Nokia Blogger Relations Site: Same Bowl, Different Soup

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Nokia PR people have created the Nokia Nseries N90 Blogger Relations Blog site. The “blogger relations site” is one of the first to utilize blog software for a press room. I wish it did a better job of it. Instead it’s filled with corporate speak and press releases disguised as blog posts.
The Nokia N80 is a 3 megapixel digital camera,email, an MP3 player, personal organizer, game console and WLAN connectivity.
“Here you will find blogger and media information that you can repurpose and utilize in your blog postings about the N90,” says Andy Abramson, who writes all the blogger relations posts and appears to be the PR person. No press contacts are listed, so who knows who he is?
Relations? Those are two way. On deadline or in the midst of writing a blog post and want to call someone for an answer or an interview? Fuhgetaboutit. Send an email and they’ll “get back to you with 24-48 hours.”
Abrahamson writes that “The difference with this program is we’re making it easy for the bloggers to have access the products and the official information.” I guess he means those things that are called press releases? “We’re treating them and valuing them like members of the press and we’re engaging with them, by communicating with them and working with them.” Can you say Cluetrain?
Stowe Boyd at Corante is one of the bloggers (what am I, chopped liver?) who was given a free Noka N90 video camera phone to evaluate.
He says he wouldn’t hestitate to say the phone was crap if it was, but that it is actually pretty cool.
I hope the phone has more new and notewworthy features than the blogger relations site.

Comments

1. Andy Abramson says:

   December 6, 2005 at 1:45 am

   B.L.
   Thanks for the comments. Let me correct the facts that you seemed to have glossed over.
   Corporate Speak–Sorry, we loaded press release in the press room only, not the blog.
   The blog sections, Podcasts and more all links to other bloggers’ blog posts and soon the bloggers in the Blogger Relations program will be able to post on the site themselves beyond comments. Perhaps you missed the links to the vBlogger posts.
   The press releases are only in the press room where they belong, nowhere else.
   The phone is a N90, not an N80. It has a two megapixel Carl Zeiss lens not a three megapixel.
   You make a nice point about being too anyonymous, though those in the program all recieved letters from me so they know who I am, but I’ll make a point of adding my name when we do an update on the press contacts.
   Relations–we’ve been in touch with bloggers in less that a few hours most days. Ask the bloggers who UPS made an error on customs duties or those who needed a SIM card replacement. I don’t think anyone in the program would support your unfounded assertion that email hasn’t worked with this program to date. But to your point we will add a phone number in the next update this week.
   FYI you mentioned in our chat that it was hard to contact us. When I presented the concept of the forms on the Contact Us page, you said you don’t do forms. We’re adding an option and making the link to the email address clearer in the Press Room but there already were multiple ways to reach us quickly without leaving the blog.
   Bottom line is you missed on some points and made some better points in our text chat and we’re reacting to them, not sitting idle and we do appreciate your viewpoints.

   Reply
2. John says:

   December 6, 2005 at 9:12 am

   Nokia has been getting phones into the hands of bloggers well before anyone else did. I helped work with them on those campaigns several years ago.
   Back then, communication with the bloggers was very personal. I guess it’s the “blogger relations site” that’s something different.

   Reply