Mommy's little helper
Meanwhile in the Orange room, the Jory Des Jardins of blogher.com talks about blogging by American mothers, the so-called ‘mommybloggers’. Their influence on the U.S. food, packaged goods, and medical marketing scenes is great.
The difficult issue of how to put commercial activity in the heart of blogs comes up.
Do you pay per plug? Only the most cynical of bloggers and networks will agree to do that. It’s a bit like the respondents who turn up to focus groups claiming that they are a heavy user of whatever grocery product you are researching this week, or Laura Linney turning to camera and plugging food brands in The Truman Show. You can smell the insincerity.
The better way is not to try to influence editorial, and let the best bloggers get on with what they do best – turning their everyday lives and experiences into something thousands of women in similar positions find compelling.
But then the marketers struggle.
This isn’t polished corporate editorial like Company or Good Housekeeping.
The reason websurfing moms find it so compelling is because it is people’s real lives.
It is blogging verité.
And do marketers want their cuddly fmcg brand next to mom’s discussion of her bipolar disorder?
The ethical dilemmas for brands are growing and growing, as are the opportunities.
It is this area that Jory Des Jardins handles with such aplomb.