Dan Gillmor's eJournal pointed me to an article about Robert Scoble, a Microsoft employee that has a Weblog called The Scobleizer Weblog.
It's about the use of Weblogs in business settings like Microsoft, where Robert Scoble works and how it can be more powerful than PR and Marketing. I liked this quote:
His daily ramblings, unedited by corporate brass or media handlers, give the world a window into Microsoft, building buzz for its products such as Office 2003 and creating a human face for a company that needs all the humanizing it can get.
"I've gotten email from people telling me they have changed their attitude about Microsoft because of my blog," says Scoble. "It helps me share the company's beliefs." It also helps Microsoft hear what the market is saying, both good and bad. "I link to everyone who hates Microsoft, and I send the negative stuff to the executives," he says.
...
Almost anything is fair game. "That is the first Apple marketing in a long time that makes me want to buy an Apple product," he wrote recently about an ad for the iPod music player.
I think the "humanizing" of companies (communicating like a person instead of press release) will be an increasing more valid and valuable strategy in the years to come and weblogs will be one tool that will make it happen.