A program to entice bloggers to love your
product/service & write about it can be extremely effective when done
right. The influence they have with their readers is phenomenon & their
recommendations taken seriously. In the age of social media their influence goes
even further than their core readers via Facebook & Twitter.
These programs have to be well planned,
upfront an honest. The consequences are BAD when they are done wrong.
Interesting case in the US last month where
food bloggers & mum bloggers were invited to dine in a fabulous restaurant
with a promise of an Italian feast by a well renowned chef. They were also told
that the dinner would include an “unexpected surprise”.
At the end of the meal the “surprise” was
revealed. The fabulous food they had
just had was not made by the renowned chef, it was in fact from a new frozen
food line by ConAgra Foods!
The blogger reaction? Pretty bad.
“Our entire meal was a SHAM!”
“We discussed with the group the sad state of chemical-filled foods,”
wrote one blogger. “And yet, you still fed me the exact thing I said I did not
want to eat.”
“I’m NOT their target consumer and they were totally off by thinking I
would buy or promote their highly processed frozen foods after tricking me to
taste it,”
Read the full article here.