Lovell Communications Inc.

Emerging forms of media inherently mimic their predecessor. Newspapers once printed entire speeches, start to finish. Websites began as static, digital brochures. Similarly, corporate blogging began as one more form of outbound communications – a new medium to issue news releases and promote a company’s products or services.

Just like the early adapters of other “new media,” corporate marketing professionals who only utilize blogs and social media as a way to push out information underestimate the potential of this new tool. Of course, those who dismiss new media completely might as well have ignored Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press. In either case, marketers who choose not to effectively engage online media as a communication tool may one day find their tried-and-true tactics are the modern-day equivalent of the quill pen.

Fortunately, some well-known brands have started to use blogs, Twitter and other new media in progressive ways to accomplish their business goals. For more info, check out the following posts:

• Mashable, a wealth of social media knowledge, wrote a great post in January detailing 40 of the Best Twitter Brands and the People behind Them.

• Sitepoint, another great resource, published an informative rundown on 15 Companies that Really Get Corporate Blogging.

Of course, even though an emerging medium may skyrocket into popularity and drive meaningful change, its predecessors do not disappear. Command of the spoken word is still highly regarded in American society (see Barak Obama’s presidential campaign), and calligraphy remains a well-respected art form.

In short, new media expand our resources rather than replace old tools. Perhaps it’s time to review your marketing tool kit to determine what’s there and what’s missing?