Should your CEO blog? Probably not. There is a cottage industry of blog consultants who are advocating CEO blogs. They think it is important for CEO’s to demonstrate transparency and honesty via blogging. And that this is a good thing for your marketing strategy. And that somehow these Oprah like disclosures will attract and retain more customers. Steve Rubel (rhymes with blue bell) over at Micro Persuasions offers a stark contrast:
"if you’re a corporate exec who embodies Dr. Phil and you know how to talk human and "keep it real," then blogging is for you. If you’re a corporate exec who embodies the Soviet Union, locks down information in a silo until the message missile is ready to be fired upon the masses, then blogging is not for you."
Hmmmmm….. So either you’re Dr. Phil or the Soviet Union?
My take is that in some cases corporate blogs can be powerful tools, dare I say weapons in the battle for market share. But generally speaking, CEO’s are not the ones to write the blogs for the following reasons:
1. Reality. Most CEO’s are not writers. If they are writers, then most CEO’s do not have the time or discipline to post on a regular basis. Ghostwriters (posters) for busy CEO’s defeat the purpose of honest, transparent CEO blogs.
2. Legal. Corporate blogs are a bonanza for plaintiff’s attorneys looking for new lawsuit opportunities. Blog entries made by the CEO will be the most scrutinized. The most honest, random musing by a CEO can be the seed of a future frivolous class action lawsuit.
3. Competition. Most importantly, if the CEO really buys the Dr. Phil archetype, then he exposes his weaknesses and vulnerabilities to exploitation by his competition. Now the kinder gentler competitor here in the US, Canada, and Western Europe may not take advantage of this. But I’m sure our friends in China and India will forgo this little act of competitive chivalry.
So are blogs an important ingredient in the marketing mix. Yes, but only under good ole’ Soviet style control. Should CEO’s be doing the blogging? If the role model is Dr. Phil, probably not.
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Agree with the point made that CEOs probably need not blog unless they have some compelling reason to.
But disagree with the reference that Indians & Chineses tend not to play fair & square.
I will give the Indian example.
If you were to look at the few sectors Indian cos. are doing well – IT Services, R& D Design; forget Competitive Intelligence, even Marketing is not much evolved. There are no CI firms here in India unlike the numerous in US. And last but not the least, in my years in the industry have never seen a job here advertised as ‘Competitive Intelligence’ OR ‘Comeptition Analyst’.
My two cents…
Cheers,
Kingshuk
Hi Kingshuk,
Clarification… I didn’t say that competitors in China or India were playing unfair. Or that exploiting blog entries for competitive advantage would be unfair. To the contrary, I believe any smart marketer will use this information to his advanatge.