BlogHer '08 in San Fran seems so long ago now, but it is still worth talking about. Last month I offered my impressions of the event as a powerful and united community of women. Here, I'd like to share my opinions of the event with my marketing hat on.
Several of the sponsoring and exhibiting brands didn't understand the environment they were entering. No need to name names. It was clear that they hadn't put the necessary thought into creating a great experience and making a positive impression on a group of 1,000+ influential women. So from them, an attendee experienced little more than an advertisement for their product or service. Whoohoo...blah.
Here are the ones that got my attention and got a lot out of the event.
- HP – They surprised me, but not completely because Ann Finnie, Worldwide PR Manager for HP's consumer desktops and Voodoo Business Unit, introduced herself on Twitter prior to the event. She almost instantly established connections with hundreds of attendees, including myself. I showed up at the HP booth, “Hi Ann.” “Hi Kevin, glad we connected on Twitter and now in person.” Then HP went onto do something really cool. They recognized that attendees, as well as spending time face to face, were also blogging, twittering, and uploading photos. HP jumped right in and started using online social media (tools previously mentioned) to make announcements, give products away, and get people to come by their booth. They created a great experiences by leveraging both proximity and online connections they had with attendees. They now how 408 new twitter followers, 41% of the attendees - wow. There TouchSmart product is pretty cool too.
- Nintendo – The Wii Fit is just so darn innovative that allowing people just to walk up and try it is a natural. The devil is always in the details, and clearly the Nintendo team grasped this as well. Even as cool as it is, they didn't have a booth, but a dedicated area of floor space that was well-trafficked but disruptive to the conference. They also had a well-trained and inviting team. My only complaint is that the Wii Fit pegged my 39-year old body with the the fitness level of a 50-year old. Ouch.
- Sesame Street – Home run here. They gave parents a unique opportunity to be filmed on the Sesame Street set talking with Grover for a minute or more. Grover gives a little 'shout-out' to my kids and I get to bring home a custom DVD recording of it all. WOW. Parents were going crazy over this. And when I got home, my kids went even more nuts! I wasn't the only one as indicated by YouTube videos. View my meeting with Grover. Great job of viral marketing by creating a unique and personal experience, and allowing people to share it with their friends.
As far as the relationship that exists between female bloggers and brands, it can best be described as inefficient. There must be better ways for bloggers and brands to work together, and I for one, plan to help.
A lasting business question that I have is how will the newly established relationship between BlogHer and NBC's iVillage play out? It combines one entity that is very raw, real, and with many niches, with another that is highly packaged with a mass appeal. Interesting bed-fellows, but likely will be fun to watch.
