You might be aware of the recent fracas involvingSamsung and an independent blogger. (If you haven’t: The blogger refused to promote Samsung products at a trade show broad, and the latter allegedly ‘cancelled’ his ticket back to India. Samsung has denied the allegations, claiming the blogger misunderstood his role.)
This is not the first time I’ve heard of a ‘misunderstanding’ between a brand and a blogger.
The truth is, brands and bloggers hardly understand each other. It’s a grey area, where discussions happen on phone, objectives are not defined clearly, expectations are vague and promises – not surprisingly – are not always kept.
The bigger problem is a typical brand does not really understand what the blogger brings to the table.
‘Blog about my product/service and create some buzz’ is where it stops.
A typical brand representative does not bother to figure out the connect between the brand and the blog, in the first place. A blogging activity is typically a p.s. of a p.s. of a p.s.
Speaking of bloggers, many bloggers aren’t even at a ‘B for Brand’ level. To him/her, there is no difference between Dove and Sunsilk, if you know what I mean.
And one can’t blame these bloggers – they blog because they are experts in content, not brands. It’s the job of the brand representative to onboard them into the brand universe.
Imagine this scenario, which could be happening as I type:
A representative of a PR agency calls up an independent blogger. There is a brand launch, and the brand would like the blogger to cover it. Sure, the blogger says: ‘How much will I get?’
Now that’s a tricky question. It depends on what the blogger brings to the table. Is he famous? Or not so famous? Is he a specialist, does he create great content regularly? Is he ‘influential’ with other bloggers?
The smarter blogger will ask, ‘What connect do you see between the brand and my blog?’
The smarter brand rep will have done his homework, and will rattle off 10 ideas on integrating the brand with the content; there could be an interesting activation idea too.
The blogger will also make it clear that all blog posts on the launch will have the line, ‘This is a sponsored article’ – or something to that effect.
However, the above is rare.
I’ve heard of a Bangalore-based blogger who took a picture of a free dinner at a five-star hotel and tweeted about it, in exchange.
I’ve heard of bloggers who routinely go to brand-sponsored ‘blogger meets’ where all they get is a free sample – a gift hamper, as it’s delicately called.
But that’s not my business. If someone wants to walk the fine line (and risk blowing up credibility), it’s his/her choice.
Here’s a quick checklist for brands thinking of using bloggers:
- Ø Does the content align with the brand’s core values? (Tone, Style, Topicality, etc.)
- Ø What is the value of the blogger’s followers, as seen through the brand lens? (If you sell Mercs, will followers of ‘Funny Hair Oil Posters’ make sense?)
- Ø What are the expectations? Is it a contest, awareness about a new product, or…? (How are you sure the blogger can deliver? You can’t throw the question back at him, you need to know.)
And one for bloggers:
- Does the brand align with my core values? Is there a natural fit, or will my readers find it forced?
- How much independence will I get from the brand? Are there Do’s and Don’ts on paper?
- How much am I worth (if it’s a transaction)? How do I justify the numbers?
- What are the expectations, and is it in the written contract?
Finally: Paying a blogger to promote a brand is not blogging, it’s promoting. The Samsung fiasco probably occurred because the line was left undrawn. It leaves a brand open to all kinds of attacks – including those from rivals. Ask Nokia.
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?
--Macbeth
Being in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002 makes you a part of history. On that day, exactly 10 years ago, you were either the hunter or the hunted or a mute spectator to violence of a kind the country hadn't witnessed since 1984.
Gujarat was yet to come out of the shock of the carnage that took place in Godhra the day before, with 59 kar sevaks burnt alive inside the Sabarmati Express. By February 28 afternoon, Muslim pockets - some of which are now household names like Gulbarg Society and Naroda Patia - were being attacked by riotous mobs. A bandh called by the Sangh Parivar to "protest" the Sabarmati Express carnage turned into a reprisal attack.
The aftershocks kept jolting Gujarat for almost a year, dying down around December 2002, when Narendra Modi was elected the chief minister in a landslide victory.
