The Copywriter Underground

I just posted a short profile of BzzAgent on my Engagement Principles blog, and telling you is my way of saving myself the trouble of copying and pasting the whole thing over here.

Instead, I’ll point out that BzzAgent is a word-of-mouth marketing company who has already dispensed with the “traditional” blog format. What are they up to?

They’re pursuing the “next big thing” in blogging.

For example, their first blog was set to run for 90 days… and then expire.

Bento Box is BzzAgent’s newest effort - a non-linear blog.

In conventional terms they were shooting themselves in the foot. Building traffic and then killing the blog defies common sense. Still, I liked the idea of a deadline - it told readers they’d better not wait to get into the conversation.

After the 90 days were up, BzzAgent fired up another blog that may yet set the standard for the next-generation blog; a non-linear, graphically oriented blog that included contributions from both a writer and an artist.

Called Bento Box, it’s far easier to visit than describe.

Meet The Writer.

The writer for both blogs is John Butman. In an interesting twist to standard corporate blogging, Butman’s assignment on the 90 Days of BzzAgent blog wasn’t to act as cheerleader for the company, but instead write from the perspective of an embedded reporter.

While BzzAgent called the 90 days blog “an experiment in organizational transparency,” I’d suggest Butman didn’t truly act as neutral reporter, though he did bring a perceptive eye and inviting writing style to the assignment.

Butman’s a well known writer with a long list of fiction and non-fiction credits to his name, but you don’t need a strong pedigree to innovate new ideas for your clients.

After reading Inc. Magazine’s profile of the BzzAgent blogs, I scribbled a pair of ideas in my notebook for future reference.

Someday, I’ll find a perfect fit for those ideas. My client will think I’m a genius. My wife will think I’m not as dumb as a stalk of celery. And I’ll have added value to my relationship with the client - by appearing smarter than the next guy.

So what do you think the next-generation blog looks like? And how will you harness that vision to add value to your copywriting brand?

[tags]bzzagent, bento box, blog, marketing, buzz, 90 days of bzzagent, engagement, marketing, pr[/tags]