I am sitting here thinking about this post…I tend to keep Crunchy as about Crunchy.
But Crunchy Carpets has become a bit of a ‘brand name’ out there and blogging is evolving from pure hobby to business. This evolution seems to be fairly natural in the mom blogging world….as soon as your page rank grows, you get on the radar of PR and Marketing firms and suddenly money is involved.
Mom Blog Magazine was the last to weigh in on this topic…a topic that rolls through the blogosphere and the twittersphere on a regular basis. Do Mom Bloggers Deserve to be Paid? is the title of the piece…and the root of the issue that seems to plague mom bloggers…specifically…mom bloggers how do reviews and giveaways.
There is a HUGE divide between those who write for their passion or cause or whatever and those who ‘shill for the business.’
Twitter has been the medium where people have been attacked for attending events sponsored by big corporations. People get told they are selling out for taking ‘free stuff’ from companies in return for ‘positive posts.
Many bloggers out there are quite happy blogging for stuff.
That is their ‘hobby.’ They enjoy it …they like the free stuff.
This is not just a mom blogger thing, but it has become a HUGE mom blogger thing due to the old adage about moms being the big influencer’s when it comes to buying power in the home.
I like doing reviews…if the products fit..and if they want a REAL review and not a ‘paid post.’ But other bloggers are more than happy to do sponsored posts, tweets, etc.
Our ‘brand’ our Blogs all mean something different to each of us.
That is why I am sure many bloggers said SURE when they received the same email that Crissy did about Toyota. So while many commenter’s there and on twitter echoed Crissy’s feeling of disgust and shock..I am sure many thought..’what’s the big deal?’
The fact that the whole offer was bogus and nothing to do with Toyota muddied the waters even more.
Mom101 has done a good post about this..but, like many tweets I read….was leaning more to the idea that a company like Toyota would never do anything like this and that while there are many BAD corporation out there….coughnestlecough…there are many good one’s.
True….ish.
The sense I keep getting is that because Toyota has been basically cleared of blame for the acceleration accidents in their cars (which isn’t really true since it was just the electronics that were cleared..the mats are another matter)..they would never partake in this type of blogger outreach.
???
Being that this company (IMO) hardly touched on the safety issues during the controversy..their media ads kept hammering home how safe they were in between news programs showing grim faced Japanese execs being called to stand up and explain what had happened, made me rather skeptical of their HONOR in advertising.
But that is just me I guess.
In Mom101‘s post, she was very clear in her opinion that GOOD PR companies would never do this sort of this….but what sort of thing exactly? Ask for positive posts about a company or product? Offer Gift Certificates as payment?
I have had both from well known and respected PR firms representing well respected brands.
I have said no. I am not that keen on ‘sponsored’ posts unless I am free to handle the subject MY way. And I don’t want to work for Gift Certificates. But plenty of other people do and as far as I have seen…this is pretty standard these days.
Right? Well that depends on how you view the role of a blogger and the relationship with the PR company.
Do we deserved to be paid?
I really don’t know.
I blog. Is my blog useful? Perhaps to other mothers who suck at parenting as much as I do?
Are my reviews useful? Perhaps….why? Trust. People (I think) trust me. Lots of people who read my site also no me know in real life. So the expect me to be open and honest with them in my blog as I am in real life.
My brand is based on my credibility.
I don’t think I can be paid as Crunchy Carpets to post on Crunchy…however….bloggers SHOULD be paid if they are contributing to corporate sites…absolutely.
Also….advertising is a nice and impartial way of paying a blogger people. And cheap!
A review blog has to go two ways to get anywhere……it has to either resonate as a purely personal and honest take on a product, company or service OR be a site that is purely business. And what I mean by that is ….the site is there to display the products or services as requested by the marketers and PR companies. Basically an advertising site where it is up to you to decide what you are going to take from the information presented to you….the same you would with an ad on tv or in a magazine.
I think this idea of their site being a business can be a bit hard for some bloggers though. Specially bloggers with NO business and NO marketing experience. How can you be part of a marketing campaign if you don’t understand how marketing works in the first place?
You have to be responsible for how you are selling yourself and your blog.
So what does this have to do with Toyota and ‘fake’ PR pitches….well….lots. Why did she do it? Why did the woman think this would work? Because it does.
Would we expect a big company to do such a campaign? I certainly would. As many have stated, a majority of the corporation are unaware of the tactics of the PR firms they hire….they just want results. ROI.
Would I expect Toyota to be doing a variety of outreach programs at this time? Yes. Certainly. They have to repair trust with their buyers.
They should go read about Maple Leaf Foods and how they approached their ‘mistakes.’
