Piece about ad agencies using weblogs (not as ad vehicles but as customer communication tools). Generally skeptical in tone. Includes examples of blogs by Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners’ Influx Consulting, A Fine Kettle of Fish by Bob Cargill of Yellowfin Direct (which is a weak example of a business blog in my book, as the blog doesn’t link to the business site or vice-versa, as far as I can see), Urban Intelligence by Urban Advertising and Richard Edelman’s blog. The story also quotes our own Steve Rubel.
Aside from its stand-offish tone about blogs, I have a few nits, such as "weblog" is one word, damnit, the company’s name is Gawker Media, not Denton Media and why the hell put a story about blogs on your web site without hyperlinks to them? But, whatever.
I’m amused to see Steve Rubel had a link to the story yesterday, though it appeared in the print edition only today. That tells you something about blogs, no?
UPDATE:
Oh yeah, buddy Steve Hall is quoted, too. In fact, he has a little rant about the article on his site.
Hello??? 🙂
Comment by Steve Hall — October 27, 2004 @ 10:40 am
Damn, now I’ve been exposed as a link begger!
Comment by Steve Hall — October 28, 2004 @ 10:21 am
Rick,
Thanks for the reference to my blog. That Times article was a surprise, albeit a pleasant one, that’s for sure. By the way, I have since added a link on A Fine Kettle of Fish back to Yellowfin Direct Marketing, my place of employment. Our site does feature a link — placed quite prominently on the home page — to the blog.
Bob Cargill
Senior Creative Director
Yellowfin Direct Marketing
Comment by Bob Cargill — November 18, 2004 @ 7:54 pm
Bob,
Yes, now that you point it out, I see the link is in the center of the homepage. My bad. In my defense (yes, this is a reconsidered rewrite to sound less snotty), it appears under a title “latest headlines” near a picture of a kettle of fish. Granted, “A Fine Kettle of Fish” is the title of the blog, but the word “blog ” is no so prominent (it’s not the lead of the item, it’s not the hyperlink). Where I’d expect to look for the blog is in the navigation bar on the side, along with “Who’s Who,” “See Our Work,” “Contact Us,” presuming it’s a permanent feature of the site and not simply a “latest headline.”
Comment by Rick Bruner — November 23, 2004 @ 6:38 pm