The very successful Taste of Asia / SM Hypermart Event gathered at least 150 bloggers and gave them an experience that they are not required to blog. But most of them blogged about it anyway. Why? Because it is bloggable.

Jayvee Fernandez assesses that SM saved a lot of money by doing an online campaign rather than a traditional advertising campaign. What’s more is that SM seemed to reach a wider audience, and by pleasing bloggers, earned greater buzz than they would have had they resorted to traditional advertising. Alleba agrees on this point. He asserts that online campaigns cost much less but have bigger multiplier effects.

So why do companies have to advertise in blogs? Simply because bloggers are seen by their readers are real people with real experiences. Precisely because bloggers are not professional writers (most of us are not anyway), or critics, readers believe them more. Their being regular people gives them the power affect how other regular people think and choose.

Emerging companies, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who wish to lug it out with bigger, more established companies, should really consider doing online campaigns rather than traditional advertising campaigns. Blogs and bloggers are undeniably the emerging power players in the advertising industry. They have almost unlimited potential in reaching a worldwide audience. And they can actually make or break a company, even the big, established ones. Imagine the barrage of negative publicity if the Taste of Asia / SM Hypermart event was a disastrous one. Fortunately of Taste of Asia and SM Hypermart, they gave the bloggers a very positive bloggable experience.

So if your company is looking for means to increase awareness about your products and services, why not tap the unlimited resource of blogs and bloggers? Just make sure that the bloggable experience you give them is a positive one.