Steve Rubel gets a blogging client. Vespa scooters. How? By “perking” bloggers to write about scooters (VespaBlogs.com FAQ). Very cutting edge?

No. Look at Marqui. CooperKatz (for Vespa) is hardly breaking new ground.

The difference? Gifts versus money. The value to each blogger? Probably about the same. Marqui’s bloggers get “a fee of $400.00 USD per month plus $50.00 USD per qualified lead accepted by Marqui up to 4 leads per month, for a term of two months” (See Contract/Terms). Vespa bloggers get “an early look at Vespa products and services, passes to Vespa events as well as Vespa accessory merchandise and online/media exposure.” (Source) Come to think of it, Marqui’s bloggers may be ahead with their deal.

Marqui is more daring in their exploits. Their bloggers post in their own blogs. The terms on that?

- Mention Marqui and link to our site – once or twice a month.
- Put our mark/emblem on your site.
- Two month contracts will be honored.
- No “gotchas.” None.

CooperKatz will control the VespaBlogs. “Will comments be turned on? Vespa believes in transparency and will enable blog comments. However, they may, at their sole discretion, remove comments if they are deemed off-topic or inappropriate. ” (Source) It will be easier for CooperKatz to ‘turn off’ bloggers, should their posts and/or comments run afoul of the brand. How successful do you think Marqui would be in trying to get one of their bloggers to take down a comment or post?

Rubel once wrote about Marqui’s tactics:

I am on the fence on whether this is smart strategy or not. On the one hand, the company gets to reach influentials in a very cost-effective way. On the other, I feel that it’s tainted. These readers are well attuned to what’s going on here and may abandon the bloggers for others where they can get similar information in a marketing-free environment. It will be fascinating to see how this works out.

I’m guessing Rubel’s off the fence, now. Perhaps he feels that it worked out ok for Marqui/Nike and is now onboard – only with merchandise giveaways, not cash, for the bloggers.

Rubel also wrote favourably about “signing bloggers to product endorsement deals” here and here. In January 2005, Rubel compares signing bloggers to a “be like Mike” (Michael Jordan) campaign. Hmm? Scooter riders and Michael Jordan. Just who is the “MJ” of the scooter world? Guess we’ll find out.

Actually, Nike created one of the first ‘celebrity bloggers’ when Nike ACG signed Ben Saunders (“Adventurer, Athlete, Motivational Speaker” – er, and blogger) in October 2004. Now, Saunders is quite a bit more than a scooter rider. He has “three North Pole expeditions under his belt.” Ben didn’t need a scooter. Ben does it on foot and skis.

Now, Nike did all that in October 2004. Rubel wrote about the idea of signing bloggers in January 2005. I am not suggesting that the highest profile PR blogger is behind the curve here. Just saying that this isn’t really the biggest news. A good new entry into the corporate blogging mix? Yes. Breaking new ground? No. Signing Vespa is one more in a line of attempts to monetize blogging in marketing efforts by PR firms and blog consultants.

WSJ.com breaks the scooter story:

Corporate Marketers Try Out Blogs

In a move that runs counter to current popular notions of how the so-called blogosphere ought to operate, Piaggio Group, the Italian manufacturer of Vespa scooters, intends to launch two blogs written by U.S. Vespa owners. Piaggio views the blogs as extensions of traditional scooter clubs, in which enthusiasts of the vehicles gather to discuss issues and ideas, says Paolo Timoni, chief executive of Piaggio USA.

Rubel, a vice president at New York public-relations firm CooperKatz, “will manage the program. Four bloggers will be selected to regularly contribute content about the products and broader lifestyle topics. The company will give the bloggers guidance as well as a code of ethics. Comments may be removed if they are deemed inappropriate.” (Source)

For me, I’m still trying to understand how the WSJ thinks this “runs counter to current popular notions of how the so-called blogosphere ought to operate.” The Vespa/CooperKatz tactic appears to be ‘in line’ with how some PR/Marcom bloggging consultants want the tactic to operate. Controlling the message as much as possible while trying to implement some form of blog.

An interesting aspect to this story is that O’dwyer’s reported “Development Counsellors International, New York, as its PR agency got Vespa in 2001.” Also, JMPR has done work for them. All in all, if you search Google you’ll find many companies mentioned as doing work for the scooter goliath. Is it common for a manufacturer to change firms so often? Just wondering.

I wish CooperKatz good luck in their ‘scooterblog’ campaign. We’ll see how long they can hold onto the account. I think we all hope they have many successful years of scooter blogging.