Corporate Eye

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Archives for June 2010

Is Your Corporate Media Site Unnecessary?

Why wouldn’t you have a corporate media section on your website?

I’ve noticed a couple of trends recently, which at first glance seem to be going in opposite directions.

Expansive: Social Media Newsroom

sony ericsson social media newsroom

Some companies are developing extremely smart social media newsrooms. I recently discussed the Social Media Newsroom X Factor panel at Social Media in a Corporate Context, which highlighted some very interesting developments.

These are all-singing full-on newsrooms, with every conceivable use of social media, multimedia and reusable elements, so that visitors can pick up, reuse, and share the content wherever seems appropriate to them. Do go and look at the Sony Ericsson version – and check all the tabs – because the screenshot doesn’t do it justice.

Something to think about, if you’re going in this direction, is whether this will replace the traditional newsroom – as in the Sony Ericsson example – or whether it will be an additional feature.

Example: Sony Ericsson

Lean and Elegant: News Releases

Potash News

And then there are the companies which provide only their news releases.

These are sometimes beautifully presented, with helpful search and filtering options. Potash is a great example of this: I really like the clean look of the list pages (and the easy access to filtered RSS feeds), and if you visit individual releases, you can see how well they’ve implemented them:

Example: PotashCorp

This isn’t the only large company I’ve noticed recently that offers just news releases in what is conventionally known as the Media section. Are these companies who used to provide an extensive media section but now have scaled it right back? Or are these companies moving in the opposite direction, and building up a section from scratch – with news releases being the first step?

Or – and perhaps more interestingly – maybe these are two aspects of the same trend towards spreading content (images, videos, comment and conversation) across the web. One approach is to make it easy for others to spread the content; the other approach is to put the content out in locations where people might find it more easily.

If a company has social media outposts on places like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, do they need a newsroom on site in addition?

Please let us know what you think by commenting below…

“Careers” Meets Crisis: BP

 

BP Screenshot

Is there any good way for the corporate Careers page to deal with a highly publicized business problem such as BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill?

Certainly there is no easy answer to that question, but there are two conventional approaches:

  1. Completely separate the crisis from everything else, including Careers, or
  2. Distribute the crisis message throughout all corporate communications

BP has apparently chosen Option 1.

The BP website has a tab labeled Gulf Response.  Other than that—not a mention of the crisis anywhere.  Not on the Investor Relations page, not on the Careers page, not on the Home page.  Not anywhere, at least as of May 31.

There’s an argument to be made for the isolation strategy, and in some cases it probably is the best approach.  But given the extent and the notoriety of BP’s current crisis, the absence of mention seems seriously unrealistic.

It’s hard to imagine that anyone will come to the BP site without a general awareness of the enormous, still ongoing problem that now confronts the company.  So it seems unfortunate to have the following text in the box titled “Featured job category”:

BP has a remarkable record of exploration – one that’s taken us from the Gulf of Mexico to Indonesia. That’s why we need people with exceptional talents and training to help us make every well better than the last.

Rewriting the Careers page is understandably not a top priority for a company in crisis.  But in BP’s case, all the pages seem untouched, so it’s probably not a matter of priorities, but rather of strategy.

Toyota is the only company that can reasonably be compared with BP in terms of crisis management, at least in recent times.  So how has Toyota dealt with this problem?  In a surprisingly simple—and fairly effective—way:  They have a News feed on the Careers landing page.  Also on the About the Company landing page.

The “News” items are mainly company press releases, so the messaging is controlled.  But there is still an impression of transparency.  And the inclusion of a News section at least acknowledges that something is going on . . .

Beyond the corporate website, BP has a growing social media problem.   A CNNMoney.com story reported on May 26 that “an online movement to boycott BP for its role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is growing at a rate of better than 25,000 names a day.”  That won’t hurt BP financially (they don’t own the 11,500 U.S. stations selling their gas), and even if public attitudes did affect their sales, the amount of money lost wouldn’t be a drop in the ocean compared to their other looming losses.  So what difference does it really make if people vent about the company online?

That remains to be seen.  But one reality is that some people thinking of a career with BP will think twice—and may well choose a company that seems more forthcoming.

The BP Brand Fallout – Consumers Weigh In

bp_beyone_petroleum_signEarlier this month, I wrote a post about how the BP brand is being affected since the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  Sadly, the spill has yet to be contained and the BP brand is feeling the fallout.

