Though the case studies with Macromedia and Microsoft in the Corporate Blogging Survey, I’ve seen the effects and benefits of engaging customers with blogs. I thought I’d look at GM’s FastLane Blog, run by Bob Lutz and his colleagues to…

Did the blogging Survey Short Change IBM? Ian Kennedy, Six Apart’s Director of Sales and Partner Development made a post about the blogging survey. He also mentioned that the report might have short changed IBM, probably by omission. To tell…

Thanks for the mention and conversation. I agree with you every employee really is a brand representative for a company, and its through their actions and relationships with customers that a company’s reputation can grow. Opening up a company to feedback on products appears to be the next step in using blogging as a marketing tool.

You mentioned that the report might have short changed IBM. To tell you the truth I don’t know the answer to that question. I do know that the blogger I interviewed was not aware of any examples of product feedback from customers within developerWorks, while in my efforts to reach out to IBM I have not seen any examples of such activity yet.

I actually struggled with this very issue in the preparation of my paper, as I was surprised not to find any examples of IBM using blogging for product feedback. It is my understanding that IBM is at the forefront of internal blogging in the US with over 3,600 blogs in the company. But as far as I know, I have not seen any examples of IBM’s employees using blogging in the same way Microsoft and Macromedia have been using blogs with the same level of openness and transparency to the external world with regards to product feedback. The example you give of IBM’s recent announcement (http://www.siliconvalleywatche.....ing_bo.php) is something that occurred during my research on the blogging survey, so we are definitely in an evolving state at the moment. If the strategy plays out I am sure we will start to see some examples in the future (unless there are already examples available?).

Oh, lastly IBM’s current position with its external position is not a bad position to be in. You will notice in my chart (http://www.siliconvalleywatche.....ing_bo.php) that companies on the left side the cultural divide gain many benefits from their efforts and are to be commended. It is just my hypothesis that for many companies more benefits are possible by developing a blogging content strategy that focuses on their customer’s ideas.

Regards

John