Today, as many recall those horrific days of 2002, and many entangle themselves in unending debates, opinion on Narendra Modi remains as polarized as the state is.
And, this debate will never end because we never learn to know, funnily, apples from oranges.
Let's sample a few comments on Gujarat. "Look how it has developed since 2002." "See, how many industries have come in." "It's soon becoming the auto hub of India."
There is no denying all this. But, can one deny that 10 years ago, people were butchered, burnt alive, raped, maimed even as - what is now clear - the situation could have well been controlled?
Aren't we mixing apples with oranges? Do good roads and a swanky riverfront wash away the sins of a carnage? Or, are we saying, thank god it happened, or else we wouldn't have had our industries?
When then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee got into the burnt S 6 coach in Godhra a few days after the riots and then reached a relief camp in Ahmedabad, he spoke of "raj dharma" and how it is imperative for all rulers to follow this.
But, it didn't take him long to forget his own preaching. A few months later, at a BJP conclave in Goa, when everybody expected Modi's head to roll, Vajpayee kept silent. Did he believe "raj dharma" meant keeping silent as the state burnt and people killed each other?
So Modi stayed on. Though he probably wasn't sure how long he could hang onto power, he knew two vital points. One, there has always been simmering anti-Muslim feelings in the state and, two, the Gujaratis' love for "dhando" (business).
If point one got him the throne (no drawing room conversation is complete in Gujarat without a mention of ‘us' and ‘them,' people are willing to kill because "Muslims celebrate when Pakistan beats India in a cricket match" and almost all justified the killings by saying "they had to be taught a lesson"), point number two pasted the halo permanently on him.
Anybody aware of the political situation in Gujarat just before Modi was para-dropped from Delhi in October 2001, would vouch for the fact that BJP was staring at defeat. When a state ravaged by a devastating earthquake (January 26, 2001) that left over 10,000 dead was grappling to find its feet, the Keshubhai Patel government was riddled with corruption charges, from bungling in auction of quake debris to charges of relief material like apples and tents coming from other countries being sold in markets all over Gujarat. BJP's equity was at a low, and the Congress was waiting to grab power.
All that changed on this day 10 years ago. The BJP rode back to power, high on the saffron wave that swept the state through riot-torn 2002. It has never looked back since, and another election is just round the corner.
Between 2002 and today, roads have been made better, the Sabarmati riverfront is almost throwing a challenge to the Singapore riverfront, one car manufacturer after another have trooped into Sanand, Gujarat's Motown and top industrialists have dropped in regularly at his bi-yearly do - the Vibrant Gujarat - where some have even dubbed him PM material publicly.
Now, how has all this helped Modi? As a reporter in Gujarat in 2002, I had traveled to a tribal district - Chhota Udepur - close to Vadodara to catch the mood just before the polls. I was walking down a street and was struck by what I saw - rows of burnt down houses with graffiti on soot-covered walls proclaiming exactly how a lesson would be taught to the men and women who lived in these homes if they ever showed the temerity to come back.
I walked up to a tea stall and started a conversation (a routine news gathering technique) when the sentiments began boiling over, more furiously than the tea did.
"Woh apni beti ki shaadi mein khub band baja raha tha and note phenk raha tha mere ghar ke samne. Ab karke dekh," said one. (This man splurged during his daughter's marriage, hiring a band and distributing currency notes. Now, let's see how he does all this again)
Modi knew it all boiled down to economics. Keep "dhando" going for the people and the gaddi is intact.
We come back to the question we began with - does more "dhando" wash away the blood of Gulbarg, Naroda Patia, Sardarpura, Ode …?
--Macbeth
Being in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002 makes you a part of history. On that day, exactly 10 years ago, you were either the hunter or the hunted or a mute spectator to violence of a kind the country hadn't witnessed since 1984.
