Corporate America Adopts Blogging

More Corporations Encouraging And Using Internet Journals

(AP)  CEO Gary Hirshberg got the corporate blogging bug while working on Democrat Howard Dean's presidential campaign.

"I had been early on struck by the power of blogging for the Dean campaign itself, and as I watched other campaigns get into it, I realized this is completely applicable to brands," Hirshberg said.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. also uses a blog to promote its brand. Randy Baseler, vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, made his first entry in Randy's Journal on the day before rival Airbus unveiled its A380 superjumbo jet.

He has spent much time since contrasting the two companies' philosophies about air travel.

Companies that decide to enter the blogosphere should set up some rules, Rubel said. Key is making sure bloggers don't reveal proprietary or financial information — a lesson learned by former Google employee Mark Jen, who was fired after gabbing about life at the company on his personal blog, which was not sanctioned by Google.

Jen, now a software producer at Plaxo Inc., helped develop the information management company's blogging policy.

He says that as long as companies are prepared to deal with the sometimes harsh comments left by visitors, corporate blogs are a great tool for raising company profiles.

At GM, Lutz receives dozens of comments on each of his entries, ranging from "I drive a Buick and have for years. I love the brand!" to "Yawn!! Buick. Uhhhhh, does anybody buy Buick anymore?"