Page 33 - 40.pdf - Brand Equity Magazine
Page 33 - 40.pdf - Brand Equity Magazine
Page 33 - 40.pdf - Brand Equity Magazine
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BRANDING & BLOGS<br />
BRANDS IN BLOGS<br />
Where Compliments Can Go Viral in a Big Way<br />
It’s become pretty much endemic<br />
because everyone in Malaysia seems<br />
to know a Blogger.<br />
And you do not need to ‘qualify’ to blog.<br />
Want to be heard? Have lots of free<br />
time? Want to feel powerful? Just blog!<br />
It’s the ultimate in user-generatedcontent!<br />
And here’s one proof-point if you do<br />
not believe in its power; Malaysian<br />
politicians are some of the most prolifi c<br />
bloggers.<br />
Not surprisingly, no one can offer an<br />
accurate tally of blogs in Malaysia.<br />
“Though we represent a community<br />
85,000 of bloggers, the actual number<br />
far exceeds what we know,” says<br />
Timothy Tiah, the executive director of<br />
Asia’s fi rst blog advertising community,<br />
Nuffnang.com.<br />
Nuffnang’s business model helps<br />
Bloggers monetize their blogs; and<br />
advertisers to deliver their brand<br />
experience through blogs.<br />
For the uninitiated a blog simply is a<br />
web log, and carries a chronological<br />
publication of personal thoughts.<br />
People can blog on any topic – politics,<br />
photography, personal musings,<br />
babycare, recipes, entertainment,<br />
hobbies etc.; it’s almost never ending.<br />
The Blogger becomes a publisher of<br />
ideas, experiences and opinions.<br />
Popular blogs draw a large audience<br />
of followers that range from passionate<br />
loyalists to just-passing-bys’. But they<br />
have the power to infl uence. And it’s a<br />
double edged sword as well.<br />
“A travel blog can attract 3000 readers<br />
every day. The popular entertainment<br />
blog budiey.com receives anywhere<br />
between 20,000 to 30,000 visitors<br />
every day,” Timothy reveals.<br />
Stories of Tony Fernandez engaging<br />
Blogger Kenny Sia immediately after<br />
his outburst about AirAsia’s service<br />
quality have been told many times.<br />
Stories of this type make blogs more<br />
credible, and acknowledges the power<br />
it can wield.<br />
<strong>Brand</strong> Builders can through blogs<br />
engage customers at a micro level to<br />
create excitement for their brand.<br />
“There are two ways of doing it. The<br />
company can advertise in a blog<br />
or engage a Blogger to write their<br />
experience with the brand,” Timothy<br />
says.<br />
“Bloggers can also be engaged to trial<br />
a product and post their experience. Or<br />
they can be paid to write about it, and<br />
that would be an advertorial,” he adds.<br />
Seeding of new products, or an existing<br />
product’s benefi ts and upcoming events<br />
through blogs is one way of getting the<br />
word out fast. Very often, they can kickstart<br />
a word-of-mouth campaign. But the<br />
results can be positive or negative.<br />
Timothy Tiah<br />
36 <strong>Brand</strong> <strong>Equity</strong> Volume 2, 2010<br />
There’s no guarantee that a Blogger<br />
can be absolutely ethical. Quid pro quo<br />
does rear its ugly head sometimes;<br />
or often. Treat Bloggers well and your<br />
brand is in for happy times.<br />
So how do we connect Rice Cookers,<br />
blogs and target customers?<br />
Explains Timothy, “Let’s assume that<br />
Housewives with a household income<br />
exceeding RM2000 and a family size<br />
of three would be the target. The next<br />
thing to do is to explore blog categories<br />
that housewives are likely to visit, such<br />
as parenting, cooking. Or, we can<br />
broaden that to include the above 40s.”<br />
“Next we plan how to engage the<br />
target customer. We could organize a<br />
family day, invite parent bloggers, their<br />
friends and blog visitors to participate<br />
in activities.”<br />
But Malaysian brand builders are<br />
hesitating to use blogs in a big way;<br />
a good number simply hop into the<br />
bandwagon.<br />
Timothy admits that blogs are not a<br />
primary means of engaging target<br />
customers yet. Standalone blog<br />
campaigns have not taken off in a big<br />
way. “Blogs are usually brought in to<br />
support a major campaign. However,<br />
we organized a standalone campaign<br />
in April this year and it entered the<br />
Malaysia Book of Records. Over 500<br />
fun loving Bloggers came together at<br />
the Gatsby Deodorant Street Fair.”<br />
There’s an interesting point to note<br />
here – its 500 bloggers and not their<br />
target readers. What if their readers<br />
were invited? The numbers could have<br />
been staggering!<br />
Blog are yet to reach critical mass; and<br />
that may not be far off. But its power<br />
to infl uence cannot be ignored by the<br />
brand building fraternity.<br />
And did you know that there were over<br />
500,000 active Bloggers during and<br />
after the 2008 general elections? That’s<br />
mega infl uence at work – big time and<br />
overtime!<br />
Timothy Tiah can be reached at<br />
timothy@nuffnang.com