The Hire

After reading Rebecca Blood’s article "Weblogs: a History and Perspective," I am very appreciative that technology has allowed computer illiterate people like myself to create their own blog. Apparently the original bloggers had to know HTML code and craft their own Web sites. YIKES!

In Blood’s article she also mentions a quote by Greg Ruggiero, "'you cannot participate in the media. Bringing that into the foreground is the first step. The second step is to define the difference between public and audience. An audience is passive; a public is participatory. We need a definition of media that is public in its orientation.’"



After reading this quote it made me realize that online blogs and interactive media are two forms of communication that allow the audience to be participatory. The blog, for examaple, allows for instant reader feedback (unlike other forms of traditional news media).

I also realized, from an advertising/PR perspective, how perfect the blog is. It can be used for a million different things. It's the perfect venue to promote a new product and for companies to spread a controlled message about that product. And, creating online traffic to the blog site is no big deal these days. It's pretty simple to define and reach a specific target audience.

Creating viral buzz about new products is the way to go. Blogs and the Internet in general are borderless and cost effective venues for promotion. They’re a PR and advertising professional’s dream.


One brand took these realizations to heart. BMW’s interactive media campaign took Ruggiero’s advice and made their audience active not passive. The company made a series of Hollywood-grade short films called "The Hire" starring Madonna and Clive Owen to demonstrate the capabilities of the "Ultimate Driving Machine."



BMW devised this marketing plan to particularly appeal to the technology-savvy BMW consumer. These individuals actively logged onto the BMW Web site and spread the link to friends all across the globe.

According to Wikipedia (which duh, knows all), "BMW saw their 2001 sales numbers go up 12 percent from last year and the movies were viewed over 11 million times in four months. Two million people registered with the Web site and a large majority of users, registered to the site, sent film links to their friends and family causing the site to go viral and sales to skyrocket. The films proved to be so popular, BMW ended up producing a free DVD for customers who visited select BMW dealerships."

Case in point - online interactive media is the way to go. The blog is a great place to start.