Richard Edelman is blogging. Or should we say, “business logging” :) He is the CEO of the Edelman PR agency, and is attempting to bring a voice and vision to his company with a weblog. But does he succeed?
I write this on the plane en route to India, which I will report on later in the week. Today’s subject is not a happy one. My friend and former colleague, Gus Weill Jr., age 42, took his life three weeks ago in New York City.
Our heart goes out to Gus and his family, however, is this the type of content that should go on a CEO’s weblog? The Chief Executive Officer of a company is supposed to instill faith and hope in the company’s vision, but his weblog doesn’t appear to be used for that purpose. It looks like a simple journal to me.
There is a major difference in the types of corporate weblogs you can have. You can, 1) write about things that matter to you (the CEO, etc.), or 2) write about things that matter to both you and your readers. It appears to me that Richard Edelman is only writing about things he wishes to write about. But if his readers don’t care about his day-to-day activities and want more insight into his business mind, then this is not the place to get that information. It appears as though his weblog fails to communicate directly to his audience.
Does this mean his weblog as a failure? Of course not. He is communicating the human side of his life to thousands of potential customers, however, was that his goal when he started his weblog? Was he trying to bring more customers in, or just wanted a soapbox to get up on? Only time (and Richard) will tell.
About Mike Rundle
Good take on this, Mike. Like I said, he’s not doing all he can to make good use of the medium. Then again, maybe a personal blog is all he wanted… but this isn’t the right place for it.
In regards to that particular post, I think this is one of the key benefits of a weblog coming through – showing the importance of people over business. This kind of honesty gives readers a better handle on the character of the man at the top of the company.
Somethings are more important than building readership.
Mike –
I think your post is a bit off in this instance.
As you note, Edelman is a PR Agency. PR is all about creating a relationship between a client and their customer. This, of course, also applies to creating a relationship of trust and openness between the agency and their clients.
Read his posts carefully. They all (even the one you cite) revolve around the bigger issue of marketing.
At the very heart of the “Friends” post (again, the one you cite) is the announcement that he and another CEO are organizing a college fundraiser for his former collegue’s son.
I don’t want to think for Mr. Edelman, but I would assume that the post not only serves to be an outlet of his feelings, but also serves as a marketing tool to bring exposure to the fundraiser.
His other post on “Obesity” serves to share ideas on the growing and/or new trends of combining health with organizations – ie health ministers for churches.
So, in the context of his site, I think the personal notes work fine. However, if the CEO of Exxon did something similiar, it probably wouldn’t come off as well.
Sure, this post “gives readers a better handle on the man at the top of the company,” but the point of this blog is presumably to attract clients and/or heighten the agency’s reputation. It is not clear how such personal content does this.
Mark, you are right that all of his posts are at least related to marketing. Like you said, the posts “work fine,” but hopefully Edelman’s goal is to better than just “fine.”
It’s not clear how this attracts clients? Aren’t you more likely to want to work with someone you know and like (Or someone you *feel* you know and understand) than someone you don’t?
Personal connections are far more important than they are given credit for in a lot of marketing plans.