However, several surveys and studies have been conducted in recent weeks in an attempt to gauge consumers’ opinions about the BP brand since the oil spill, and the results might not be entirely what you’d expect.

Following are some highlights from those reports (via BrandWeek):

  • From an Economist and YouGov survey: When it comes to trusting BP to “do the right thing in stopping the oil spill and cleaning it up,” 9% of respondents said they trust BP “a great deal” and 13% trust BP “quite a bit” while 20% have “only some” trust that BP will do the right thing, and another 20% said they have “very little” trust that BP will do the right thing.  The majority of respondents, 28%, trust BP “not at all.”  The remaining respondents stated that they were not sure how they felt.
  • From the same Economist and YouGov survey: 65% of respondents believe that BP and other companies involved in the oil spill are “pointing the blame on others and avoiding responsibility” while just 35% believe BP and other companies involved are “doing whatever it takes to stop the spill and clean up the oil.”
  • From a USA Today/Gallup poll: 34% of the respondents rated BP’s response to the spill as “poor” and 39% rated it as “very poor”.  Only 6% rated BP’s response as “very good” and 18% rated it “good.”
  • From a Pew Research Center and National Journal Congressional Connection poll: 44% rated BP’s response to the oil spill as “poor” and 26% rated it “only fair” while 16% rated BP’s response “good” and 3% rated it “excellent.”
  • From a CNN and Opinion Research Corp. poll: 76% of respondents disapprove of BP’s response to the oil spill and 24% percent approve.

So it appears to be safe to draw the conclusion from the results of these varied studies that consumers are not happy with BP’s response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  However, the most interesting piece of data from these surveys is probably one that comes from the CNN and Opinion Research Corp. poll where consumers were asked whether or not the BP oil spill will affect their willingness to purchase gasoline from a BP station.  70% of respondents said that the oil spill does not affect their decision on where to purchase gas while just 28% said they are less likely to purchase gasoline from a BP station since the oil spill.

Despite the current negative public sentiment for the BP brand, consumers will still buy from BP because a gasoline purchase is not typically an emotional purchase decision.  Instead, gasoline purchases are typically a convenience and price driven purchase decision.  Not many consumers are willing to drive out of their way to purchase gasoline from a specific brand.

Despite that consumer behavior, BP is doing damage control by placing ads in publications like the New York Times where a full-page BP ad appeared on June 2nd using messages like, “We will get this done. We will make this right.”  Also, the “Beyond Petroleum” tagline is conspicuously missing from the BP logo in the ad.

Normally after seeing this type of ad, I’d pose the question — do you think it’s too little too late for BP?  However, based on the results of the consumer surveys mentioned above, it seems like this type of ad spending might not even be necessary for BP.  Even though consumers are not happy with BP, the majority are still quite willing to purchase gas from BP, which is what makes this story so unique and interesting.  What lessons will we ultimately be able to learn from a branding perspective when the BP oil spill story is over?  It will be interesting to find out as the story continues to unfold.

Whether you agree with how BP is handling the oil spill response or not, one thing is for certain — this is an event that brand managers and strategists should watch and learn from (both the good and bad).

Image: Flickr

Oil Companies Among The Best | FTSE 100 Website Reviews

Classic Oil Rig TrimThere are some business sectors for whom sustainability is a hot issue, and with oil spilling all over the Gulf of Mexico and Shell recently admitting it hadn’t done enough in the Niger Delta, oil producers are definitely among those with the greatest CSR problems in the world.

So perhaps it’s not surprising then to find that they have some of the most progressive CSR websites around.

One of the facets which leads to this conclusion is the sites’ interactive data provision.  This was pioneered a few years ago by Shell but, in a fine example of site content competitiveness, BP has also introduced its own set of interactive data tools as have several others.

However, if this innovation is left to one side, how else do the websites perform?  In a slight change to previous FTSE 100 Website Reviews, this one looks not just at two big hitters within the UK, BP and Shell, but also one from continental Europe, Total, and one from the USA, Exxon Mobil.

Interestingly, these are also respectively the fourth, first, sixth and second largest companies in the world, according to Forbes.  Will their websites reflect this?

BP

BP at present is all over the news because of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and it’s interesting to note that other oil companies have not been shy in issuing press releases about what they think BP should be doing to “plug the leak”.