There was lots of outrage on twitter and the various posts on this subject…but I am still trying to figure out what exactly everyone was outraged about.
Ideas?
Amber says
There is definitely a kind of unspoken hierarchy when it comes to blogs and PR. But there’s not always a good reason, in my mind, for why something would fall under what heading.
If we think a particular company is “good”, seeing them do something “bad” would be surprising. But what makes a company “good”? I think it might be all in our heads.
ABDPBT says
Exactly! They were outraged that the payment was low, and that’s it. The minute Toyota says “we can find no contractual involvement” they accept that at face value. “Critical thinking” indeed.
patois says
I have to say that I was truly surprised by the pitch itself (having seen it on Crissy’s post), mostly because it seemed to amateurish. But I have to agree that companies do the same thing all the time, just more professionally, perhaps, and for more money, perhaps. It brings to mind the punchline, “We’ve already established what you are, now we’re just negotiating price.”
Mom101 says
I’m happy to clarify my conversation with you. A lot doesn’t get said in 140 characters!
I’ve worked in marketing and advertising for more than 20 years (yes, I’m that old). I have a lot of experience that informs my opinion. I can’t say whether or not they are “a good company that would never do anything like this” which is what it seems like Anna is asserting. I would never make a statement like that. I am well aware that marketers do lots of ethically dubious things, more than you can imagine.
To be clear: I have never framed this discussion in terms of good or bad companies ; only in terms of the plausibility of the pitch coming from them.
I looked at it from a professional standpoint, as did every other professional, and I said whoa, there’s no way Toyota had anything to do with this. Because here’s what we know about marketers like Toyota.
-They have very stringent legal departments.
-Their legal departments likely vet all PR correspondence. It can take a whole day or more to get a simple consumer response out the door, or statement to a journalist.
-When they are recovering from a major PR crisis, their legal departments operate in overdrive.
-Toyota has entered the social media and blogger world slowly and with some trepidation; you don’t see them out there the way you see Honda, Ford, Chevy. They are not likely to work with someone called Mommy Networks with a web page that looks about as authentic as those acai berry blogs.
-Putting the actual details of the Mommy Networks pitch aside for a second, they are not going to approve a pitch with the kind of *language* that was used.
-A company would never approve a vague statement like “It actually turned out to be pretty much “user error” that was causing the accelerator to stick.” They would never approve a statement like “they had a lot of negative stigma around their brand as of late, and we’re helping to spread the positive news.” PR would simply not frame an effort in those terms, even if that was the whispered goal.
-PR firms who work for big companies like Toyota generally (not always) sign pitches “on behalf of Company X” or indicate that they are writing to you on behalf of Toyota. There are other cues in the emails, like use of TM and R symbols, links to the client’s home page, and so on.
-If a brand is going to embark on a subversive, underhanded effort to bury bad press, they’re sure as hell not going to do it by sending out a bunch of emails to random mommy bloggers, who have notorious big mouths.
There’s a lot of corporate mistrust out there, and for good reason. But in the spirit of intellectual honesty, I can’t fault Toyota for something they very clearly had nothing to do with. You are welcome to say “but I still don’t like them”– and that’s fine.
As to whether or not Toyota would ever offer $10 gift cards for reviews, I have no idea. I have never jumped in on that debate. And I have never been outraged about any of this. Merely fascinated.
Crunchy Carpets says
I think the biggest thing here is that there are too many mom bloggers who would not understand or look for any of the things you have pointed out in regards to what makes a good or legit pitch.
Since most already gloss over the form letters, the insert your name here’s, the dear mom blogger…when there is loot or gift certs involved.
Which is again my question to all..is your blog a business or a hobby and if it is a business (you get STUFF for it) then you better understand basic business and marketing practices….and your place in that scheme.
People have to stop being flattered by email pitches and understand the mechanism that led to that email.
Perhaps then the ‘legit’ work for gift certificate pitches will vanish too.
and it has nothing to do with not ‘liking’ Toyota….they are a corporation like any other.
Deanna says
All very interesting – as usual, I’m probably the last blogger to hear about this contentious issue. It makes me want to take the “Mother” out of my “Tonic.”
I can understand Toyota’s desperate attempt to fix their reputation by buying off bloggers. We saw the power of social media when Egypt ousted its dictator this month, why not take a stab at mommy bloggers?
Why a blogger would accept such a buy off is a mystery to me, and if they are in the habit of accepting them, they should clearly disclose this, like anyone with integrity would do.
As someone who regularly bypasses commercials, I can’t understand why anyone would want to read a blog that is paid advertising in the first place, but maybe I’m missing something.