Round 1: Their Audience
Taken from the man himself, Edward Broches blog hopes to offer “Creative and social media ideas for a consumer driven world from the perspective Mullen's chief creative officer and chief social media officer.” Sounds good, but who exactly would be reading this blog? Right off the bat Broches states his credentials, the ideas he’s offering are coming form a well known, highly respected advertising agency’s chief creative officer. By mentioning this he is validating his opinions to his readers but he is also attracting a group of followers who know Mullen and their work. A number of his blog posts reference changes in technology and how to morph with the times. Simply from reading the comments his postings receive, his audience seems to be highly educated and highly informed when it comes to industry trends; many of them seem to be in the communications industry themselves.
According to his blog, “Chris Brogan advises businesses, organizations, and individuals on how to use social media and social networks to build relationships and deliver value.” Judging from the comments he receives, his audience seems similar to Broches with a few exceptions. While Broches seems to be popular within the industry, Brogen seems to branch out from that and engage your average joe with his wide range of topics and rather cynical wit. His readers seem highly interested in the topic of social media but they also seem to be a bit younger than Broches audience.
Verdict: I would advise someone to read Broches blog when they are (for lack of a better word) helpless when it comes to social media. Broches writes many step-by-step guides to specific areas of social media where as most of Brogan’s post rely on his readers already being “in the know.” Although both bloggers achieve their goal of offering creative social media advice and strategies, Broches’ delivers what he’s promised to a more receptive audience.
Round 2: Their Ideas
Two of Edward Broches’ step-by-step blog posts really struck me. They both centered on the same idea, that it takes something extra to be considered a social media agency. He writes that it takes 14 (yes 14!) qualifications to be a productive and smart social media agency. The list is not broad at all and lists some pretty complex skills but after digesting the rather heavy ideas, I came to the conclusion that he is absolutely right by having 14. It’s not just about building cool looking web applications or understanding personal branding; it takes a lot more than that. Broches even warns his readers not to be duped into hiring an agency that claims to be “social media gurus” because there are a lot of people out there who simply just don’t know all the things they claim to know.
On Brogan’s side, one of his postings I enjoyed titled “Why Simple Still Wins” details in a short and sweet way why clean, plain, effortless advertising resonates in people’s minds more these days. And I agree, with all the ad clutter plus all the talk centered on what to do about all the ad clutter, it is the simple, sleek advertisements that stand out and will drive people to purchase (just think about what Apple has done using that philosophy).
Verdict: Both bloggers have fascinating ideas that deserve to be acknowledged, read and discussed. And the best place to do so would be in a classroom…a social media-marketing classroom perhaps?
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