Criticized Character Blog Helps Drive Traffic and Increase Sales

Posted on November 23, 2005

Inc. Magazine has an article about character blogs, specifically Delicious Destinations, a character blog from GourmetStation starring a fictional character named T. Alexander. The article says T. Alexander received a wave of initial criticism from the blogosphere.

With a disclosure that Alexander was indeed a fictional character, the blog launched last March. But the response was not what the women had hoped for.
Robert French, a communications instructor at Auburn University who blogs about marketing on a site called Blogthenticity, was the first to notice. Delicious Destinations, he wrote, was a prime example of so-called character blogging, something that has become increasingly popular on business blogs. "What value do you find in this tactic?" he asked his readers. "Is it authentic?" The blogosphere responded. Hugh MacLeod, who runs Gapingvoid, a highly regarded and often scathingly critical site for marketing professionals, decided that GourmetStation's new blog merited special recognition -- the Beyond Lame Award. Soon, GourmetStation was the talk of all the marketing blogs. "Horrible. Stupid. Insane. Worthless. Ineffective," wrote one person. "The ultimate in false advertising."

However, Donna Lynes-Miller, founder and CEO of GourmetStation, stuck with the blog and according to the article at least some of the criticism died down. They also saw a rise in traffic possibly as a result of inbound links from critical blogs.

Lynes-Miller has no regrets. For one thing, traffic at her site almost doubled as a result of the controversy. Besides, blogging is just one part of the company's marketing plan. In May, for example, GourmetStation was touted on Good Morning America as a great place to shop for Mother's Day gifts, which helped send second-quarter sales up 158%.
Meanwhile, T. Alexander's culinary adventures continue uninterrupted. "I didn't expect the negative feedback we initially received," Lynes-Miller says. "Though there was no negative feedback from customers -- and that's the feedback I'm most concerned about."

Double the traffic and soaring sales -- it looks like T. Alexander may get the last laugh. There are many examples of bad character blogs but few examples of really good ones. A couple good ones include the Colb-Blog for the Corbert Report and Buster the Bunny's blog.