The Ikea post (sorry, Dutch only) made me think of the role an advertising agency can (and in my opinion should) play in writing a corporate/business blog. I wrote this post with Ikea in my mind.
I think a (real) corporate blog should not be written by an advertising/PR agency employee (unless it’s the agency’s blog itself of course). The main reason will be the fact that this person will lack some of most the important elements: passion, authority and credibility to represent the company to the outside world.
I’m not saying an employee or an external agency cannot be passionated about a topic. But he/she will miss things like the company buzz, other colleagues telling stories about contacts they had with clients, encounters in the elevator, rumours and stuff that happens on the company floor. The outside world will see this person as a representative from an agency, but not as someone from the company itself. It will be much easier for a real employee to become an authority, speak with a credible voice (based on inherent knowlegde) and be the face of the company.
Does that mean an advertising/PR agency cannot help a client to start a company blog? Of course not! They have been communication partners in the past, and there is no reason this should change. An agency can analyse the company’s needs and determine the goal of the blog. In the end, the set-up, layout and all the necessary tools (RSS, tags etc) are important, but not key (I don’t like blogs which are too slick, but I’m sure creatives will strongly disagree with me on that).
The most important aspects will be the company’s culture towards open communication and the corporate blog authors/bloggers.
First.
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