I received a lot of curiosity and interest from my Top 11 Word of Mouth Blogs post and there were a number of people that mentioned I should have authored a Canadian version to the list.
Interesting challenge! Canucks are a little behind some other parts of the world in our adoption of word of mouth practices, there simply exists less experts on the subject here. So I've expanded the tent a bit to include a number of people that might not even consider themselves "word of mouth" pundits or experts but write about things that touch up against the subject.
Having read through about 120 blogs this weekend that might have made the list, here are the top 20 Canadian word of mouth blogs. We broke from our top 11 tradition to be an inclusive populist blog and identify a larger set of 20 WOM missionaries north of 49 degrees. I hope this list expands next time we do it....we need more believers.
My criteria was somewhat objective and subjective
- the objective - do they update frequently?, do they have a few months of blogging history? are they Canadian or live in Canada?, is it readable? and do they mention word of mouth, buzz, brand experience, social media, viral or related subjects?
- the subjective: do I like reading them?, are they trying to do something different?, are they helping educate Canadians?, do they sound informed? and do I sense they're doing it out of passion vs. doing it because it was a job?
In full disclosure, I have worked with David Jones, he was my PR flack (and a very good one at that) when I was in charge of marketing for Molson Canadian (and Joe Thornley was the managing partner at the PR agency). The others are acquaintances, colleagues, strangers and some might even believe competitors to what I do outside of blogging.
The Top 20 List:
David Jones @ PR Works
Colin Mckay @ CanuckFlack
Mitch Joel @ Twist Image
Michael Ferguson @ Home is Where You Hang Your @
Leesa Barnes @ Podonomics
Ken Schafer & Company @ One Degree
Joe Thornley @ ProPR
Tamera Kremer @ 3i
Darren Barefoot
Susan Abbott @ Customer Experience Crossroads
Jordan Behan @ Tell Ten Friends
Susannah Gardner @ Buzz Marketing with Blogs
Stuart Macdonald
Matthew Ingram
Mark Evans
Canucks Emeritus –
well-informed Canadians who've fled across the border
Malcolm Gladwell
Grant McCracken @ This Blog Sits At The…
Tara Hunt @ Horse, Pig, Cow
Of and of course myself, foolish oversight, damn that’s 21 now…
Thanks for the inspiration Canucks, I hope to share pints/cafes/bottled Evians with you soon. Others? Please let me know your out there and we'll add to the list.
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