We recently undertook informal research of the FTSE 100 companies and found that none of the listed companies has a blog at the corporate level (or at least not easily found).

Granted their brands may have *consumer-oriented, open communication platform tools of engagement, but we were surprised that, despite the media buzz, there still doesn’t appear to be any UK corporate converts. The press and the blogosphere have been through at least two major cycles of noticing the absence and there’s still little sign of movement on this side of the Atlantic. (*For example, see Charles Dunstone’s blog for TalkTalk / The Carphone Warehouse. Posting is infrequent - and sometimes altogether absent. And readers don’t have the option to post comments.)

We ask ourselves why and these potential reasons jump out at us:

• Too public and open a communication platform
• Lack of trust from contributors
• No time to contribute and moderate
• Misunderstanding of commitment required (regularity can be more important than frequency)
• No personnel to moderate comments (if comments are permitted)
• Misunderstanding of how to handle spam and inappropriate comments versus negative commentary
• Perception of inadequate skill sets to use blog packages (eg limited html skills)
• No clear departmental responsibility: IR/Corporate Relations, Marketing Department or PR Agency?
• Discomfort with the identity of individual blogger(s) versus the corporate “we.”

Corporations may also be wary about the extent to which they expose themselves to negative or just plain libelous commentary - Think of the recent online slur campaign against WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell for an example of the latter. But bear in mind that the slurs against Sorrell and WPP were conducted on somebody else’s blog, not WPP’s.

There are online conversations about you happening out there now whether you like it or not.

Do you want one of the voices to be yours, or not?

This is the challenge of corporate communications and having a blog will put you in a better position to address and steer the issues that affect your organisation’s reputation. And if your blog serves as the platform for publicising resolution of any problems, so much the better.

As mentioned above, our research was informal and our methodology was to spend no more than 5 – 10 minutes on each FTSE 100’s main corporate website searching for a blog. So if we’ve missed them and you know of a FTSE 100 company that has a blog, please let us know!

Apparently the FTSE 100 prefer the top-down approach with a few companies offering podcasts, vodcasts and presentations to download. These do help spread the company’s message but don’t allow the two-way communication and feedback heralded by blogging.

To blog you have to be confident and proud about what you do and your ability to make things better. You have to believe in your achievements. As more corporations turn to implementing meaningful Corporate Social Responsibility strategies endorsed by their board, they open themselves up to greater scrutiny and blogging allows transparency throughout. It’s not an IT issue, it’s about strategy, communications policy and editorial management.

The opportunity for corporate blogging is enormous:

• Build trust
• Identify issues
• Allows direct contact for individuals who may not normally engage
• Like a shareholders meeting, allows issues to be aired
• Demonstrates openness and honesty
• Avoiding propaganda, it is an ideal launch pad for research and white papers
• Get buy-in from stakeholders
• Test the water on new ideas
• Set the record straight