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McDonald’s has turned to internet ‘blogging’ to help it communicate its corporate responsibility messages.
The global foodservice retailer has started a dedicated blogging site led by Bob Langert, its senior social responsibility director, who posts regular thoughts on the company’s activities and responds to feedback from site visitors who post comments. Already it is attracting between 700 and 1000 visitors a day.
The relatively new phenomenon of blogging, short for weblogging, typically involves individuals posting diary-style entries on a website, often with an invitation to readers to respond with their thoughts or to enter into debates.
Recent postings on the McDonald’s site, called Open for discussion, have included Langert’s observations on conserving fish supplies, his criticisms of a new book on the fast food industry, and background pieces on food quality and packaging.
All readers’ comments, critical or otherwise, are posted, unless deemed to be vulgar or offensive. Further responses are offered by Langert in reply to subsidiary questions or ideas, and occasional blogs are written by other senior staff.
Most of the comments from readers, including present and former McDonald’s employees, have so far been favourable. Langert added that discussion of the blog’s contents had also appeared on other sites. ‘My intuition is that it’s getting some good discussion going on the wider blogosphere,’ he told EP.
Running costs are negligible, the main call being on Langert’s time. ‘I’m committed to doing one blog a week, which I thought would be a piece of cake, but it’s hard to fit in with all my other work,’ he said.
Langert added that the company had chosen blogging to ‘share what we’re doing and learn what people think’.
Brendan May, head of corporate responsibility and sustainability at the public relations consultancy Weber Shandwick Worldwide, said McDonald’s use of blogging was an interesting experiment. ‘Blogs are accessible, interactive and engaging. They bring whole new ways of communicating with consumers and other stakeholders,’ he told EP.
‘The fit between blogging, which is the communication channel of the future, and CSR, which is the behaviour of the future, is obvious. As long as blogs truly offer open dialogue, available to all, they have the potential finally to end the curse of bland corporate-speak.’
Mallen Baker, development director of Business in the Community, who writes his own blog on business responsibility , said: ‘CSR blogs can be a good tool for companies that are typically viewed as faceless brands – because they can put some humanity and, hopefully, humility into the work that they’re doing. However, if you’re also strictly toeing the corporate line, it can make the result a little bland and lose the impact. The McDonald’s blog is certainly coming close to that line.’
The global foodservice retailer has started a dedicated blogging site led by Bob Langert, its senior social responsibility director, who posts regular thoughts on the company’s activities and responds to feedback from site visitors who post comments. Already it is attracting between 700 and 1000 visitors a day.
The relatively new phenomenon of blogging, short for weblogging, typically involves individuals posting diary-style entries on a website, often with an invitation to readers to respond with their thoughts or to enter into debates.
Recent postings on the McDonald’s site, called Open for discussion, have included Langert’s observations on conserving fish supplies, his criticisms of a new book on the fast food industry, and background pieces on food quality and packaging.
All readers’ comments, critical or otherwise, are posted, unless deemed to be vulgar or offensive. Further responses are offered by Langert in reply to subsidiary questions or ideas, and occasional blogs are written by other senior staff.
Most of the comments from readers, including present and former McDonald’s employees, have so far been favourable. Langert added that discussion of the blog’s contents had also appeared on other sites. ‘My intuition is that it’s getting some good discussion going on the wider blogosphere,’ he told EP.
Running costs are negligible, the main call being on Langert’s time. ‘I’m committed to doing one blog a week, which I thought would be a piece of cake, but it’s hard to fit in with all my other work,’ he said.
Langert added that the company had chosen blogging to ‘share what we’re doing and learn what people think’.
Brendan May, head of corporate responsibility and sustainability at the public relations consultancy Weber Shandwick Worldwide, said McDonald’s use of blogging was an interesting experiment. ‘Blogs are accessible, interactive and engaging. They bring whole new ways of communicating with consumers and other stakeholders,’ he told EP.
‘The fit between blogging, which is the communication channel of the future, and CSR, which is the behaviour of the future, is obvious. As long as blogs truly offer open dialogue, available to all, they have the potential finally to end the curse of bland corporate-speak.’
Mallen Baker, development director of Business in the Community, who writes his own blog on business responsibility , said: ‘CSR blogs can be a good tool for companies that are typically viewed as faceless brands – because they can put some humanity and, hopefully, humility into the work that they’re doing. However, if you’re also strictly toeing the corporate line, it can make the result a little bland and lose the impact. The McDonald’s blog is certainly coming close to that line.’
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