For some time now I've been monitoring a site called Slave To Target.
It's a blog written by two anonymous women who say they love Target so much they want to marry it. The primary goal of the site is to keep track of all things Target. And here's the interesting bit: The blog claims that it is in no way associated with Target Corp!
If this claim is legit I'm wondering whether this type of site is not actually the 
closest anyone can ever come to a successful corporate blog. Having two customers blog about your offerings in a positive and praising manner must be every marketing departments dream. In fact there's a whole genre of commercials depicting real people in everyday situations enjoying a product. Well, here are two real women who spend their spare time blogging for free in favor of a store. Testimonials go home!
The key factor for this type of communication to be successful is that the corporation has no control what so ever over the blog. This way the site acquires credibility from the start.
Saying that I have to admit that this site is not a very good example of balanced blogging. In fact I find the blog much too praising of the shopping chain. The two bloggers must have some areas where they would like to see their favorite shop improve. It would make the site more credible if they included such thoughts in the blog.
But putting that aside they got me writing the name »Target« five times in this entry. Now, in my opinion that's a pretty effective and costless branding.
Technorati: Media |Advertising |Weblogs
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