Thank you for the pick up DK! My comment on Mack's post apparently set me off on a pro-corporate-blog rant. It isn't for everyone -- and clearly, most companies firmly believe this because they do such a half-hearted job at it -- but it's a step forward.
I just left a note over at Church of the Customer on a related point -- that companies need to adopt a 'blogging culture' before they can adopt a 'vlogging culture'. Brands communicating with customers via video on their own (or other) sites, on a systematic basis, without overly glossy production value... like living in the future, isn't it?
Douglas Karr You bet, Stephen! I used to call Corporate Blogging Clogging because so many companies wanted to abuse it for marketing spin. I'm honestly weary of companies who do not blog and avoid the ones that do it terribly.
Once companies realize that transparency is more important than perfection, they'll recognize the power of blogging to create relationships with their customers and prospects. And that, of course, will lead to profitability!
Matthew: this move might be consistent with Cisco’s migration to the desktop, but as you mention, the product is a bit iffy. I’ve had the same experiences as you have — “everybody, *please* make sure you log in at least 30 minutes early to figure out how to configure the thing, or I’ll just be giving a speech…” The switching costs are negligent — and I’m not sure there’s much brand loyalty here.
But, unless things have changed dramatically since I last looked, they still had the vast lion’s share of this business in their hands. The product may be a ‘tear down’ to industry insiders, but when people talk about web conferencing, they talk about WebEx, don’t they?
Once companies realize that transparency is more important than perfection, they'll recognize the power of blogging to create relationships with their customers and prospects. And that, of course, will lead to profitability!