It’s unsurprising therefore to find that the BP site has a special “Gulf of Mexico response” section on its top level menu bar.  I have long bemoaned the fact companies rarely react to bad news on their websites, simply because it’s a perfect stakeholder engagement opportunity which should not be missed.

BP make the case for such bad news sections admirably, with daily updates, technical briefings, regional responses and all sorts of maps and data.  Admittedly there are few bad news stories worse than Deepwater Horizon, but then not every one needs such comprehensive coverage.  Just ignoring the issue, however, tends to alienate stakeholders, not engage them.

The company’s more traditional CSR section, headlined “Environment and society”, covers a wide variety of issues from traditional Environment management to Alternative energy and the “BP Energy Lab”.  This latter includes an energy consumption calculator, a fun energy quiz and the ability to share an energy fact with other website users.

The site, in BP’s green and yellow livery, is surprising on the eye rather than shocking, but with every page throwing up context sensitive links in the right hand column there’s more than enough to keep you interested in discovering more.

Total Experts Opinion — Henri Leridon

Shell

Shell is one of the few websites these days which does not have a main menu banner across the top of its pages.  Instead it has a more traditional breadcrumb trail and uses solely the headings in the left hand column to provide visitor navigation.

This can give the impression there is less content on the “Environment and society” site than there really is as, quite sensibly, the left hand menus contract as you move from section to section.  However the full set of section headings is presented in the page footers and visitors may navigate from there.

Interestingly, Shell maintains dedicated country-based independent websites (presumably based upon its operational locations).  Each of these conforms precisely to the Shell corporate layout but each has its own “Environment and society” content focusing upon the specific issues which that country faces.

The content isn’t allowed too far off the leash and most of the subsections refer the reader to the global site, for further information, and the company’s overall sustainability report.  However, this is a nice nod in the direction of acknowledging that different communities need very different engagement from a corporate multinational.

Like BP, Shell follows its corporate livery and has designed the site around the red and yellow of its logo.  However this is barely noticeable and the majority of pages are a simple and unobtrusive affair of black text on a white background with a splash of colour at the top.

Total

Unlike BP and Shell, Total’s website is not based around its logo colours.  Instead it uses a big bold frame to surround its content whose colour is determined by the section being viewed: for example orange for “About Us”, blue for “Investors” and green for “Environment and society”.

The sections the company uses approach the material from a slightly different angle to most. with two of the sections titled “contributing to host country development” and “operating in challenging environments”.  There’s even a section on socially responsible investment within the investors section.

Probably the most interesting part of their website though is the innocuously named “Expert infos” section.  This contains some brief Q&A sessions held with some French luminaries, such as the co-winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and the European Chair of Sustainable Development – Environment, Energy and Society at Collège de France.

A fair few of these are involved in Total operations in one way or another, so a small bit of salt needs to be taken with the information.  However by no means all of the detail is aimed at puffing up Total and it is refreshing to see information provided for information’s sake.  Very French, given the country’s tradition of philosophical discourse.

It is this slightly different approach to sustainability which draws you into the Total website, alongside the accessibility innovation of having most if not all of the website pages available in audio form as well.

ExxonMobil Corporate Citizenship Op Eds.

ExxonMobil

Exxon Mobil’s website is interesting for a number of reasons.  The first is that it has one of the most comprehensive corporate News sections on the web.  Press releases are not limited just to Investor Relations matters but cover all aspects of the company’s operations, ranging in May from the appointment of directors to the preparedness of Red Cross volunteers ahead of hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico.

However these are just the tip of the iceberg.  The section also includes “thoughts”, “publications” and “features”.  Although these are not categorised, because energy and oil is very much under the sustainability spotlight practically all are relevant in one way or another.

In addition, the company’s “op-ed” section is categorised.  This holds an archive of all the opinion pieces the company has had published in a variety of  journals and newspapers, such as the New York Times.

It is this thoroughness which pervades the rest of the company’s CSR offering, which eschews the European categorisation and is split between “energy and environment” and “community and society” sections.  Each neatly and succinctly keeps the section’s main headings and quick links in the left hand column with sitewide widgets in the right hand one and main content in the centre.

In total, a well presented site whose blue-grey design and mix of words and white space makes it easy to spend time on and investigate further.

Conclusion

It’s difficult to pick one site over another simply because different points of emphasis creates such a variety it would be manifestly unfair to say one way better than the other.

However, the oil extraction and refinement business has long been under the sustainability spotlight and if other companies wish to find out how to write the perfect sustainability website they could do a lot worse then scrutinise these.

