Yahoo!'s Yodel Anecdotal: Read. Comment. Repeat.

Over the past several years, Yahoo! embraced social media -- blogging in particular -- and encouraged open and honest representation in the blogosphere. Yahoo! executives value blogs as means to communicate directly with target audiences to build relationships, dialogue and trust.

Yahoo! watched the proliferation of its product blogs and determined a need to provide a blogopsheric home for corporate topics such as business management, company culture, corporate social responsibility, user stories, and trends that affect the company. As such, Yodel Anecdotal was born in August 2006.

Yodel Anecdotal was quickly embraced by employees. In fact, the name is a result of a companywide naming contest that received more than 2,400 suggestions. More than 30 different employees have already authored blog posts, from co-founder David Filo to product managers, representing product news, acquisitions, user spotlights, events (Open Hack Day), brand initiatives (new ad campaign), community relations programs (Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Hurricane Katrina relief), etc.

Yodel Anecdotal was equally embraced by the blogosphere. The blog's Technorati ranking escalated from 10,000-plus to ~5,000 in just three months. Readers visit and comment from all over the world -- from Brazil to India to Romania. The blog received particular praise for its tone, which mirrors the company's brand personality. The inaugural post was entitled "Yet another self-serving corporate blog" and contributors are encouraged to be irreverent, witty, and authentic.

Yodel Anecdotal also strives to consistently include video and images with posts. Popular videos have included a video tour of Yahoo! headquarters (viewed 40,000 times) and a behind-the-scenes at the popular The9 video blog (viewed 26,000) -- metrics that surpassed expectations. An ever-present Flickr badge provides a virtual photo album.

Yodel Anecdotal has successfully put a human name and face on a large global company and provided a sneak-peek into the Yahoo! brand and culture.

Credit Information
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Client: Yahoo!
Agency: N/A
Budget: Undisclosed
Date of Campaign: August 2006