The Big List of Big Brand Corporate Blogs

by

The Big List of Big Brand Corporate Blogs

Corporate blogs are a subset of how social media is being used by companies and organizations. Think of a blog as the hub of the wheel, the home base of your social media strategy.

From your blog, you link to your Twitter stream, your Facebook  fan page, your YouTube channel, a Flickr photo page, a SlideShare page and more.

Don’t make it too complicated: a blog is a next-generation Web site. Call it a social site. The purpose of a corporate blog is to make your site interactive and engaging and to develop relationships with your customers that ultimately drive sales.

As a useful reference, I’ve compiled a list of 67-plus close to 100 Big Brand* corporate blogs. I also include some large association, governmental and non-profit blogs. A few takeaways:

  • Most of these corporate blogs are written by multiple authors
  • CEO blogs by Big Brands are still rare (that’s for another list)
  • An increasing number of Big Brands have more than one blog

The companies that get it understand that a corporate blog should be written in an authentic, conversational voice. The blog should be about an issue or topic that interests their stakeholders – not about the company’s products or services. A great blog sells without selling.

If you have a suggestion for an addition to this list, please leave it in the Comments below.

List of Big Brand Blogs

 

* My definition of Big Brand is somewhat arbitrary. Some of these are smaller, private companies or startups. Some are Fortune 50s. All are recognizable brands here in the U.S.

Useful Links

Check out this SUPERLIST of social media case studies (and another llst which also points to internal use of social media).

More background information in Top Posts on Corporate Blogging in 2008 – 2009.

How I Put This List Together

The industrious Peter Kim compiled (and continues to add to) a comprehensive list of social media marketing examples. He has also created a Wiki of Social Media Marketing Examples.

I looked at the 35+ examples of corporate social media posted to Mashable by Aaron Uhrmacher.

Thanks also to Mario Sundar, formerly LinkedIn’s chief blogger and persistent chronicler of corporate blogging for his Top 15 Corporate Blogs lists.

Updated 2017

 

Comments:

 

Rajesh Kumar said on September 5, 2008 at 12:04 AM

Awesome list.

Pramit Singh said on September 5, 2008 at 01:10 AM

Useful and instructive.

Paul Fabretti said on September 5, 2008 at 02:44 AM

Debbie

As always, a fantastic resource! I’d love to add my client, Shop Direct Group to the list.

They are a $1.5bn+ online clothing retailer in the UK and have a couple of blogs I have done for them:

Corporate Blog: http://www.homeofbigbrands.com/

Love Label Blog (fashion label): http://lovelabelblog.com

Herve Kabla said on September 5, 2008 at 03:41 AM

Great list, thanks. I hope we’ll come some day to such a long list of corporate blogs in France.

You can already include Yoplait (http://www.bravolapetitefleur.com) and Dassault Systemes (http://share-sports.3ds.com/)

Valorie Luther said on September 5, 2008 at 04:16 AM

Don’t forget about Bigelow Tea: www.bigelowteablog.com!

charlie said on September 5, 2008 at 05:06 AM

Thanks for the plug!

Clayton said on September 5, 2008 at 09:36 AM

Debbie – Quicken Loans also has a few blogs and other social media projects going on. Our main blog is www.whatsthediff.com.  Peter Kim added our other projects to his post also.

Thanks – Clayton

Debbie Weil said on September 5, 2008 at 09:43 AM

Thanks Valerie and Clayton. Will add Bigelow Tea and Quicken Loans blogs.

Paul Fabretti said on September 5, 2008 at 09:50 AM

Hey Debbie

Looks like my comment ended up in the akismet spam bin. It’s perfectly safe! Please fish it out…please 🙂

Debbie Weil said on September 5, 2008 at 10:14 AM

Paul, all taken care of. Akismet is a little squirrely.

Paul Fabretti said on September 5, 2008 at 10:18 AM

No problem, thank you. Better to be safe than sorry. I have the same 2 url rule on my blog too!

Loving the list BTW!

John Cass said on September 5, 2008 at 12:06 PM

Hi Debbie, Thanks for putting this great list together and using the Fortune 500 wiki as one of your resources. Did you see any new blogs in the Fortune 500? Do I need to update the list because a blog is missing?

Christopher said on September 5, 2008 at 01:15 PM

This is a pretty comprehensive list. I have an addition! 🙂

If you’re looking for the leading blog resource for hourly and skilled workers, check out The Employment Guide®‘s Job Spot Blog! Lots of podcasts, guest blogs from Joel Cheesman and others and advice to get your job search rolling.

Debbie Weil said on September 5, 2008 at 03:12 PM

Now that I think of it, I believe there were a couple missing from the F500 wiki… as well as one or two on the wiki that are no longer live.

