• A Corporate Blog Done Right

    Posted on June 12th, 2007 by and currently 4 commenting.

    I know that there are a lot of corporate blogs out there. Many companies are seemingly jumping on the bandwagon in the past couple of years, from General Motor’s Fastlane Blog to Richard Edelman’s 6 A.M.

    But there are just a handful of companies that do the blog thing exceptionally well. And one of them started in February of this year: The Cleanest Line, written by the employees of Patagonia. And I have to say, it is amazing.

    If you don’t know much about Patagonia, you should read ‘Let My People Go Surfing,’ written by their fearless leader, Yvon Chouinard, for some background. And if you’ve ever received a Patagonia catalog or been in one of their retail stores, then you at least know that they are not only about a love of the outdoors, but about corporate and environmental responsibility ” in a huge way. And their blog does nothing but reinforce their beliefs.

    Subjects include their internal culture, new product innovations, their love of the outdoor sports they pursue, environmental activism. And with the recent National Bike to Work Week they blogged about how their Seattle office challenged the rest of their retail stores across the country to see who could get the most people to ride the most miles to work (Portland won).

    Patagonia does many, many things right. But this new addition to their communications chest is above and beyond my favorite. It exemplifies everything they stand for and allows kindred spirits to get a closer look at the company they know and love. And we all know that’s the very thing that helps turn those kindred spirits into loyal advocates.

  • http://www.woolardspeak.blogspot.com Andy Woolard

    I’ve been enjoying TCL both for its absolute honesty and its valuable content.

    TCL is a perfect case that when a company’s brand and core values are solid, all aspects of communication are more authentic and simply fall in place instead of being wedged, jammed, interrupted and broadcasted.

    I’ll second the endorsement for Let My People Go Surfing…great read for marketers, businesspeople and anyone needing to be nudged out of the consumerism rut.

  • http://adpulp.com David Burn
  • http://www/profitmeister.com/blog/ Mary Ellen Merrigan

    I agree with your comment that Pagagonia’s TCL is solidly on target; this is the kind of transparaency in which blogs work best for business.

  • Christy

    Ouch!! I have to admit, I’m a huge Patagonia fan, have read the book, but have NOT read the blog! Bad!

    Thanks for the tip. I expect the blog to deliver tons of good stuff.