TriBeCa is a french company which I consider to be very avant-garde in terms of emergent communications or consumer-driven advertising (what some call "advertising 2.0"). In 2006 they came up with a new concept they titled "BRM" or Bloggers Recommendation Management, through which they would gather influencers (bloggers are, by definition, engines of influence because they are authentic, unbiased and trusted sources of information) and provide them with exclusive opportunities to try new products, events or services, in order to hopefully have them freely blog about their experience. As a second mission, BRM encourages the blogging community and the blogging lifestyle itself, through their own personal blogging involvement.

I wasn't aware of this system, but I think the idea is fantastic. I just registered AdKrispies and can't wait to see what this is all about. Dropping my advertising hat and putting on the blogger cap, the possibility of being an "early tester" or even "early adopter" sounds great to me, simply because it makes me want to share my exclusive experience with all of you who "didn't have my chance". If brands are being generous to me and allowing me exclusive access on stuff, it's only fair deal that I be generous to them and give them a presence on my blog.

That is modern advertising thinking. Instead of involving classic media buy and creative, WebPR with blogs only costs a company a few crates of product and generates a lot of awareness -- especially if its well done and generous. It's not a new system. PR companies have done this for years with journalists and magazine editors. But seeing this applied to blogs by advertising agencies, is a new system within our industry and the effectiveness of the system proves that blogs are perceived by some as a new way to democratize communication authentically.

Traditional media hasn't lost its power to reach, of course not. But it has lost or is losing its power to convince. Using blogs as notoriety channels is a brand's modern tool of gathering faithfulness and awareness through positive word-of-mouth. It's simple logic really: When building a brand, think about who the builders really are.

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