BLOGS TEN YEARS ON  

• Since 1997, this new communication's tool has been revolutionising companies, poli tic s and even the arts

Madrid , april 2007 .- This month sees the 10 th anniversary of the first blog in the USA. Since April 1997, this powerful communication's tool has revolutionised the most varied fields, from poli tic s to business, and even the world of entertainment. In the USA, some film producers fearfully observe the influence of these virtual journals before the première of a new film.

In the area of poli tic s, during the last US presidential elections, the teams of both candidates, George Bush and John Kerry, successfully mobilised public opinion by creating opinion trends through the use of blogs. In Spain , the poli tic al parties PNV, PSOE and PP imitated this idea during the last autonomic elections.

The use of blogs as a communication's tool has now extended around the globe and has allowed that the thoughts and opinions of a single person have influence unknown until today. Some studies calculate that there are currently more than 73 millions blogs in the world. Spain, with 1.5 million, has the fastest growth in Europe of this phenomenon. Blogs are becoming a means of public pressure that are impossible to slow down.


Blogs and companies  

The corporate world is showing more and more interest in this phenomenon, especially since large corporation from around the globe have been affected by crisis started in a journal.

One of the most well known was that affecting the North American company Kryptotine, leader in the manufacturing of padlocks for motorbikes and bicycles. When a blogger realised their padlocks could be unlocked with a Bic biro and posted a video on their blog as proof, the effects for the company were devastating. In just a matter of hours, huge numbers of blogs were talking about this, yet the company itself didn't become aware of it until one week later when the media caught on to it and published the story. Kryptotine suffered it most serious crises ever and had to replace nearly 40.000 padlocks, taking years to regain its reputation.

Kryptonite isn't the only business to be affected by a crisis caused by a blog. And for this reason many companies of all classes are researching ways to incorporate this communication's tool into their strategy. For Caludio Bravo, consultant for Grupo Inforpress and author of the first manual written in Spanish on blogs, "the main advantage of this tool is that it allows giving a human touch to the company's message. Behind every corporate blog there is a person, who on an individual basis, represents the company and holds informal and approachable conversations with the public".

Claudio Bravo highlights the powerful reach of blogs, which are highly viral. "The information published on the blogs are indexed in the search engines and are quickly commented on in other blogs, and in just a few hours spread throughout the net", he says. For this reason, Claudio Bravo, who is currently compiling the first directory of corporate blogs in Spain , considers that blogs are "a very useful tool for the communication and management of joint projects".

Grupo Inforpress, Leading communications and public relations consultancy firm in Spain, is a pioneering company in the design and implementation of internal and external communications through tools such a corporate blogs.



For further information:
Grupo Inforpress
Susana Graupera / Miryam Ezcurdia
sgraupera@inforpress.es / mezcurdia@inforpress.es
Tel. 91 564 07 25