Blogs: Moving the Mainstream

The convergence of blogs and mainstream media is a megatrend that has been picking up speed, no doubt. And Business Week recently carried a very interesting story on this topic that, IMHO, highlights the increasing credibility of popular, high quality bloggers and their importance in providing additional context (and advertising opportunities) for those seeking to reach a particular audience.

It's no secret that bloggers are becoming increasingly influential. But Arrington is part of an emerging crowd of writers who use their narrowly focused blogs, such as hyperlocal real estate reports, green guides, or Web 2.0 startup reviews, to establish themselves as thought leaders. These new influencers are taking a page from the blog networks Gawker and Weblogs Inc. and turning rapid-fire, around-the-clock blog patter that makes and shapes the news into a hot new online media model.

Companies are directing more efforts toward buttering up these New Media players, often feeding them exclusives that play well with their targeted audiences. And for marketers who are increasingly comfortable with spending money on blogs, advertising with these opinion leaders provides instant cachet.

Laser-focused targeting. Inexpensive to reach your audience. Cachet. These are good things. Why, as an advertiser, would I not want to leverage these powerful blog platforms as a vehicle for reaching my audience? No reason. It has become an essential part of almost any media buying strategy that wants to reach the online demographic, which is pretty smart, generally educated, has cash to spend and is influenced by online fact and opinion. The article goes on to make a very interesting point relating to media aggregation and the use of blogs as a tool for adding color, perspective and depth to the mainstream discussion:

Think of these as the digital version of potent, passionate trade press writers. They swarm every novelty in areas like tech, creating problems and buzz for companies and innovations. They report news and publish it alongside analysis of newspaper stories and company releases. These posts are salted with strong doses of personality, sparking discussions across the Web. By melding their own insights and opinions with the aggregated views of others, they're starting to gain leverage. "In a time-starved world, people—especially decision-makers—have very little time, but do not want to miss being in the know," says Rishad Tobaccowala, chief innovation officer at advertising firm Publicis Groupe Media.

This hits on a few key themes that warrant mention: (1) the use of aggregated mainstream media to provide context; while (2) offering insights and opinions in order to cut through the noise of information overload and to offer incisive, hard-hitting commentary. This is one of the key problems with consuming news today, simply that there is too much of it to consume. But with smart, high-quality bloggers pulling it all together and providing a rational, well-thought out perspective, these blog sites can become powerful nodes for accessing information from a wide array of sources. This is a model with inherent leverage that can drive eyeballs - high quality eyeballs - to a site, providing advertisers with a highly attractive pool at which to deliver targeted messages. Good stuff. And these sites have gotten legitimacy across the mainstream lanscape, including companies like Disney:

These bloggers are still dwarfed by traditional media sites. Sites like paidContent provide a way for established companies and advertisers to reach engaged, plugged-in consumers. PaidContent began as a place for Ali to dump his notes as a tech reporter; last year, he raised venture funding from Alan Patricof's Greycroft Partners. Now he employs eight writers who cover niches such as digital media and wireless media, and the blog is profitable. "I appreciate their focus on the business of New Media, as opposed to the buzz or cool factor," says Larry Shapiro, an executive vice-president at Walt Disney Internet Group (DIS ), who checks the site several times each day.

Hats off to Rafat, Michael and the others driving these powerful online models whose tentacles are felt in the offline world. This is the future. And it is coming on strong.