What Australian PR's think: Where do you think brands and blogs are going in Australia?

I was watching the twitter stream for the BlogHer Food conference in the US with interest a few weekends ago - obviously it's always good to pick up tips from other bloggers - especially those have evolved a bit further along than here - but what I left with was more a realisation about engaged brands are with bloggers over there.  I noticed where a blogger in attendance was tweeting, they would end each tweet with a hashtag of their sponsor - eg: Walmart have a got a strong engagement with bloggers:

Australia is catching up on the brands and blogger relationship-stakes - in the US and the UK 'Mummy blogger's and 'Food bloggers' which I fairly straddle across both, are are wielding more and more influence over consumers.  The brands are beginning to notice here in Australia.

So I decided to take it to some of my favourite reps here in Australia and ask them where they think Australian bloggers and brands are headed:


Mandy Griffiths, Account Manager - Porter Novelli

Blogs are becoming more and more well known as a trusted source and if brands want to succeed they have to create relationships and open a two way dialogue for mutual benefit.

Kat Peden, Senior Account Manager - Verve Communications

Blogging in Australia is still relatively new in comparison to the US and UK, where blogs saturate the mainstream market. As a result, brands in the Aussie market are still investing much more heavily in traditional media to get their ‘message’ to the masses.

This will inevitably change, particularly with the rise in demand of mobile technologies such as smart phones and tablets helping change the way we create and consume information, in turn demanding that publishers and advertisers rethink the way they interact with their audiences.

 Local and national brands should use this ‘calm before the storm’ to learn from their UK and US counterparts, incorporating and executing blogger outreach programmes into future communications strategies to engage a fragmented audience, which is steadily growing online.

Multi-national PR consultancy - identity reserved

Especially over the past 12 months the Mummy Blogger space has grown exponentially. It’s still very different to blogging in the USA or the UK but Australian bloggers are developing their own voice which is exciting to watch.  

Lizzie Culverhouse, Senior Account Manager - One Green Bean:

The influence of blogs will continue to grow as the curation of personal information streams (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs etc.) becomes more mainstream.

The struggles being experienced by the traditional media companies are testament to this. This fragmentation of media is taking traffic and eyeballs from the larger media outlets and feeding the niche. These niche channels are hungry for relevant content, exclusive information and opportunities to provide to their readers.

Brands will have an important role to play in the provision of this information if growth is to be maintained. Blogs, in turn, provide a uniquely targeted and engaged readership for brands. As long as both parties respect each other and (most importantly) the readers by providing content that is both relevant and valuable, then blogs will continue to provide a rewarding user experience and viable alternative to mainstream channels.

As social media and the online environment evolves, both bloggers and brands will continue to experiment with different ways to engage with and grow their communities…ensuring this mutually beneficial relationship continues to thrive.

So as a PR, blogger or a reader, where do YOU think blogging is headed in Australia?  

Do you think blogging is a more recognised/trusted source of information or advice?

Is there a particular way you like brands to be reflected/represented in blogs?


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