Russian metals giant Norilsk Nickel has turned to blogging to raise its profile among Internet users. The company is using an online community at the LiveJournal blogging service – the most popular in Russia – to tell people about it
The company's PR department is looking to diversify the traditional NorNickel audience: “We're trying to enlarge our audience – not only journalists, not only investors, but users of the Internet who are interested in information about our company,” says Andrey Belyak, senior PR manager. Edward Shenderovich, the head of strategic development at SUP, one of Russia's leading online companies and operator of LiveJournal in the country, says growth of the Russian 'blogosphere' should be expected. “There are about 13 million accounts registered in LiveJournal, and about a million of then are Russian. Russia is the second largest community in LifeJournal after the United States and also the second largest source of traffic there – about 6.3 million visitors a month. In the future we expect more and more companies opening their blogs, or opening their communities in LiveJournal,” says Edward Shenderovich, SUP strategic development head. An online presence is one of the most dynamic forms of public relations a company can maintain. And opening a community on a site like LiveJournal might just be the latest trend – a fun and interactive way to let the world know what your company is all about.