Corporate blogging still not taking off
Announcement posted by LEWIS Global Communications 29 Mar 2007
US pioneering while rest of world remains hesitant
Corporate blogging still not taking off
~ US pioneering while rest of world remains hesitant ~
Singapore – March 28, 2007: Less than 5% of large and mid-sized companies worldwide currently has a corporate blog, according to LEWIS, the global public relations agency. While corporate blogging is gaining ground in the US, the overwhelming majority of businesses around the world still goes without any form of company-branded blogs.
The findings, announced at the EuroBlog 2007 conference in Ghent, Belgium last week, were based on a survey of 300 companies from 10 different countries. Of the European companies included in the survey, only 2.5% had one or more corporate blogs. Asia-Pacific scored slightly higher with 5.5%, with the US leading at 14.0%.
However, a majority of the companies included in the survey operates in tech-savvy markets such as IT and media. Therefore, LEWIS estimates the actual blog use by corporations to be even lower than the survey indicated.
When looking for the reasons for this phenomenon, LEWIS drew a remarkable conclusion. “Interestingly enough, with the exception of the USA every country seems to think it is lagging the rest of the world when it comes to corporate blogging,” said Erin Atan, Vice President, APAC at LEWIS.
“Their reasons vary strongly: Key barriers in the Asia-Pacific region include a tradition of doing business face-to-face and a high level of media regulation. Southern European countries such as Italy and Spain think it is because they are traditionally slower with IT-related innovation, while other countries like Germany and the Netherlands blame it on a lack of insight in the (financial) benefits of a corporate blog. However, the reality is that nobody is lagging – corporate blogging simply has not arrived yet”, added Atan.
LEWIS conducted the survey as part of its paper ‘The business value of blogging’, which was also announced last week. In addition to the survey results, the paper includes a comprehensive set of tools and insights that help a company decide whether or not to launch a corporate blog.
“Companies around the world remain hesitant to start blogging because the benefits, costs and implications are not clear to them”, said Mark van der Wolf, Head of Creative at LEWIS Benelux and lead author of the paper. “Their caution is justified, because as the paper shows, a corporate blog is definitely not for everyone.”
“Still, under the right circumstances and with the right approach, it can contribute greatly to achieving a multitude of business objectives.”
The complete paper is available for download freely at http://www.lewis360.com/2007/03/blogs_and_busin.html
(424 words)
NOTES TO EDITORS
About LEWIS
LEWIS specialises in global media relations, including financial, personal and corporate PR for companies in Europe, Asia Pacific and North America. It is headquartered in London with wholly-owned offices in Boston, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Eindhoven, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Mumbai, Munich, New York, Paris, San Diego, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney and Washington DC.
The company has one of the fastest growth rates in its sector. LEWIS has revenues currently of $22 million and employs over 200 staff. Please visit www.lewispr.com for further information.
For further information, please contact Brennan Khor, LEWIS PR:
Tel: 65 6534 7250
Email: brennank@lewispr.com
Web site: http://www.lewispr.com
~ US pioneering while rest of world remains hesitant ~
Singapore – March 28, 2007: Less than 5% of large and mid-sized companies worldwide currently has a corporate blog, according to LEWIS, the global public relations agency. While corporate blogging is gaining ground in the US, the overwhelming majority of businesses around the world still goes without any form of company-branded blogs.
The findings, announced at the EuroBlog 2007 conference in Ghent, Belgium last week, were based on a survey of 300 companies from 10 different countries. Of the European companies included in the survey, only 2.5% had one or more corporate blogs. Asia-Pacific scored slightly higher with 5.5%, with the US leading at 14.0%.
However, a majority of the companies included in the survey operates in tech-savvy markets such as IT and media. Therefore, LEWIS estimates the actual blog use by corporations to be even lower than the survey indicated.
When looking for the reasons for this phenomenon, LEWIS drew a remarkable conclusion. “Interestingly enough, with the exception of the USA every country seems to think it is lagging the rest of the world when it comes to corporate blogging,” said Erin Atan, Vice President, APAC at LEWIS.
“Their reasons vary strongly: Key barriers in the Asia-Pacific region include a tradition of doing business face-to-face and a high level of media regulation. Southern European countries such as Italy and Spain think it is because they are traditionally slower with IT-related innovation, while other countries like Germany and the Netherlands blame it on a lack of insight in the (financial) benefits of a corporate blog. However, the reality is that nobody is lagging – corporate blogging simply has not arrived yet”, added Atan.
LEWIS conducted the survey as part of its paper ‘The business value of blogging’, which was also announced last week. In addition to the survey results, the paper includes a comprehensive set of tools and insights that help a company decide whether or not to launch a corporate blog.
“Companies around the world remain hesitant to start blogging because the benefits, costs and implications are not clear to them”, said Mark van der Wolf, Head of Creative at LEWIS Benelux and lead author of the paper. “Their caution is justified, because as the paper shows, a corporate blog is definitely not for everyone.”
“Still, under the right circumstances and with the right approach, it can contribute greatly to achieving a multitude of business objectives.”
The complete paper is available for download freely at http://www.lewis360.com/2007/03/blogs_and_busin.html
(424 words)
NOTES TO EDITORS
About LEWIS
LEWIS specialises in global media relations, including financial, personal and corporate PR for companies in Europe, Asia Pacific and North America. It is headquartered in London with wholly-owned offices in Boston, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Eindhoven, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Mumbai, Munich, New York, Paris, San Diego, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney and Washington DC.
The company has one of the fastest growth rates in its sector. LEWIS has revenues currently of $22 million and employs over 200 staff. Please visit www.lewispr.com for further information.
For further information, please contact Brennan Khor, LEWIS PR:
Tel: 65 6534 7250
Email: brennank@lewispr.com
Web site: http://www.lewispr.com