Like Americans, Europeans and Asians have become fervent bloggers, says the International Herald Tribune. Many American brands, and some brands of other countries, are starting to include blogs in their marketing plans, using PR at a much earlier stage. By the time of the official "launch," a product may already have been slipped into the hands of bloggers several months before. Feedback from their online discussions with other devotees can help inform a marketer's subsequent advertising and media strategy. One example of a soft launch using online content and bloggers is SkinMD Natural, a shielding lotion. The results caught the attention of PR Week. But other companies are not as blog savvy. When Olay launched their Life in Close Up campaign for Olay Definity, the media bash did not include any beauty bloggers. A search in Blog Pulse shows a few bloggers offering their free sample of Definity. With a better online brand strategy they could have had much more buzz in the bogs. "A year ago, brands were saying, 'Oh no, not the blogosphere,'" said Peter Hirshberg, chief executive of Technorati."Now they re saying, this is a great opportunity." | 
