After the last post about how much I like Frankenberry, how could I choose anything else but the General Mills blog for our first example of a corporate blog? To find this site, I did a quick Google search which made it to the main page. So let's take a look at corporate blogs in general and then "A Taste of General Mills".
Corporate blogs have sprung up as a way for corporations to take a more personal approach to marketing their products to consumers; before companies had online presences, many relied on direct marketing campaigns (such as catalogues) as a way to keep in touch with potential buyers. Catalogues, of course, still exist, but they don't have the focus that they once had, as they used to be the size of phone books (also a dated reference). These things probably took all year to put together, but if you wanted to see what new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys were coming out, it was a sight to behold:
Look how massive this this is! Also, in the '70s, there were displays in it like this:
Today, corporate blogs (and other electronic corporate outreach programs) serve as a way for companies to market products, give instructions on how to use an item, relay information directly to consumers, and to gauge interest in different items or topics. Companies have staffs whose job it is to run and maintain these blogs as an extension of customer outreach and service. And while many companies also duplicate these services on other social media platforms (most companies have an official Facebook page and Twitter account, for example), blogs give them a way to provide information - sometime long-form - in a way that they weren't easily able to before.
So let's again look at the General Mills corporate blog and see what kind of features it has. At first glance, it seems to be very modern with a simple display option. A scrolling list of articles fills most of the page, giving it the impression of having a lot of content that seems to be updated regularly.
At the bottom of this home page, we see the editorial staff, the ones who provide much of the content for the site. The blog makes it clear who is in charge of the content. If you click on any of the names, you'll find a short bio for the staff member and a list of articles written by each person.
The top of the page has links to just about every other type of social media platform known to man, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. They even have a podcast that you can listen to! What do they talk about on this podcast? Who listens to it?! How many of them deal exclusively with Frankenberry?!?
The tabs at the top of the page help to express the corporate identity that General Mills wants to portray, with all of the categories covered.
The "history" tab allows the company to participate in the telling of corporate stories - an important aspect of organizational communication. With these stories, the company is crafting its own identity for both members of the organization and for the public in general. When an organization has a history we can understand and feel a part of, it strengthens organizational identity and helps members of that organization to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves.
I made quick use of the search bar to easily find just what I was looking for: posts about Frankenberry. Apparently they do have a podcast dedicated to the monster cereals. That is weird. Also weird is the post dedicated to people who have monster cereal tattoos, featuring this one from Instagram:
Most of the posts are fairly short, which is probably a good thing for what this site tries to accomplish. A lot of the information is obviously carefully curated to not read as an advertisement, which in fact most are trying to, at least indirectly sell a product or a brand. And, importantly, most of the posts have other links to more information at the bottom, such as where one might find a particular product.
The posts at one point had a space for comments, but it seems that those have been removed, probably because people would use it to complain about cereal and other incredibly important topics.
Overall, I think that the site has a modern veneer, and while it might be light on some content, it's pretty much what you should expect from a company who sells, among other things, breakfast cereal. It seems to have a good design for what its purpose is - customer outreach and product advertisement.
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