Dan Schawbel said on September 5, 2008 at 03:22 PM

This is an exceptional list and I’m glad EMC is on there.  Companies have certainly come a long way with blogging and Debbie is certainly someone to thank.  This is only the beginning of course and you should be aware that more and more corporate blogs will be popping up until a company has to have one in order to remain competitive.
Disclaimer:  I do social media for EMC

Rajesh Kumar said on September 6, 2008 at 10:44 AM

Interestingly, Starbucks does not offer RSS feeds..

Debbie Weil said on September 6, 2008 at 07:04 PM

Rajesh,

Good point re the blog section of MyStarbucksIdea.com. I assume there’s no RSS cuz it’s a “closed” community, although anyone can register. Here’s the direct link to the “blog” part of the site: http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/default.aspx

Don’t know if folks can get there without registering.

John Cass said on September 6, 2008 at 07:37 PM

I’ve added three new blogs to the list of Fortune 500 companies with blogs; Yum! Brands, Molson Coors Brewing, and Chevron. thanks for the tips!

Debbie Weil said on September 8, 2008 at 09:38 AM

Thanks John. I changed KFC to the correct Yum! Brands.

Debbie Weil said on September 9, 2008 at 07:20 AM

I have added Mint  http://blog.mint.com/blog/ and Ask.com http://blog.ask.com/ to the list.

Herve Kabla said on September 9, 2008 at 07:34 AM

Chrysler’s blog is missing too, and does not have any RSS feed either…

http://blog.chryslerllc.com/

Debbie Weil said on September 9, 2008 at 08:13 AM

Thanks Herve, for the tip about Chrysler’s blog. I’ve added it.
Thanks also for BlogAngels’ list of the best French corporate blogs: http://blogangels.net/index.php/blogs-a-la-loupe/2008/les-meilleurs-blog-dentreprise-en-france/
I added Michel Edouard-Leclerc to your list! http://www.michel-edouard-leclerc.com/blog/m.e.l/index.php

Debbie Weil said on September 9, 2008 at 04:27 PM

Thanks to Joshua Kahn http://twitter.com/jokahn for the pointer to the BestBuy blog (via Twitter)

Andee Sellman said on September 10, 2008 at 09:14 PM

Thanks Debbie,
Great list.

Rajesh Kumar said on September 14, 2008 at 07:52 AM

It will be very interesting if someone can turn these links into an OPML file.

Ray Pellecchia said on September 25, 2008 at 09:07 AM

Debbie—My compliments on the excellent list.  I agree with you that there’s lots of room for growth.

I’d like to shamelessly nominate NYSE Euronext’s own corporate blog, Exchanges.  NYSE Euronext is an S&P;500 company and the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, among other financial markets, products and services.

The url is: http://exchanges.nyse.com

Thanks and keep up the great work!

jennifer dlugozima said on October 2, 2008 at 12:06 PM

What’s interesting to me is who wasn’t on the list: AIG, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Goldman and Morgan Stanley.

Wonder what they would have written about…

Stock Market said on October 7, 2008 at 07:06 PM

There are some online investment firms that also serve as a news wire. A few of them have current events and market related articles, along with stock quotes. Marketwatch is one, another is:

Stockmarket Quote List
www.stockmarketquotelist.com
If a person had an interest in reading news they can get it there, and compare funds at the same time.

Research Health said on October 21, 2008 at 11:37 PM

News sites can provide a public service as well. One news and information site provides articles related to health care. It covers issues that affect a the global community, as well as new developments and research.

http://www.researchhealthcare.com
It is nice when there is organization of information into relevant topics and a way to search the index efficiently.

Gastronomie said on October 24, 2008 at 02:03 PM

Hi Debbie, very interesting list, with many surprises
greeting from switzerland

Sarah said on October 29, 2008 at 07:28 AM

Great list, thanks Debbie.

Do you have any views on which are the best examples of corporate blogs, and if so, why?

Thanks

Sarah

Cancer Symptoms said on November 2, 2008 at 09:41 PM

This is a wonderfull post, very informative just wanted to thank you for it !

Jenny

Erik Z said on November 4, 2008 at 08:49 PM

Thanks for the great list of blogs, definitely going to bookmark this page.  I’ve been looking for a list that I can lean back on for news and media.

Robin Grant said on November 7, 2008 at 04:49 AM

Hi Debbie

You’re missing Skype’s blogs (http://share.skype.com/sites/en/) from the list

Kelly Stevens said on November 12, 2008 at 02:08 PM

Debbie you truly go out of your way to help your net community, this is a great list and I also thank Peter Kim she is a asset to us all.

Much Thanks !

