gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards"

Who would want to read an agency blog?

Good point.

First, Hugh, thanks for the link. I'm glad that you enjoyed the analysis.

Second, I disagree. John does not make a good point.

There are some brilliant people that work at Interpublic's companies and other agencies large and small.

I want them to blog.

I want to learn from them.

I want to hear what they have to say.

I want them to participate because conversation is NOT a zero sum game.

Just because they haven't started yet or are used to doing things a certain way, does not give one the right to condemn them preemptively.

Eric - MarketingMonger

blogging involves baring one's soul to some degree. ergo one must have a soul to blog. hence the complete and utter absence of the IPG blogs. simple innit.

;-)

I didn't condemn the interpublic individuals (in fact i know someone very high up in the organisation and value his opinion on anything) - I was merely implying that an "agency" blog as opposed to individuals' blogs would be focussed upon promoting a model we all think is doomed.

Eric might want to double-check his facts. Not only does Weber Shandwick have a blog, but several employees who are actively blogging from behind our firewall (where our soon-to-be-made-public blog sits) and externally.

Hey Robert,

Thanks for participating in the discussion.

Here's the link to Weber Shandick's webpage.

http://www.webershandwick.com/

I made it very clear in my post that I did my research by visiting the agencies' websites and looking for blogs.

I was assuming that an agency's blog was something that they would showcase to promote their position as a thought leader.

Can you show me the blog on the website?

I don't see it on the homepage.

I don't see it on the site map.

If I search for the word "blog" on the website the only thing that comes up is the press release about Jeremy Pepper which I noted on my post.

And I was being generous when I counted Jeremy's blog as a "corporate" blog since he's pretty clear his statements are his own.

My facts are correct.

You even say that your blog is "soon-to-be-made-public."

Can I ask why you're waiting?

Though I recognize the value of internal blogs for team communications and collaboration, I don't understand the approach of blogging internally only to make it public later.

This is a conversation.

It requires that you participate.

I want you to participate.

C'mon.

Eric - MarketingMonger

For those of you who are interested...

Robert J. Ricci is head of Weber Shandwick's Web Relations group.

His blog, where he's been blogging for the last 4 months, is: http://son-of-a-pitch.blogspot.com/

Robert, any chance you maintain a list of all WS employees who blog about professional topics like PR, marketing and such?

I'd love to add it to my post as additional detail.

Thanks and take care,
Eric

In general, a hearty amen to Hugh's initial point in the post. Quickly followed, I'm afraid, by some nitpicks, a little puzzlement, and a generally encouraged air of anticipation. Viz:

I heartily agree that ad agencies should be getting deeper into blogging. And not just through the creation of faux character blogs (the abbreviated technical term for which is: fuxclogs), or insipid, uninspiring, short-lived "blog-like" campaigns for their clients. No - I'd like to see real blogs written by real people at real agencies. I know a lot of these actually exist, but how many of them are overt and/or sancitoned or embraced by the parent agency? There's some bloody brilliant agency supremos out there - show us yer bollogs!

Second, rather odd to see the comments quickly hop from a point about ad agencies to a rebuttal using Weber Shandwick (WSW) as the example. WSW is a PR firm, last time I checked. Yes - I know the broader context is the IPG holding company. Permit me to digress into WSW space for a while longer (seeing as you're already there...)

For a major PR agency to have bloggers - both inside and outside the firewall - is no big surpise or innovation. At the same time, bravo to WSW if they're about to launch their own more public blog. When I started as an SVP at WSW, I'd already been blogging a couple of years. Sadly, I walked the corridors of that firm for a further two years, actively blogging and blog consulting the whole time, but found it hard to find anyone willing to share in a clue.

Larry Weber was a notable exception (although our time at WSW only overlapped by a few months, alas). A few of the people people in the group Richard Ricci belongs to also seemed to know their stuff pretty well. So there's definitely hope.

As for the broader Interpublic, meanwhile, I think Eric's general observation is still pretty much spot on. But then, IPG of late could well stand in for that company first famously cited all those years ago as currently "free-falling out of the Fortune 500".

Bonus snark points if you know the full citation, the quote that goes with it, and the company it originally referred to. Super double-plus extra snark-o-rama points if you know who actually said it :-)

All, as usual, JMHO.
/m