Blogopoly

What's a blogaholic? Is it a blogger that needs a stint in alcohol rehab centers? Or is it a person who reads, writes and breaths blogs? Not sure? Take this quiz:

http://wannabe.catharsis.org/bin/quiz.cgi?quiz=one

Following on from my post about how blogs can be used to get great feedback from customers, Chrysler marketing executive recently remarked that he monitors blogs as well as chatrooms and forums to get frank customer feedback.

Recognising that excitement for a new model can begin at grass roots level through blogs and web forums is similar to the way sites such as the Internet Movie Database have changed the plans of Hollywood marketers.

Wired reports that Hollywood is finding that moviegoers are easier to reach on the web than TV. Even more interesting is that Producers of political thriller The Manchurian Candidate chose political blogs such as Instapundit.com and The Truth Laid Bear to place advertising for the new film.
Data from Jupiter shows that one-third of all adults now prefer to get movie reviews and listings online over newspapers, television, magazines and radio. Furthermore 47% of 18- to 24-year-olds prefer new media to old for information on movies.

I was recently directed to a blog that has a detailed report on Mr Clean Magic Erasers. The author is ecstatic about the effects of the eraser: "Overall, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser more than lives up to the claims. It is an outstanding product that works exceedingly well."
First glance and you may think "dude, get a life" - but really this is a great piece of free advertising for the Mr Clean product. A totally independent Joe Public gives your product a rave write up. This is a great example of how blogs can be benefit businesses - instead of writing your own blog, you can instead harness the speaker's corner mentality to have bloggers report on your products in the same way that movie makers have been using the independent critics on the web. Scroll down the posting and you will see many comments from readers who agree, they are further building the brand's reputation. Over time this praise will spread around the internet like a virus.