Blogs and Brands

I've been asked to give a talk about blogs as a brand communication channel - hence the recursive image of this blog.

All the basics are pretty simple I think - what is a blog, where do they fit in, who is involved, new blog every second and so on - but brands and blogs present an interesting question: how can a brand use blogs as a communication channel?

I've been wracking my brain for good examples of brand / blog. I can't really think of many. None of my favourite blogs come from a brand - one of the things I love about blogs is that they have a distinct, individual voice.

Innocent have a great blog, Nike dipped a toe with Gawker....

So, in the spirit of this ongoing conversation, I'd like to appeal to you. When you do think a brand has got blogging right? And when has a brand tried and failed horribly?