Piaggio USA to Launch Blogs by Vespa Owners

Posted on May 4, 2005

Piaggio Group, the manufacturer of Vespa scooters, plans to start two blogs run by Vespa scooter owners. Steve Rubel, a vice president at CooperKatz and blogger at Micropersuasion.com, will manage the blog program. CooperKatz and Vespa refer to the blogs as a blog-based customer evangelism program. This venture is already successful but only because they are the first company doing it and they are getting a big PR buzz from the launch. Future corporate blogging plans that are similar to the Piaggio USA blog strategy will not get nearly as much blog and press coverage -- if any. Piaggio USA plans to "hire" a total of four bloggers to run the two blogs. Piaggio is not directly paying the bloggers, but they are giving them free accessory merchandise and perks. From the Vespa blogs FAQ:

In return for their services, Vespa bloggers will get an early look at Vespa products and services, passes to Vespa events as well as Vespa accessory merchandise and online/media exposure. Vespa is not paying for any of the bloggers to blog, nor is it trying to influence them on content. These are simply perks for blogging for Vespa.

The problem for Piaggio will be if the bloggers they hire appear to be too pro-Vespa to the public. If that happens people might look elsewhere in the blogosphere for more independent Vespa information. Piaggio could also see a backlash from independent bloggers if they remove comments from these blogs. A Wall Street Journal article explains the potential downside to Vespa's plan:

Still, can snarky, independent bloggers be tamed? And if they were, would they remain as valuable? Part of the typical blog's appeal is that the person who operates it is free to be as wild and woolly as he or she might like.
So, if corporations want to get in on blogging, they have to tread warily. "You hire some bloggers to come in, and you give them a list of 10 talking points, and it becomes nothing more than a spin machine," says Todd Copilevitz, director of digital initiatives for Omnicom Group's TracyLocke. "Those are ultimately going to be derided as sellouts or as commercial."

Even if the blog strategy doesn't work Piaggio has probably already gained lots of exposure for Vespa just from the announcement of the future blogs. The Wall Street Journal article is just one example of the press coverage.