Corporate Blogs

The generic term ‘corporation’ often gets a bum rap. When the term is preceded by a modifier, such as Campbell Soup Corporation or Adidas Corporation, people naturally project their thoughts and opinions (positive or negative) away from the term itself and towards the product that the corporation produces (e.g. “Campbell makes tasty, but salty, soups” or “Adidas makes comfortable sneakers”). Right or wrong, the standalone term ‘corporation’ is often vilified in pop culture as a litigious, profit-driven entity whose concerns do not extend beyond shareholders to the average citizen. Even Teddy Roosevelt noted that:

"Corporate cunning has developed faster than the laws of the nation and state. Corporations have found ways to steal long before we have found that they were susceptible to punishment for theft."
-Teddy Roosevelt in the New Haven Register 1909.

In a small-scale effort to modify public perception, many corporations are embracing blogs. Blogs provide an accessible face to corporations that are often viewed as faceless and impenetrable to outsiders (the reflective, black panel skyscrapers that house many corporate headquarters don’t help). Corporations are finding that blogs provide an immediate communication path between employees and customers, resulting in usable feedback from both sides. However, in order to maximize return on investment, corporations must employ a well-designed blogging strategy.
This post will leave descriptions of blogging strategies to the experts and consultants; instead the post will examine two existing corporate blogs (Intel and Turkey Hill Farms).

Intel
(http://blogs.intel.com/)

A Google search reports that Intel supports many blogs. http://blogs.intel.com/ is one of many sites that targets Intel’s vast customer base, with special bloggers who write for small, specialized audiences. Each post is tagged according to content, allowing readers to subscribe only to posts that interest them. For example, several of the posts carry the ‘multicore’ tag, which informs readers and subscribers that the contents of the post involves multicore processor technology.

According to the ‘About this Blog’ description page (http://blogs.intel.com/about), the page is a portal for several blogs that are authored by researchers and technology experts who share their opinions on industry trends and invite feedback from customers with questions about Intel technology.

Length of entries varies, but most posts are between 100-300 words. Posts are succinct, but long enough to explain concepts. Various studies show the most successful corporate blogs include postings that are not too verbose. Epic posts are rarely well-received by readers of corporate blogs.

The blog is easy to read and navigate due to an efficient use of white space, clean lines and readable fonts (Verdana, I think). The blog employs a consistent navigation bar, a search box and timestamps for each posting. A separate text box highlights the most popular posts (based on the number of comments).

The blog projects an overall corporate image of efficiency and clean design, perhaps due to the visually appealing, consistent use of colors along with judicious use of graphics. The intent of the blog is to facilitate dialogue between Intel employees and customers. The exchange of information is text-based and the blog designers did a nice job recognizing this and not cluttering the page with unnecessary graphics and avatars.


Turkey Hill Farms
(http://icecreamjournal.turkeyhill.com/)

The intended audience for the Turkey Hill blog is ice cream lovers, not necessarily those who are completely loyal to the Turkey Hill brand. In addition to plenty of marketing content about Turkey Hill, the site also includes some general interest content about how ice cream is produced.

The stated goal of the blog is to gather a collection of whimsical thoughts and stories about ice cream, particularly the Turkey Hill brand of ice cream. Turkey Hill Farms is located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The blog also promotes Lancaster County tourism, including attractions other than the tour of Turkey Hill farm.

The site encourages comments on each post and often prints email responses to posted stories. The site must draw a surprising amount of traffic, as many of the posts include between 20 and 100 comments (“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream” indeed). Episodic posts also include information about how ice cream is made, including Q+A sessions with a Turkey Hill food scientist where readers supply the Qs and the scientist supplies the As.

The average blog entry is 2 or 3 short, easily digestible paragraphs. The goal of the blog is to promote Turkey Hill ice cream in consumer-friendly ways. I think the site is a nice mix of lighthearted posts and interactive polls.

The design uses a clean, organized layout. Many of the posts are supplemented by cartoonish graphics and photographs of ice cream, which enhance the blog’s theme. Navigation through current and archived posts is easy, as are contact links for Turkey Hill farms. An interesting link of other ice cream blogs is a nice feature.

The site projects an overall corporate image of family friendliness and responsibility. Questions may be submitted and seem to be answered in a reasonable amount of time, showing that Turkey Hill Farms has invested the staff and capital required to maintain an active blog.