, no question. Mainstream media is pretty white bread, white man, and much of that has crept into the blogosphere as well. It’s why BlogHer exists, my friends; remember guys don’t link?.

How do we change it? Talk about it. Educate. Maybe even reach out to companies with products we’d like to evaluate and see if they come through.

I have some other ideas, which I am noodling around as I contemplate, but refuse to enter, the woodshed. And I may just be calling on you for advice.

So please don’t delete my email before you read it.

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Not So Random Observations: Nikon and alli

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I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Nikon and alli. Not because I am considering becoming a customer of either because, in order, not now and not likely.

Because the blog campaigns of both have taken a few hits lately. Some deserved and some not so.

Let’s start with Nikon, which loaned expensive digital SLR cameras to about 50 marketing and PR bloggers this spring. No obligation to write, and a promise of a discount if they decided to keep the camera after the review period. Doesn’t sound like a bad program, does it? Seems to respect the bloggers. Not that different from other sampling programs the company has done.

Many bloggers, myself included, didn’t have any major problems with the campaign. The outreach was well within recommended guidelines, and the recipients of the loaner cameras all disclosed their participation in everything they wrote about the camera.

Well, Chicken Little, get out of the way and NEVER underestimate our collective ability to navel gaze.  In the eyes of some marketing bloggers, there were serious flaws with the program, and recipients of the loaners couldn’t be objective about the program, let alone the camera. [Note: I am not a camera recipient.]

Did the value of the camera, far more than the usual product sample, create the problem?  Perhaps, but readers are smart enough to filter what they read, provided there is full disclosure.  Which there was.

Another criticism was that the 50 or so chosen participants were people with whom Nikon’s agency already had relationships. Uhmm. This is one of the key recommendations we make in blogger relations — know your customers. If marketing types are likely prospects for a product, which in this case they are, why shouldn’t you reach out to them? If your goal is to get people talking about your product, why wouldn’t you select a group that would be highly likely to try the camera and then tell others?

Some bloggers felt strongly that blogger relations programs should always benefit the larger community, not just those selected to participate. They asked, how does giving cameras to some benefit all? This is a lovely thought, but not terribly practical, and not really necessary. We cannot expect every outreach, from every company, to benefit every member of the community. It’s nice when they do, and I am a firm believer in companies giving back. But sometimes, they just want a little talk about their products, so they reach out to influencers. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The one thing I would fault Nikon on is not getting more involved with the people trying the camera. Hands off is one thing. No engagement is another. If the recipients are part of a community you want to reach, you ought to at least talk with them….Doesn’t have to be a focus group or even structured feedback. I’d also like to see the company do some sampling programs with other bloggers that would be equally interested in Nikon cameras. Not just this group of marketers.

But these are quibbles. Overall, I still put the Nikon campaign into the "good" column.

Now to alli. My oh my, what a blogstorm Debbie Weil set off with her request for comments on GlaxoSmithKline’s blog for weight loss drug alli. Read all about it and then come back.

Was asking for comments wrong? Maybe. But that’s not what I want to talk about, and that horse is pretty dead anyway.

It was the wrong question. The right question, as I left in a comment on Debbie’s blog, was Why wasn’t the blog getting comments? If Debbie had asked this question, the response would have been far different.

I don’t think the alli blog and bloggers are fake in their concern or desire to help people lose weight. Sure, they have commercial imperatives, but they really seem to believe in their product. So why no comments?

Quite literally, because nobody wants to talk about this shit.

I commend the folks at GSK for their frankness about the side effects of alli. But, let’s face it, how many people want to read about "treatment effects?" Or write about their own, assuming that is even allowed. When we keep reading about how potential employers are googling us to find out about our pasts, who would want to admit that they depend on Depends?

 The problem with the alli blog, and the conversation or lack thereof, is that it focuses on the product, not on people. And that’s the wrong focus.

People may consider taking this drug, but not because they want to be alli users. Not because there is any cachet in being an alli user. I think we are all quite clear on that. They’ll consider this drug because they want to lose weight and other alternatives either haven’t worked or don’t appeal.

That’s your community: people who want to lose weight. So if you want to serve the community, you provide information and resources that meet the needs of the community. Sure, you can provide information on your product. It would be silly not to. But everything can’t be branded, sanitized, corporate-approved alli content. That’s a bit dull. And doesn’t inspire comments.

So let me step into my monday-morning-quarterback chair and share some thoughts on what I think might work better. And perhaps start a little conversation.

A big part of the alli message is that you have to change your lifestyle, not just pop a pill. Exercise more. Eat better. So, find some experts, preferably people who are already blogging on these topics, and ask them to write for you.  Find a food blogger who writes about low fat cooking and ask her to write a food column. I am certain that a major worry for many considering alli is how they can continue to eat well with their families. Offer a recipe makeover that takes a family favorite down to reasonable fat levels.

In other words, give back to the community before you ask them to buy from you. And make sure that what you are offering is useful whether a person ever takes the drug or not.

Link out to other reputable weight loss sites and resources. Do you run the risk that the dieter might go with South Beach instead of alli? Sure, but you run that risk anyway. By being open, by providing access to alternatives, you move away from simply being a corporate product site to becoming a real resource for the community.

And that’s how you become part of the community.

Now, a company, GSK or any other, doesn’t have to do any of this. In which case, I’m not sure it really needs a blog.

If all you want to do is push information out, stick to a Web site. Nobody really expects to talk to you there.

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