Alles Gut ?

Nearly two weeks ago, I wrote about a strange incident that looked like the Brussels office of Ogilvy & Mather was sending out fake emails to bloggers in order to generate buzz for one of their clients - American Express.

And buzz they got: more than 30 blogs have "ranted " about Ogilvy and Amex since my first post - although probably nobody knows what really happened !?

But now there is an interesting new development !

Over the last two weeks, the IP number, where the original message came from, showed up several times in my server log. They were obviously monitoring my site and I thought it might be a good idea to ask them, if there is anything they want to clarify.

So I sent them an email, but I did not get a response - until Saturday, when I found this message in my inbox:

Dear Björn,

Yes indeed, your article has been picked up a lot. We are preparing a statement that I will send you on wednesday in response to your questions.

Have a nice weekend,
Wim

Well, let's see if this statement sheds some light on what was really going on. They definitely have some explaining to do. Many other bloggers - e.g. at AdLand or Marketing Vox - got the same email and they are all not very happy about it ! So I guess, we are all anxious to see how Ogilvy's damage control is reacting to this situation...

Funny side note: Have you seen this enlightening article in a recent issue of Fortune (via Micropersuasion) ?

"If you fudge or lie on a blog, you are biting the karmic weenie," says Steve Hayden, vice chairman of advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather, which creates blogs for clients. "The negative reaction will be so great that, whatever your intention was, it will be overwhelmed and crushed like a bug. You're fighting with very powerful forces because it's real people's opinions."