Kelly Stevens

Pregnant MaMa said on November 12, 2008 at 02:17 PM

O My Goodness, Debbie when do you you ever sleep sweetheart, your passion for helping people is a very selfless act and does not go unnoticed.  I have been looking for a list like this on the net and you just happen to have a comprehensive list go figure.  Keep up the excellent work and god bless !

Janet Milly (pregnany MaMa)

American Region said on November 21, 2008 at 05:55 PM

Great List of big name corporate blogs. Another one to consider is:

American Region

It publishes articles from North America organized by region.

Political said on November 21, 2008 at 05:59 PM

A blog network that covers politics in the United States also releases its information free of charge and encourages others to use it freely. Democrats, Republicans and more have their day to day goings made available to the public.

United States Political

Science Project said on November 21, 2008 at 06:02 PM

Experiment Science Project brings research and science related news to the public. Read about new happenings in the science world.

http://www.experimentscienceproject.com/

wordtags said on November 24, 2008 at 06:24 AM

great list of corprate blogs – many interest themes and answer
thanks for the list.

Alice said on November 26, 2008 at 10:05 AM

Nice list

Tina said on December 2, 2008 at 10:26 PM

This is a great list of blogs, I use it often. Thanks for putting it together.

WordPress Themes said on January 5, 2009 at 01:18 PM

Great list there..Thank you for sharing this out with us.

Mitch said on January 7, 2009 at 10:39 AM

It show the importance of blogs that the major world companies now see how useful they can be for them.

Great information, as usual.

Pleasanton said on January 29, 2009 at 02:19 PM

Its great to see every year more and more corporations embracing blogs as a way to reach their customer base.

Herve Kabla said on January 29, 2009 at 03:08 PM

Hi Debbie, here are new ones in the auto industry:

FIAT
http://blog.fiat.be/blog1.php

VOLVO
http://212.181.8.238/webbplatser/vbeb/default.aspx

DAIMLER
http://blog.daimler.de/

in the telecom industry:
ORANGE
http://212.181.8.238/webbplatser/vbeb/default.aspx

and in the bank industry:
BNP PARIBAS
http://www.pourunmondequichange.com/

The hunt goes on…

Debbie Weil said on January 30, 2009 at 07:02 AM

Thanks Herve,

I’ve added several of these to the list.

Herve said on January 30, 2009 at 07:04 AM

There’s a small mistake, FIAT’s blog is located at http://blog.fiat.be/blog1.php and not blogAngels, of course.

Stephanie Smirnov said on February 10, 2009 at 04:45 PM

Hi, Debbie, fantastic list. Our client Pantene maintains a blog as part of its CRM effort Pantene Beautiful Lengths. Not a corporate blog in the traditional sense but interesting to note especially if you widen this conversation to examine corporate philanthopy and cause marketing and how it plays out in social media. http://beautifullengths.wordpress.com

Valorie Luther said on February 10, 2009 at 05:35 PM

Stephanie,

If you are helping your client Pantene in any way on their blog, there should be full disclosure of who you are and what PR firm you represent (I could only find this on your personal blog).

Always present full disclosure when supporting your clients’ efforts in any social media effort.

Valorie Luther
Creative Concepts

Stephanie Smirnov said on February 11, 2009 at 09:37 AM

Thanks, Valorie. We’ve actually mentioned in various places throughout the blog that DVPR is the blog contact but per your great suggestion will bring it more front and center in the “About” section. We value transparency in the blogosphere as you do, and appreciate your insight.

Valorie Luther said on February 11, 2009 at 09:43 AM

Ok, I must have missed it.  What a great cause though.  Good job with all that you are doing for Pantene!

Senja Larsen / Finnair said on February 17, 2009 at 09:35 AM

Greetings from Finnair. We are amazed at finding a link to our blog on your list within hours of entering the blogosphere. Very efficient! Cheers, Senja

Debbie Weil said on February 17, 2009 at 01:02 PM

Senja,

Amazing how it works, isn’t it? I saw another blog post about it.

Herve Kabla said on March 9, 2009 at 02:51 AM

Debbie, there’s a **major** french company that just entered the blogospace thru their american subsidiary: AREVA

http://us.arevablog.com/

I’m sure lot of US readers will ike this one, as it’s focused on nuclear energy policy in nort America…

Bruce Brownlee said on March 29, 2009 at 03:13 PM

I’m looking for experience where companies have tried to divide a single corporate blog into several blogs (on individual domains) in order to align with what they perceive to be as their target audience.

I haven’t seen an example where a company that sells to auto dealers, auto mechanics, auto rental companies (as an example) builds out three blogs, one for each vertical.  It seems more common to have individuals within the organization writing blogs about their area.

Herve Kabla said on April 21, 2009 at 07:04 AM

Another big French company: Danone

http://lespiedssurterre.danone.com/

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.