Taking a Stand
The number of blogs are growing at a very fast-paced speed. I guess it's because of the convenience of being online most of the time (thanks to DSL and WIFI connections). Through this, the Internet has turned out to be a most accessible venue where even the most bashful individual could open themselves up to the world while remaining anonymous.
With the growth and popularity of blogs as an alternate resource material for people who would like to update themselves with the latest trends, newest restaurants or the best weekend getaway, it then follows that more and more brands are starting to give more attention to build a better online presence and by inviting bloggers to their media launch and events. If your really think about it, its a perfect marketing tactic to get the word out there with just a very minimal cost.
Sadly, some agencies and brands have gone tad overboard. In order to make sure that they get a positive write-up, they would go to the extent of paying a fee at the painful expense of compromising the bloggers' credibility.
It has been a year since this blog was launched. To be honest, there was no dramatic story on how this was created. It's just as simple as me, being passionate in writing and after years of keeping a very personal blog, I've decided to take a step back and to let go of all that emo. "It was about time", I thought.
Writing about my food and travel adventures, just came naturally. I always believe that a blog is first and foremost, your online journal. This is something that i would like to look back to after ten years to remind me of some wonderful experiences that I've had as it is being documented in this site. Who knows, maybe it's also one of the things that I can share with my kids someday. Think of it as your new-age story-telling session (Anak, just log on to www.frannywanny.com before you sleep ha ;))!
Coincidentally, I opened my inbox today and I have received an email talking about a very similar issue on paid blog entries. I'd like to share it with all of you:
With that, I would like to re-assure my dear readers that frannywanny has not and will never ever accept payments in exchange of blog entries. All reviews here are products of myoccassional frequent dinner dates my Paul and with friends and were written right after a wonderful experience that I just have to share with the world. Ü
With the growth and popularity of blogs as an alternate resource material for people who would like to update themselves with the latest trends, newest restaurants or the best weekend getaway, it then follows that more and more brands are starting to give more attention to build a better online presence and by inviting bloggers to their media launch and events. If your really think about it, its a perfect marketing tactic to get the word out there with just a very minimal cost.
Sadly, some agencies and brands have gone tad overboard. In order to make sure that they get a positive write-up, they would go to the extent of paying a fee at the painful expense of compromising the bloggers' credibility.
It has been a year since this blog was launched. To be honest, there was no dramatic story on how this was created. It's just as simple as me, being passionate in writing and after years of keeping a very personal blog, I've decided to take a step back and to let go of all that emo. "It was about time", I thought.
Writing about my food and travel adventures, just came naturally. I always believe that a blog is first and foremost, your online journal. This is something that i would like to look back to after ten years to remind me of some wonderful experiences that I've had as it is being documented in this site. Who knows, maybe it's also one of the things that I can share with my kids someday. Think of it as your new-age story-telling session (Anak, just log on to www.frannywanny.com before you sleep ha ;))!
Coincidentally, I opened my inbox today and I have received an email talking about a very similar issue on paid blog entries. I'd like to share it with all of you:
Dear Flipflopping my way through town,Note: the name and contact details of the sender has been deleted for security purposes.
I am writing on behalf of our client, Wrigley Philippines, regarding an event organized exclusively for bloggers entitled “7,100 Tastes” sponsored by Orbit Gum. Having one of the largest networks of online independent publishers in the country, our agency contacted Mad Crowd Media to invite bloggers like yourself to participate in this event.
We would like to clarify on behalf of Wrigley Philippines that a clear misrepresentation was made when Mad Crowd Media communicated “compensation for editorials”, encouraging paid posts. We had no idea beforehand that such a proposition would be offered and neither do we condone such actions. We would also like to emphasize that Wrigley was not involved whatsoever in the email invitation independently sent by Mad Crowd Media on Wrigley’s behalf, and would never have agreed to such an arrangement.
We have consistently communicated to our clients that event participation does not guarantee an editorial post of which they understood and supported completely. We respect the opinions and unbiased feedback of online independent publishers.
In light of this incident, we are no longer working with Mad Crowd Media and we are not pushing through with the event on September 15 to preserve the intention of the event to build a relationship with bloggers in a professional and credible way. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
I would like to personally clarify any miscommunication caused by this incident. Please e-mail me your contact details at _______________ or you can contact me anytime at ________ so we can discuss this incident and clarify all concerns. Thank you very much for your understanding.
With that, I would like to re-assure my dear readers that frannywanny has not and will never ever accept payments in exchange of blog entries. All reviews here are products of my
