Coca-Cola may have cracked the corporate blog code.
My first reaction on hearing Coca Cola had set up a corporate blog: “Oh no, not again.” I almost didn’t bother looking. I thought it would be grossly over-branded, unbearably saccharine (like the product itself – allegedly) and lacking in credibility of any kind. To my mind, ‘corporate’ and ‘blog’ just don’t fit.
But wait! Take a look at the blogger profile:
“Let me introduce myself. My name is Phil Mooney, and I have served as the historian/archivist for The Coca-Cola Company for the last 30 years.”
More about him here.
So, this isn’t a CEO, nor is it a ghost-written blog. It’s written by an historian/archivist. There’s a photo of him, and he looks like one. He even sounds like one: “Let me introduce myself… I have served…” It’s endearingly non-social-media.
I think this is a neat move on the part of Coca-Cola. I’m not pretending for a moment that this unassuming historian/archivist isn’t towing a corporate line or promoting certain messages, but I do think there’s a certain credibility in having what is generally perceived as a trustworthy, bookish librarian communicate with the wider audience.
Perhaps every company should have one. Alternatively of course, every company could set up a corporate blog and give the ghost-writer the working title of ‘archivist’. I’m not sure that my youthful good looks would be quite appropriate for the role however.
Unless otherwise stated, everything Brendan says on this site is his own opinion. So there.
While working on a project about the history of appliances for Sears I got to tour the archives. Lots of really cool stuff down there that no one got to see – unless they took a tour. Agree that Coca-Cola’s got the right idea: their blog celebrates the company’s relationship to our culture across generations. The archival blog concept works for any company/organization whose loyal customers appreciate nostalgia.