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Archives for 2010

The “New” Fortune List: Part 2

Fortune 100 2

More observations on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, 2010 . . .

A Lesson from the List:  Right-sizing the Corporate Careers Site

Given the fabulous workplace at SAS (see Part 1 for details!), we can surmise that the main challenge for their recruiters really is tracking down those perfect passive candidates and luring top talent through the gates of paradise.  Therefore, it’s not surprising that the SAS Careers site is truly minimal—just a (long) list of benefits and some job search tools.  That’s all.  No videos, testimonials, day in the life, social media.  Just the opportunity to apply.

Over at Publix Super Markets, on the other hand, where many prospective employees can expect to work long hours stocking shelves or filling prescriptions, the Careers site has every conceivable bell and whistle.  Publix has almost 140,000 employees compared with not quite 6,000 (U.S.) positions at SAS, and as of January 2010 they were looking for 1300 new employees, while SAS was in search of 52.

Point: In considering what is “best practice” for a corporate Careers site, we really need to look at the context.  Arguably, SAS doesn’t need a state-of-the-art web presence.  Publix does.

A Question about the List:  Is It Still Relevant?

A few years ago, the Fortune List seemed to be investigative and informative.  It offered examples of what worked in the workplace, and showed off companies that had built solid employer brands.   Getting on the list was a valuable achievement, and falling off would presumably be a disgrace.

When you look at that set-up, it becomes obvious that the list is not likely to change much.  There are only 100 spots, and once you’ve identified 100 companies that meet the criteria, the quota is full.  New places will only open up when a listee messes up seriously, goes out of business, or gets bought up.  So by now the news is not who’s on the list, but whether they rise and fall in relative rankings.

This year SAS vaulted from a respectable Twenty all the way to Numero Uno.  Why?  No way of knowing.  Fortune doesn’t explain its rankings.  But some suspect that companies figure out the secret of improving their rank and deliberately work their way up.  I.e., they study the test.

This year I spotted five newcomers:  McCormick, FactSet, Mercedes-Benz, LifeBridge Health Care, and DPR Construction.  There are probably more, as I didn’t make an exhaustive comparison—but I’m pretty sure I recognize 90% of the companies as perennials.  Given that 353 companies competed . . . the apparent conclusion would be that at least 248 competitors (2/3 of the set) fell short of whatever it would take to dislodge an incumbent.

Point: Maybe it’s time for Fortune to shake up this drill.  What about categories for small, medium and large enterprises, to establish a more level playing field?  What about special recognitions for innovators and most improved companies?  What about breaking out the citations for listees in terms of (a) tangibles like pay and perks, and (b) intangibles like respect, fun, loyalty, etc.  And what about adding a new point of view, so the Great Place to Work Institute is not the sole arbiter?

Just some thoughts . . .

Repackaging Campbell’s from the Top Down

Have you ever stood in the soup aisle at the grocery store and been faced with a sea of red Campbell’s soup cans, but you simply cannot find the flavor you’re looking for?  We’ve all been there, cursing to no one in particular but desperately wanting to find that can of tomato soup so you can get out of there as fast as possible.  Fortunately, Campbell’s heard our cries.

Using neuromarketing research results, Campbell’s has redesigned its soup can packaging from the top down.  No longer is the red Campbell’s logo emblazoned across the top of Campbell’s soup cans.  The neuromarketing research determined that having the red band of color along the top of all Campbell’s soup cans made it more difficult for consumers to find the specific flavors they wanted.  Consumers became frustrated with the too consistent packaging of Campbell’s soups, so the logo has been relegated to the bottom of the can.

Based on the company’s research, the iconic Campbell’s soup can that’s been the subject of everything from Andy Warhol’s artistic eye to comedic skits has been replaced.  Not only has the Campbell’s logo been moved, but the soups in the Campbell’s product line have been categorized and color-coded to save you a few minutes (or more) on your next trip down the grocery store soup aisle.

