A Geek Dad’s Log

Most bloggers are not journalists. They maintain their own publishing style, their own crowd, their own channels and their own methods. The following are three good articles written in Indonesian about how corporations and brands should deal with bloggers. 

Unfortunately for some, they are in Indonesian, but the gist of these pieces is this, do not treat most bloggers as you would the press.

Bloggers are rarely in it for the news, they post things that matter to them. If they don't have a personal interest in the subject, they'l likely not attend a press conference or attend just to meet people, often to catch up with friends who happen to be invited as well.

There is no central command for bloggers. Unlike the press, bloggers do not have an association, they do not have  an office representing bloggers. They are individuals out for their own interest and no one else's. To approach bloggers for your campaign, you need a different method. 

You need to get personal, you need to get into the conversation and discussions. Let them tell their own stories, do not editorialize their work. The more you try to control how bloggers express their views, the worse the publicity you will get, that is if they care to complain at all. At worst, your brand will be left out of the conversation, it will be ignored to oblivion. Bad publicity at least will get other people curious. Lack of publicity will be your worst nightmare.

Of course, these guidelines don't all apply when the blog you're approaching is more similar in style and purpose to TechCrunch, or Engadget than personal blogs. Those are the kind of blogs you should go after but keep in mind that in Indonesia, personal blogs still rule the blogosphere.

Navinot 

Blogger dan Brand

Media Ide 

Mengajak Blogger Berpartisipasi dalam Acara Brand

Blog Tempo Interaktif

Jangan Undang Narablog ke Konferensi Pers

Loading mentions Retweet

What

Special Dialog on MetroTV. 

I've been asked to gather a list of people from Twitter who would like to be in the audience at their studio. The show will feature discussions about the bombing at Kuningan last Friday morning and the IndonesiaUnite movement that began on Twitter which has practically taken over Twitter for the past five days, as a response to the incident.

It will also have performances by Slank, Efek Rumah Kaca, Pandji Pragiwaksono, Oppie Andaresta, and Jose Rizal Manua.

IndonesiaUnite is a movement that aims to show the world that Indonesians are not afraid of terrorists and instead of hiding, will drive to protect, preserve, and advance our way of life. It is also being used to tell the world that there is more to Indonesia than they may know.

It is not only a movement on the internet, it is being pushed offline also to show the rest of the country that there are people who care about driving the nation forward, that there are ways to make this country a better place, and that a nation is nothing without its people.

Where

MetroTV Studios, Kedoya

When

Live show from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. 

Must be at MetroTV by 5:30 pm. 

How

Meet 4:00pm at Plaza Senayan, MetroTV bus will pick us up and take us back to Plaza Senayan unless you want to make your own way.

Please confirm your attendance by leaving a comment on this blog entry. I will not admit further submissions unless there are confirmed cancellations.

Who

@AndyZain, AndreasSurya, @ariefr, @astrid_amalia, @absolutraia @aulia, @boruniraja, @brettmcguire, @desta_star, @kuncoro, @mastrosiani, @patvandiest, @rnhpenna +3, @teguh_koopa, @vikingkarwur, @vmahmud, @waraney, @yoshi_f, @irsadestiwi, @gusgoose, @qronoz +2,  Inggita, @leonisecret, @adigunacakra, @andytanamas.

UPDATE

We'll be waiting around the atrium at the ground floor. Some of us will go straight to MetroTV. 

I don't think we can add any more people unless I forgot some of you.

Loading mentions Retweet

Spotted in today's Kompas daily, there was a review of Pintu Terlarang or Forbidden Door, a recently premiered Indonesian movie. Or so it seemed.
 
Printed in a different typeface from the rest of the articles, away from the regular entertainment section, and with a clearly defined border, it was quite obvious that it was less of a review and more of an advertisement for the movie.
 
The piece however does not claim to be an actual review as the top of the article actually said "Iklan", or Advertisement.
 
This form of honest fake review seems to be gaining traction in the media. I was informed that at least one movie adopted this approach before.
 
On one hand people get more of an insight into the movie should they choose to read it but as it is an ad, it does not point out any deficiencies the movie may have.
 
My question is, is it a wise decision to market the movie as such? I would argue that if the movie is as good as my colleagues who were part of the audience say it is, it shouldn't need such an ad, rather they should promote it in a different way.
 
Which reminded me, I actually passed on an invitation for the premiere. I'm not much of a horror movie fan. Especially local ones as they have been so disappointing as of late.
 
 
 
Sent from my mobile

Loading mentions Retweet