What’s the Buzz?

Our own Jeff Jarvis, probably the single blogger with the most real-world media experience, has thoughts on the Ragng Cow/Dr. Pepper affair (as notably related by Glenn Reynolds here).

Jeff:

Now you could argue that this nitwitted idea has actually paid off — if you’re a member of the say-anything-just-spell-the-URL-right school of PR — since lots of webloggers are talking about the thing.

But the truth is, it’s just a nitwitted marketing idea. I’ve been around media long enough to witness (and, unfortunately, pay for) lots of them. Somebody came up with this at a brainstorming meeting and nobody else had the good sense to hoot it down then. As Nick Denton once said to me: “We can’t afford brainstorming anymore.”

Now, in fact, if marketers want to tap into the (pardon me) buzz machine that weblogs are, all they have to do is treat them with the same (grudging) respect with which they treat pro media and pro journalists: Send 100 webloggers a free sample of the goo (and a goofy T-shirt for good measure) and they’ll be flattered that somebody cares what they think. Why, some of them will even dare to try it. Hell, some might even like it!

We operate like any other news and review publication: we are happy to get CDs, books, DVDs, and whatever other booty the manufacturers want to send us, but then we are going to independently review them. And I do mean independent: no one – including me – tells our writers how to review something, or even what to review. If your readers can’t trust you you, then what do you have? Nothing for very long.