Check out some of the additional changes to the Campbell’s soup packaging shown in the image below:

campbells_soup_package_redesign

What do you think of the new Campbell’s soup packaging? I don’t think repositioning the logo will affect the brand identity negatively, and I think the new packaging does look more modern. I also think the color-coding is a big improvement and will surely save me some time in the supermarket, but I don’t think I would have ever noticed the additional steam or lack of a spoon in the picture. How about you?

Image: Campbell’s via LogoLounge

The Positive Effects of Corporate Media Blogging

Corporate blogging is a technique and marketing tool that is slowly but most assuredly catching on in the corporate mainstream. Corporations are starting to see the inherent value of a solid blog that speaks directly to their audience. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of corporate blogs that address everything from media relations to social responsibility. This is a very good thing, and a sign that corporations are making concerted efforts to decentralize and universalize their communications target markets.

Social Media Contact

Corporations that give attention to the merits of social media are undoubtedly paying off. One such example is the case of the Jet Blue Airlines from a few years ago. With the help of seasoned writer and blogger, Debbie Weil, something that could have been potentially harmful for the company worked out very well.

Debbie’s book on professional blogging and social media outreach offered insight to the company about the need for them to make a corporate statement and the need for them to take advantage of social media.

By doing so, the company accomplished several things:

  1. A new presence in the world of social media and blogging. Debbie’s book was a welcomed tool for the company and they used her suggested practices right away, resulting in positive desired effects.
  2. Being proactive in offsetting any potential ill-feelings that consumers would have had about their service. This went a long way in ensuring repeat business from some of those same customers.
  3. Understanding the importance of establishing themselves in the online social world. Once they recognized the impact that social networking had on their business, they began to utilize the service more to their advantage.
  4. Implementing a dedicated department to handle social media issues. This is important when social networking is at the crux of any business. In order for that phase of the business to thrive, it needs dedicated manpower to ensure that the resource is being fully implemented.

Implementing Campaign Strategies

Corporations are starting to embrace the valuable merits of social media and networking. They see it as an alliance to the marketing efforts that are already in place, and are using it to its maximum capacity to work productively for their company. What are some things that your corporation can do to enhance its corporate media relations campaign? Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Realize the importance of interacting with readers. Almost everything written on blogs is done in real time, therefore readers are updated almost instantly on news, developments and changes within a corporate structure.
  2. Dedicate the time that is necessary to make the campaign productive. Invest both time, money and manpower to ensure that the campaign has what it needs to operate effectively.
  3. Be realistic in your expectations. Your corporate blog may not attract readers right away, nor will it appear as if it is even being read. But take heart; be diligent in growing the blog by being consistent, factual and interacting with the readers at every available opportunity.

Corporate blogging and social media efforts definitely have their place in the corporate structure. With a well-devised strategy plan and a commitment to watching it grow, corporations can become just as involved as social media individuals and garner the attention they seek for their online business.

Image Source: sxc.hu

Fonts Really Do Matter

fontsResearch by Hyunjin Song and Norbert Schwarz (via Neuromarketing Blog) proves that the fonts used in ads, marketing materials, and documents really do affect consumer behavior.  The title of the research report says it all — If It’s Hard to Read, It’s Hard to Do: Processing Fluency Affects Effort Prediction and Motivation.

In multiple experiments, consumers were provided a set of written instructions related to the use of a product and asked to estimate how long it would take to perform those instructions.  The results were always the same.  Consumers who were provided instructions in simple fonts (such as Arial) estimated that the instructions they read would take half the time to complete than consumers who were provided the exact same instructions in a more creative font (such as Mistral) estimated.

Clearly, the takeaway from this study is obvious.  If you want consumers to perceive your brand, your message, and any instructions you need to deliver as quick and simple, you should present that information using a simple, easy-to-read font.  However, a similar takeaway could relate to overall brand perception.  Certainly, a light and fancy script font delivers a different brand message than a sans serif, bold font.  However, when you add on the effects that your font choice can have on the readability and response to your brand messages, font choice jumps up in the list of importance.

