BlogWorks: Pixels by the barrel

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June 07, 2005

Pixels by the barrel

General Motors’ FastLane blog leads a weekend AP story about corporate blogs:

When General Motors Corp. wanted to stop speculation this spring that it might eliminate its Pontiac and Buick brands, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz took his case directly to dealers and customers who were up in arms about the possibility. He wrote about it on the company's blog.

That post, which generated 100 comments on the site, points to one of the most compelling reasons for corporations to start their own blogs – to tell their own stories. The old advice about never getting in a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel is still sound, but corporate blogs offer an alternative to owning your own printing press.

GM has used the FastLane blog several times as a bully pulpit. (Disclaimer: MS&L BlogWorks helps GM manage the FastLane blog.) These have included:

Responding to car reviews it considered inaccurate and unfair in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

Defending its decision to cancel advertising in the LA Times, and

Trumpeting its high marks in JD Power and Strategic Vision quality surveys.

Without a blog, a corporation arguing that a news story is unfair is left with these usual PR options, listed in order of desperation: (1) to put out a press release and hope news outlets use it without too much commentary, (2) to complain to a news publication’s editor and hope he’ll run a correction and/or speak to a reporter, (3) to complain to a competitive publication and hope they’ll write something snarky about the first publication.

It’s much more appealing to tell it the way you want to tell it. An added benefit of a true blog is that it also provides an instant reality check on how your message is going over.

Posted by Laurie Mayers at June 7, 2005 01:36 PM