Picture Credit: Classic Oil Rig by epredator from flickr under Creative Commons Attribution License, trimmed by Chris Milton.

Huge Growth Coming for B2B Social Media Marketing Spending

keyboard_computer_internetAccording to reports by Outsell and Forrester Research, social media marketing spending by business-to-business companies is expected to grow by 43.3% in 2010 and will hit $54 million in 2014 (up from $11 million in 2009).

Is your company ready for what’s being called the business-to-business social media marketing explosion?

Business-to-business companies are shifting marketing budget dollars to social media and online marketing quickly in order to leverage the opportunities the social Web presents, even though according to a November 2009 survey by Business.com (reported by eMarketer), 73% of business-to-business marketers who were using social media had less than two years of social media marketing experience.  That’s nearly 3 out of 4 people who really don’t know what they’re doing, but they’ll be getting more money to keep doing it.

Following is the breakdown of the change in social media marketing spending for several popular initiatives among business-to-business marketers in 2010:

  • Spending on social networking sites: up 43.3%
  • Spending on webinars: up 26.0%
  • Spending on search engines: up 17.1%
  • Spending on company Web sites: up 7.5%

I should point out that I’d argue that spending on search engines and company Web sites doesn’t necessarily equate to social media marketing spending in my book, so take that into consideration when you look at the results above.

Business-to-business social media marketing might happen on different branded destinations than business-to-consumer marketing and the type of shareworthy content a company publishes is certainly different, but the underlying principles and strategies of social media marketing still apply regardless of what you’re selling and to whom.  Just as with traditional marketing, you have to modify your placement and messages to match your audience.  In other words, you need to find your target audience online, and start and join the conversations that matter to them.  Until you take that step, your social media marketing investments can only take you so far.

Should business-to-business companies increase their social media marketing spending sooner rather than later?  Absolutely.  Why?  Because their clients and customers are spending time on the social Web.  Would you ignore those people if they were standing in front of you ready to engage in conversations that interest them?  No.  Then why would you ignore them on the social Web? Get out there, find your audience, and start interacting with them!

Image: stock.xchng

The May Wrap-up


Hummingbird

Follow-ups and afterthoughts . . .

1.  One post in May asked the question Can “Disability Humor” Really Work?  Boston Globe business writer Drake Bennett poses a related query in Who’s Still Biased?, an in-depth look at whether diversity training actually works.  The cited studies and quoted experts in Drake’s article seem to suggest that no one really knows—but the provisional answer is “probably not.”  There seems to be little evidence that companies with formal diversity training programs improve in terms of hiring and promoting women and minorities.  It even seems that compulsory and/or legalistic training can have a negative effect.

What does (or at least might) work better?  The best plan may be adding “more explicit measures like minority outreach, mentoring, and even old-fashioned affirmative-action programs like setting gender- and race-based promotion targets and making someone responsible for them.”

2.  Perils and Perks:  Government Online recounted both a cautionary tale and a happy story.  Here’s a little more news from the happy category:  New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., have all made a some key data sets available to third-party developers—and the result is an array of apps that sift through the official info and makes it more useful to users.  For example:  San Francisco Crimespotting offers a nice interface for exploring police report data.  And in NYC, a BigApps competition drew some inventive entries like Bookzee (enter the title of a book and the nearest public library with a copy will pop up on your iPhone).  Data access is not limited to developers, by the way.  Anyone can visit DC Data Catalog, NYC Data Mine and Data SF for serve-yourself downloads of permit records, purchase orders, code enforcement incidents, and more.

3.  Inside Unemployment looked at the experience of editor Dominique Browning, whose job at an upscale lifestyle magazine suddenly disappeared.  I think Browning’s book includes themes familiar to many people coping with unemployment, and offers interesting reflections on losing/finding work-life balance.  But I can also understand why the book has provoked some critical responses.  Carolyn See’s Washington Post review takes a rather sharp view of the book and its author, and although Browning defended herself in a recent appearance on the Diane Rehm show, it’s clear (from some of the negative emails received during the show, as well as comments on DR’s website) that people are very sensitive around the issue of unemployment.

Not much employment improvement in May—but things are not worse either.  Let’s keep a good thought for June.


(Many thanks to thefixer for this month’s just-for-pretty photo:  a ruby-throated hummingbird, caught in mid-flutter.)