Opening a Product’s Hood through Blogs - Interview with Jud Branam, Hass MS&L
Posted by Administrator on September 20th, 2005
By Jeff Hardison, McClenahan Bruer Communications | McBru Blog
Jeff Hardison interviews Jud Branam of Hass MS&L, the PR counselor behind GM’s FastLane product blog.
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Jud Branam, managing director of the Ann Arbor office of Hass/MS&L, joined the Web in 1997 with InterZine Productions, a start-up focusing on sports communities, after 10 years of reporting for various Michigan newspapers. He later became a Web consultant for Ford Motor Company and was one of the first employees of Hass Associates, a small, online PR firm that was later acquired by the MS&L network. The Ann Arbor, Mich. office of MS&L focuses on technology PR initiatives including blogs.
Jeff Hardison is a senior counsel of Portland, Ore.-based McClenahan Bruer Communications (McBru), an integrated PR and advertising firm focused on business-to-business technology companies. Jeff and his colleagues are currently working with Cascade Microtech on launching one of the first corporate blogs in the “deep tech” electronics industry. Before McBru, Jeff worked for Fleishman-Hillard Portland where he served as the Pacific Northwest liaison to the firm’s online communications and business-to-business practice groups. Jeff has advised Amazon.com, Nautilus, Freightliner, and numerous start-ups on online communications (including corporate blog development and blog relations).
Show notes
- 00:18 Jeff Hardison introduces the show and day one of the Global PR Blog Week 2.0; introduction of Jud Branam, managing director of PR firm Haas MS&L’s Ann Arbor office and main contact for its BlogWorks practice.
- 1:36 Jud discusses what it’s like being involved with corporate blogs while based in the Midwest.
- 3:24 When and how GM’s corporate blog emerged.
- 5:11 How to convince companies — small to large — to utilize corporate blogs.
- 5:57 Incorporating Cluetrain Manifesto principles into GM’s blog; providing a solid basis of guidelines.
- 6:47 Deciding on the technological aspects of blogging: software, aesthetic design, whether to match the design of the corporate Web site.
- 9:09 Deciding on the functionality of the blog: whether to have comments, blog rolls, trackbacks; setting ground rules for users; educational vs. promotional direction of blog content.
- 13:58 The success of the GM corporate blog; what it has done for GM and for corporate blogging in general.
- 16:19 How do you measure the success of a blog?
- 17:28 Jeff ends the show.
Technorati Tags: prblogweek, pr, public+relations, agencies, corporate+blogging, product+blogs, GM