Enterprise Social Media

Intel launches new consumer blog: The Inside Scoop

Posted on 09. Sep, 2008 by Michael Brito in Corporate Blogs, Social Media

Okay, not very newsworthy, I know.  But since I work for Intel and on this project specifically, I thought it would be a good idea for me to mention it. This was one of my very first projects since being hired by Intel back in April; and I will also be serving as the managing editor until I can find the right person to fill that role.

Over the last couple of years, there has been severe ridicule of corporate blogs in that they are boring, unimaginative and complete failures; and I’d have to agree. In fact, Forrester recently conducted a survey and found that most B2B blogs are “dull, drab, and don’t stimulate discussion” and that “Seventy percent stuck to business or technical topics, 74% rarely get comments, and 56% simply regurgitated press releases or other already-public news.” Granted, this is not a B2B blog and will focus on consumers, there is still some merit to these findings.

One thing I made clear to all who will be contributing to the blog is that it will not be a place for one-way marketing messages, white papers or press releases. My goal is that IT WILL stimulate conversations so that we at Intel can get to know and understand our customers more intimately.

My vision from the beginning was as follows:

• The blog is about story telling
• We have an amazing story to tell – because what we have enabled affects so many people and what we are going to do tomorrow will change the world
• We need to tell this story and bring processor relevance to everyday people

I have to admit that launching this blog was not easy; and there were so many approvals needed (legal, privacy, security, branding, etc.)  In fact, I documented my complete process in a post I wrote for the Blog Council last month:

• Who is your target audience and do they even participate in social media?
• Do you have all the right people involved?
• Do you have a moderation policy?
• What’s your conversation strategy?
• Do you have the right people blogging?
• Are you going to implement a community evangelist program?
• How will you measure your blogging efforts?

These are all questions and considerations that our team has contemplated over the last 2 - 3 months; and will continue to refine in the months ahead. There are only a few posts up as of today; and story telling is skill that takes time, nurturing and practice.

Do consumers really want to talk to Intel? We shall soon find out.

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