CT Biz Blogs

In an earlier article I wrote about blogs with multiple authors. There’s one type of multiple-author blog I missed – the customer evangelist blogs at Vespa. This project is headed by Steve Rubel, a VP at CooperKatz & Company, who writes Micro Persuasion, an influential blog about public relations and new media.

Vespa has four people blogging on two officially sanctioned blogs, which are linked to right from the corporate website. These people were approved by Vespa, and given guidelines to follow, but their posts are not screened in any way. (Visit Micro Persuasion link above for the PDF of the blogging guidelines). They are also not getting paid, according to the Vespa blogging FAQ page.

These writers already have their own blogs, and they are already Vespa owners. They are “Customer Evangelists,” people who love a product and want to tell the world. This is a segment of the market that has been largely ignored until the advent of blogging. One pre-blog exception is Jared, the guy who lost all that weight eating only Subway sandwiches.

Here’s what Piaggio USA (the Italian manufacturer of Vespas) has to say about why they’re doing this, from their FAQ page:

Piaggio USA feels blogs are an ideal way to connect with Vespa brand loyalists and encourage them to become online evangelists. It is an extension of the scooter clubs that have existed offline for years. One reason is that U.S. scooter buyers are heavy online users. According to internal Piaggio USA research, a full 65% of prospective motor scooter buyers visited the Vespa USA Web site, while 56% visited other sites when conducting research prior to purchase.

These blogs look to be interesting and engaging. There’s a good conversation going between the various authors and the blog readers.

Folks, customers are starved for good, honest conversations with the companies with which they choose to do business. They’re tired of being ambushed everywhere by ads that say nothing more than “buy me and you’ll be cool!” Everyone says that. They want to hear something else, and they want to tell their stories, too.

That’s what blogs do best.