Brand blogs get attention of large companies

This morning’s New York Times has a good article on the power of blogs that cover a consumer product. They’re called brand blogs.

As the number of blogs has grown, more consumers like Mr. Marx [fan of Barq’s Root Beer] are keeping Web diaries dedicated exclusively to their favorite brands. Most of them are written without the consent of the companies that own the brands; a spokesman for Coca-Cola, which owns Barq’s, had not heard of Mr. Marx’s blog.

But some companies are starting to pay attention to blogs, using them as a kind of informal network of consumer opinion.

‘In addition to viewing blogs as another media channel, it allows us to keep our pulse on the marketplace,’ said Ken Ross, a vice president of Netflix, the movie rental company based in Los Gatos, Calif. One of the best-known blogs about Netflix, hackingnetflix.com, was started last November by Mike Kaltschnee, who lives in Danbury, Conn.

Lawyers and professional services firms are not going to have fans blog about them, at least not yet, but these businesses can blog about their area of expertise to create their own brand. Brands for professional services businesses are built on their expertise = people hire businesses they believe are experts. A professional marketing blog is an excellent way to showcase your expertise and build your brand.

Sorry not to mention that portion of the article quoting my friend Steve Rubel.