Note: this post has been revised to make it easier to read.
Reading some of the better known Big Brand blogs you’d never know the nation’s economic ship is listing sharply and BTW it’s going to affect all of us, globally. Tom Friedman reminds us in the New York Times that this is an unprecedented scary moment (Sept. 30, 2008). He ranks it with the Cuban Missile Crisis, JFK’s assassination and 9/11.
Above, the Delta blog writes in happy-speak about sponsoring the World Business Forum featuring top political and business figures from Jack Welch to Rudy Giuliani… hey, maybe there’s a tie-in to the crisis here.
OK, so things move slowly in corporate America. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that corporate blogs are not reacting and that most of them are saying nothing about the meltdown.
As an example, Southwest Airlines, which has one of the best corporate blogs, didn’t have a plan to use the blog effectively during the aircraft inspection crisis last winter.
This is an opportunity lost. Many companies have much to tell us, or can educate us, on what this all means. I certainly don’t pretend to understand entirely what the ripple effect through the economy will be. Why not use the corporate blog platform for what it can be — a revolutionary publishing channel that enables companies to speak directly to customers, to inform and possibly influence them, without the filter of MSM.
Here’s my attempt to nudge some Big Brand blogs into talking about the elephant in the room.
My suggestions for what corporate blogs could write about to address the economic crisis
Delta: Should You Expect Higher Costs for Air Travel? or What the Buzz (Really) Was at the World Business Forum
Southwest Airlines: Why Southwest Is the Best Airline to Fly in Turbulent Times (cuz it’s more fun… ?)
JNJ BTW: The Connection Between the Meltdown on Wall Street and Our Strained Healthcare System (this is a fascinating, if complex, topic)
Toyota: Will the Economic Crisis Mean Higher Car Payments? (or difficulty in getting car financing… explain it to us)
Bill Marriott’s Blog: How the Economic Crisis Will Affect Your Stay in Marriotts Around the World (I don’t know the answer… but as CEO he certainly has something to say about this)
A few corporate blogs doing it right
BTW, kudos to Wells Fargo’s Student LoanDown for this recent entry: Grad school: not a bailout plan.
As well as to Benetton Talk for an entry that begins: The American economic system is collapsing... Regardless of whether you like the politics of the Benetton blog (liberal), the entry points us to an interesting Wired article on The 2008 Smart List: 15 People the Next President Should Listen To.
And to GM’s Fastlane: CEO Rick Wagoner Discusses Government-Backed Loans for Automakers. (I didn’t see an obvious tie-in to the bailout but maybe I missed it.)
Hat tip to Paul Gillin
Hat Tip to Paul Gillin for the say-nothing pointers. Paul looked this week at what a number of Big Brand corporate blogs are saying about the current economic crisis: nothing.
His headline is spot on: Corporate Blogs Blather While Markets Tumble.
On his list of say-nothings: Kodak’s entry about the two-year anniversary of its 1000 Words blog; Accenture Consultants Blog (not updated since July 2008); Wells Fargo’s Guided By History’s post about a mean rattlesnake and so on.