Furthermore, the font you use in your brand messages and so on can affect consumers’ motivation to respond the way you want them to.  The last thing you want is for the font you choose to deter people from the actions you suggest in your ads and marketing materials.  In other words, don’t let a font stand in the way of your brand and your business.

What do you think?  Is your brand easy or hard?  Does your font match?

 

What Makes for Effective Investor Relations Sites? Part 12: Remember the Debt Side of the Balance Sheet

Most company investor relations web sites are entirely equity oriented and ignore the company’s debt. I’m not quite sure why this is, as many companies have a significant part of their funding that is derived from the credit markets. Perhaps it comes from the fact that most corporate debt is held by institutional investors who have access to proprietary trading screens, or perhaps it derives from the fact that the banking and treasury department is often separate from investor relations, but you can look long and hard before you find much information on most companies’ web sites that relates to their debt.

ENI-debt-page
Click to enlarge

By failing to more publicly disclose this aspect of their financial structure companies are doing a disservice, certainly to retail holders of their bonds, but also to holders of their equity. Debt burden, that is, the total amount of debt your company has, is important information. As is your debt maturity schedule, which will tell investors when your debt comes due, cash flow requirements and how much immediate refunding risk you may have. Rating agency debt ratings are handy shorthand guides to a company’s overall credit quality and also merit attention. In short, there are many important items of information regarding a company’s debt that go into an investment decision, regardless of whether an investor is a debt or equity holder.  Usually this information is spread out between the balance sheet, cash flow statement and regulatory filings, or sometimes, in the case of Debt Ratings, not disclosed by the company at all. It doesn’t make sense for a company to force investors to hunt for the information when the company has it readily at hand. Therefore, a well thought out section informing investors of a company’s debt profile should be included in effective investor relations web sites.

One company that does a pretty good job with their debt information is ENI, the Italian energy company. The screen shot that I have included shows a main debt page discussing their debt policy and overall debt levels. Other pages, which can be seen listed on the left of the page, debt rating, maturity (and currency) profile and the schedule of maturing debt.  More companies should do this.

In this series:
Previous post: Interim financials
Next post: Mobile access

eBay Launches New Green Brand Message

 

eBay_Green_Team

 

“The greenest product is the one that already exists. Choose to reuse with the eBay Green Team.” That’s the new slogan for eBay’s new environmentally friendly brand message, and the debate is going strong — is eBay greenwashing or is the new eBay green message appropriate?

According to Greenpeace (via the New York Times), reusing items can benefit the environment, so the new brand message is valid.  Items listed for sale on the new Green eBay site are either pre-owned or sustainable as determined by eBay’s green team who qualifies all listed items.

Greening eBay is just one step the company is taking to try to recoup the profits they’ve been losing in recent years.  Other niche eBay sites have launched with more coming in the pipeline.

I think the question now is whether or not the new Green eBay will attract new customers to shop with eBay or if it will just shift existing eBay users to the new niche site.  In other words, will a green brand message drive significant amounts of business to eBay?

Green marketing has lost a bit of its fanaticism over the course of the last two years as economic problems took precedence in consumers’ minds over environmental problems, so it could be argued that a Green eBay message is a bit late.  On the other hand, there is that old saying, “better late than never.”

I should mention that the eBay Green Team blog ties in very nicely to the new Green eBay site, complete with green news and information about how eBay and its employees are pitching in to help the environment.  Adding that human element and trying to demonstrate that eBay ‘walks the walk’ is an important part of the believability of the new eBay green brand message.

Perhaps in time, consumers really will make a conscious effort to purchase a used item to help the environment rather than doing so simply to save money.  Now that would be a huge accomplishment for eBay which would transcend simply boosting the bottom-line (although I have to assume that stockholders would disagree, unfortunately).

What do you think of the new green eBay brand message?