Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York & Los Angeles

My post today is about brand advocacy and "ghost blogging".

A post yesterday from the blog Student PR took the stand that ghost blogging is wrong, but so are other methods of practicing PR professionals, such as crafting quotes for clients in press releases.

I feel like ghost blogging only makes sense for whistle blowing blogs, where anonymity protects a person while exposing perceived injustice.

First, it's important to understand that blogs are completely different from other types of media. A blog is supposed to be a resource where people can express themselves, a personal web log, that's where the term "blog" comes from. While interning at Pierce Mattie I have come to learn that blogs are not private diaries and need to be real, pure and transparent. Pierce Mattie does not ghost blog, (flogs=fake blogs) when we post, we try to post openly as advocates for our clients. We understand transparency is paramount. That makes all the difference.

So when Chris Clarke, says “We need to take these values and apply them to pre-existing forms of communication - press releases, speeches, etc. Let’s do away with the quotes that were made up by the PR firm. Let’s insist on real quotes, spoken by real people. Let’s take on the challenge of ghost blogging and do it right,” it sounds like he has a conflict not just with PR's role in blogging, but also with the profession. And while I agree with Chris’ call for ethical public relations practices against flogs, I find the specific comment "let's insist on real quotes, spoken by real people," quite telling.

I’ll never forget the day, interning for a public relations firm, my supervisor asked me to proof a press release for the launch of one of our beauty clients. Turning to her to clarify the assignment I asked, “So, you mean check it for grammatical errors?”

“No, rewrite it, make any changes you think would make it better,” she said.

As I looked over the short paragraphs, a quote from the company spokesperson seemed to be completely unattached from the rest of the release’s key messages, and feeling a tweaking was in order asked my new boss if there was some sort of file that had all of the CEO’s quotes. “No, we just create the copy ourselves, we don’t need to bother them with writing these details now. When we are done we will get a sign off later from the client giving them a chance to personalize the quotes.”

I admit at first I paused for a moment, my journalistic background taking over, as I was well aware quotes in a journalistic piece are much different then a press release's which is designed to get a journalist or editor to call the client for an interview or peak interest. After my edit was made though a beautiful and relevant statement was added to the release. It wasn’t overly biased or too narcissistic, it was exactly what the executive would have said if given the opportunity and it tied the rest of the information together.

That's what publicists do! We're creative professionals who help build a brand's image and differentiate it from others by telling people about the product or service through story telling. We don't apologize for our creativity as long as it is the truth and that truth comes from educating ourselves on the brand, the brand's message, challenges, and knowledge of the client. We understand the company and we become its advocates.

Just because a company can create a good looking shoe doesn't mean they have the time or capability to talk about it and reach the right people. Today we have over 150,000 media organizations in the U.S. producing news. The world moves at a fast pace. Big ideas, creativity, connections with the media and the ability to pitch all day long deserve recognition. Chris, I say take the pitch fork out of the hands of the publicist, stop the witch hunt, while setting the example as a professional in the industry. Let's realize that most PR people who have made mistakes did just that... made mistakes.

This being said, blogs are definitely another matter and should be handled in an entirely different way. I wholeheartedly agree that this is a different mode of communication, one that should remain pure and unadulterated. Furthermore, the suggestion that the comments and thoughts of CEO’s and corporate executives need to be shaped and molded by PR writers to keep the company in its best light is completely unnecessary. The point of the Blogosphere is to offer a place where free speech can flourish, where the thoughts and opinions of individuals can be protected. Readers don’t want to read overly analytical fluff, they want the good, the bad, and the ugly views of a company and they want it served raw.

If companies are worried about blogging with the lights on, so to speak, they should look to the example of Southwest Airlines where employees from top executives to ticket agents are actually encouraged to write about their jobs and personal lives. The true to life nature of these descriptions attracted an impressive audience, so impressive that one post provoked comments from over 600 people! The airline used this to their advantage in January when they allegedly refused to admit an overweight passenger unless he purchased two seats, an action that sparked a lot of controversy. Southwest realized their mistake, openly talked about the blunder, and responded to further accusations and questions all on their blog.

It's okay to let the world see that your company isn't perfect on your blog, chances are they suspect there's more underneath the hood anyway. The important thing is to develop that personal connection that will distinguish your brand from the others. And when you do, make sure it's really the COO that's behind that computer and not the ghost of corporate PR's past.