There has been a lot in the media recently about the future of blogs. Nick Denton, whose Gawker empire is perhaps the worlds’ best known blogging network, recently called time on the format claiming that his sites were more like news magazines. Other commentators have suggested that blogs will dwindle and die, killed by the success of mainstream media on apps for tablet PCs and phones.

Before we start penning too many premature obituaries there are a couple of areas where blogging is especially strong at the moment and arguably has a very bright future. One is in the B2B area – you are reading a B2B blog now – the other is in blogs owned by brands.

Branded blogs have come a long way since General Motors’ Bob Lutz started the revolutionary FastLane blog back in 2005. These days branded blogs tend to be much less about giving a voice to the management than promoting the brand as part of overall online strategy.

The interesting thing is that brands blog for a number of different reasons. For some their blogs are a PR tool for connecting with journalists and influentials. Other companies blog because they know that the key word packed content they create means that more people will find their sites via search engines.

In my opinion the savviest companies are using blogs as content hubs to feed their social media properties. So for example blog posts provide content which makes Facebook pages look vital and lively and at the same time create links for Twitter accounts.

Really smart brands, such as business software company Sage, have developed blogs that create a community around their services by providing general help and guidance for their customers.

Here then is a list of ten British companies that have created innovative and effective blogs and why I think think that they have got their strategy right

A branded blog as a community hub

Sage – Business software company Sage’s blog is a textbook example of how a B2B company can use a blog to create and nurture a community. It is well written, constantly updated and regularly features interesting graphics and video. What makes it so powerful is that it directly addresses the questions that focus the minds of small business owners. So for example recent posts have included a video called ‘How to keep your customer happy,’ alongside more general features such as tips to keep you safe online and what businesses can learn from The Apprentice.

A branded blog as a passion centre

Bowers and Wilkins, best known in the UK for its Zeppelin speakers, is one of the country’s leading high end audio brands. Its team began blogging on the main B&W website a couple of years ago and now can boast a very engaged community. The blog does include information about B&W products but largely focuses on issues that concentrate the minds of serious music lovers and hi-fi buffs namely – whether the PC is the ultimate music source and which is the best audio compression format? There’s also plenty of news, competitions and debates (which track sounds best on your speakers?) as well as the odd cheeky celebrity reference.

A branded blog that ‘humanises’ a company

Food and drink brand Innocent uses its blog in a very different way to B&W and Sage, in that its takes its readers behind the scenes at ‘Innocent Towers’ and shows them a side to the company that otherwise they would not get to see. So the blog has lots of images of events the company runs as well reports from the many charity campaigns it is involved with. The content perfectly reflects the company’s worthy, but still rather fun, brand values.

A branded blog that creates a buzz around a small business

Velorution is a really great bicycle store not too far from London’s Oxford Street. It makes this list on account of a blog that’s fun, informative and beautifully designed with superb use of images and video. The really clever bit is that  the blog is dual format – so you can have a traditional style, or a Tumblr-esque page of thumbnails. The content is very subtle too with stories that highlight cycling innovations alongside bike-related fashion and ideas for cycling days out. It really does make you want to visit the store. The team is fairly prolific too with several posts each week.

A branded blog that targets other bloggers

Tesco – One of the few really big brands to get social media content right, Lifestyled is Tesco’s blog that aims to highlight the breadth of its clothing range. This blog is very much a PR blog aimed at getting fashion bloggers to take the Tesco clothing brands seriously. So there’s a big list of fashion bloggers on the side, lots of links to other blogs and fashion bloggers modelling Tesco clothes. Judging tby the site’s growing following in social media it seems to be working well. For the record the blog is well written and Tesco scores bonus points for some reasonably good video content.

Five more branded blogs worth visiting

John Smedley  –  The British fashion brand has a cute blog that largely features images of celebrities (both cool and not so cool) wearing its garments.

Nokia Conversations – Hints and tips (plus a little news too) for Nokia phone owners.

Toyota.co.uk - Largely news-focused blog from Toyota. It looks a little rough, but the content (stories and videos) are good.

U Switch.com – The blog of the energy comparison site. Not pretty, but boasts some good content.

ASos.com – Very few UK brands do online community and blogs as well as fashion retailer ASOS.

Got more you think should be on this list? share them here