Gujarat was yet to come out of the shock of the carnage that took place in Godhra the day before, with 59 kar sevaks burnt alive inside the Sabarmati Express. By February 28 afternoon, Muslim pockets - some of which are now household names like Gulbarg Society and Naroda Patia - were being attacked by riotous mobs. A bandh called by the Sangh Parivar to "protest" the Sabarmati Express carnage turned into a reprisal attack.
The aftershocks kept jolting Gujarat for almost a year, dying down around December 2002, when Narendra Modi was elected the chief minister in a landslide victory.
Today, as many recall those horrific days of 2002, and many entangle themselves in unending debates, opinion on Narendra Modi remains as polarized as the state is.
And, this debate will never end because we never learn to know, funnily, apples from oranges.
Let's sample a few comments on Gujarat. "Look how it has developed since 2002." "See, how many industries have come in." "It's soon becoming the auto hub of India."
There is no denying all this. But, can one deny that 10 years ago, people were butchered, burnt alive, raped, maimed even as - what is now clear - the situation could have well been controlled?
Aren't we mixing apples with oranges? Do good roads and a swanky riverfront wash away the sins of a carnage? Or, are we saying, thank god it happened, or else we wouldn't have had our industries?
When then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee got into the burnt S 6 coach in Godhra a few days after the riots and then reached a relief camp in Ahmedabad, he spoke of "raj dharma" and how it is imperative for all rulers to follow this.
But, it didn't take him long to forget his own preaching. A few months later, at a BJP conclave in Goa, when everybody expected Modi's head to roll, Vajpayee kept silent. Did he believe "raj dharma" meant keeping silent as the state burnt and people killed each other?
So Modi stayed on. Though he probably wasn't sure how long he could hang onto power, he knew two vital points. One, there has always been simmering anti-Muslim feelings in the state and, two, the Gujaratis' love for "dhando" (business).
If point one got him the throne (no drawing room conversation is complete in Gujarat without a mention of ‘us' and ‘them,' people are willing to kill because "Muslims celebrate when Pakistan beats India in a cricket match" and almost all justified the killings by saying "they had to be taught a lesson"), point number two pasted the halo permanently on him.
Anybody aware of the political situation in Gujarat just before Modi was para-dropped from Delhi in October 2001, would vouch for the fact that BJP was staring at defeat. When a state ravaged by a devastating earthquake (January 26, 2001) that left over 10,000 dead was grappling to find its feet, the Keshubhai Patel government was riddled with corruption charges, from bungling in auction of quake debris to charges of relief material like apples and tents coming from other countries being sold in markets all over Gujarat. BJP's equity was at a low, and the Congress was waiting to grab power.
All that changed on this day 10 years ago. The BJP rode back to power, high on the saffron wave that swept the state through riot-torn 2002. It has never looked back since, and another election is just round the corner.
Between 2002 and today, roads have been made better, the Sabarmati riverfront is almost throwing a challenge to the Singapore riverfront, one car manufacturer after another have trooped into Sanand, Gujarat's Motown and top industrialists have dropped in regularly at his bi-yearly do - the Vibrant Gujarat - where some have even dubbed him PM material publicly.
Now, how has all this helped Modi? As a reporter in Gujarat in 2002, I had traveled to a tribal district - Chhota Udepur - close to Vadodara to catch the mood just before the polls. I was walking down a street and was struck by what I saw - rows of burnt down houses with graffiti on soot-covered walls proclaiming exactly how a lesson would be taught to the men and women who lived in these homes if they ever showed the temerity to come back.
I walked up to a tea stall and started a conversation (a routine news gathering technique) when the sentiments began boiling over, more furiously than the tea did.
"Woh apni beti ki shaadi mein khub band baja raha tha and note phenk raha tha mere ghar ke samne. Ab karke dekh," said one. (This man splurged during his daughter's marriage, hiring a band and distributing currency notes. Now, let's see how he does all this again)
Modi knew it all boiled down to economics. Keep "dhando" going for the people and the gaddi is intact.
We come back to the question we began with - does more "dhando" wash away the blood of Gulbarg, Naroda Patia, Sardarpura, Ode …?
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