After many years of trying to set personal goals in various ways and then failing to stick to them, I’m finally having some success. I can’t claim all the credit for this. To get from someone who has never been able to be consistent at anything, to someone who appears to be making the [...]
The LA Times recently ran a story about high profile parenting bloggers being wooed by food firms. The story goes that various corporations are offering free stuff to bloggers in return for positive feedback. In the Nestle case described it resulted in a backlash that apparently compromised the credibility of those bloggers. But is that a fair reaction? Were those bloggers selling out, were they naive or were they victims?
Blog sponsorship is nothing new. All the large blogs on the web have major advertising deals, sponsorships and kick backs in place. Does anyone really think that Engadget pay for the stuff they review? It was only a matter of time before advertisers, trying to find cheap and effective advertising channels, began targeting niche communities like parenting. This is simply how advertising works.
Now consider those bloggers. Mostly stay at home mothers, generating small amounts of income from a subject they feel connected to, with a large enough audience to make them feel like authorities. Suddenly they were made to feel that their blogs were important enough for them to be given free stuff and to be treated like celebrities by big powerful corporations and individuals trained in selling ideas. All they had to do is say a few nice things about their hosts and their hosts would make them feel successful. Is that so much to ask?
They were foolish to accept, but they were definitely played; exploited by corporations seeking to cash in on the reputation that those bloggers had built online.
To be fair I’m probably more commercially savvy than the average parent, I have an MBA, I understand influence, and I work closely with product and marketing teams in my day job. It’s very easy for me to see through the crap thrown at parents and children by the advertising industry. I doubt that those bloggers had any idea how much they were being taken advantage of.
I think on balance I can forgive those other parenting bloggers. I hope that they can repair their reputations because when they started out (something this fledgling blogger can attest to) they had the best of intentions at heart.
Tags: advertising, Parenting
November 17th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
November 17th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I finally decided to write a comment on your blog. I just wanted to say good job. I really enjoy reading your posts.