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Archives for 2011

Photography, Philanthropy and the Corporate Website

As you’ve never seen them before…

After last week’s post, in which I pointed to a video from Sainsbury’s containing Dragons and Chief Executives, here’s another angle on images of senior business people.

Stuart Rose was one of the CEOs on the video (did you spot him?), and here he is again, as seen by Bob Wheeler and on display at an exhibition called THIRTY by THIRTY hosted by 85FOUR and The Passage.

For those not familiar with The Passage, it’s a London-based charity supporting homeless people, running a 48-bed hostel and helping over 200 people every day to get the help and advice they need – and 85FOUR are a design and branding agency who have worked pro bono with The Passage for over 13 years.

The exhibition showcases 30 photographers and 30 people who have helped The Passage over the last 30 years. Nice idea… and the subjects of the photos include clients, colleagues and donors (including Sir Stuart Rose, Cherie Blair, Rory Bremner and more).

The exhibition looks interesting, and should work well to promote the charity. Do go: it will be held in the SW1 gallery, Victoria, between January 19 and 29 2011.

But here’s a question. I think that photo of Stuart Rose is great: an alternative view of a senior businessman, while still being a professional, dignified image. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to have such good photos on the corporate website?

All too often, the photos on corporate websites are just very… stiff and corporate, and there is at least one blog devoted to poking fun at these images of management (no, I’m not going to share the link). But check out Bob Wheeler’s site for what could be done; if images like these are being presented as part of the annual report, then they could be used on the corporate website too – in addition to the formal head and shoulders shot to go with the biography, of course.

For a while there was a minor trend offering an alternative ‘casual’ shot as part of the management biography in addition to the formal one, but these are harder to find recently (Microsoft is an example of a company that offers some ‘casual’ photos, though these are often simply taken with open collars). I recognise that there is a need for a formal shot, but it seems a pity to miss the opportunity that the web provides to present some beautiful photography as well. (Structurmarine is worth mentioning again here, because they do such a great job of this, and it is still so rare a sight.)

What do you think?

Interested in corporate imagery? Here are some other articles I’ve enjoyed on this topic:

Research Shows Celebrities in Ads Don’t Make a Difference

Let me preface this this post by stating that I am not an advocate of paying celebrities large sums to appear in ads.  I’m not saying that it can’t be effective, but it’s very rare that a celebrity connection to a brand seems to deliver real results.  Of course, there are exceptions (e.g., Michael Jordan and Nike), but those are exactly that — exceptions, not the rule.

A new study by Ace Metrix reveals that celebrities in ads are not effective and are often a waste of money.  The chart below from the Ace Metrix report, Celebrity Endorsements: Exposing a Myth of Advertising Effectiveness, shows that celebrity ads more often brought a negative performance lift when compared to non-celebrity ads.

The report was based on a study of every nationally televised ad during the first 11 months of 2010 and included extensive efforts to present fair and balanced statistical analysis of the results.  The study found that regardless of age or gender, ads without celebrities performed better than ads with celebrities.

Most consumers cited reasons they found celebrity ads to be ineffective as: being confused by what product the celebrity was endorsing and simply not liking the celebrity in the ad.

Ace Metrix concludes from its findings that consumers today are not as easily influenced as they once were.  With quick access to massive amounts of information on the Internet, they want equally quick and instantly relevant messages in ads.  Celebrities affect them far less than relevant messages.

I agree with the Ace Metrix conclusions, and it’s nice to see some research support what many marketers, myself included, have believed for a long time — a celebrity might help raise awareness of an ad and get people talking about that ad or celebrity, but it doesn’t guarantee positive results for the brand, company, or product.  A celebrity can only help if the message is good, the celebrity is well-liked by the target audience, and the celebrity matches the brand, company, and product, he or she is endorsing.  Disparity in any of those areas equates to a waste of money.

What do you think?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts about celebrity endorsements and the value of paying celebrities to appear in ads.

Does an excellent CSR report mean an excellent website?

Elaine Cohen is a prolific CSR blogger and the chances are if you’re reading this you should already well aware of the excellent content she puts out without ever appearing to flag.

On Christmas Day she published what she considers to be the Top 10 CSR reports for 2010.  Trusting her judgement implicitly, and following my usual MO, I decided to have a look at these companies’ websites and see whether their excellence in reporting extended to their websites, picking up a few hints and tips on the way.

To put it another way, do they get one thumbs up or two?

I’ve addressed the companies in the same order Elaine did, and she makes clear this is in no particular order whatsoever.

Danisco

A Danish food, clothing and chemicals conglomerate whose 2010 CSR report also won a top award in Denmark.

A well presented website with good granularity content touching on many issues to a surprising depth.  Topics are presented simply but with further information always available.  Further links take the reader on to the latest report for greater detail and performance figures.  The only shame is that those figures aren’t available immediately on the website.

Alling Henning Associates

A small US marketing agency which, among other services, produces CSR reports and communications.

An exceptionally innovative one-page online only report which reports facts and figures only.  Programmed in Flash, little speech bubbles and other interactive widgets pop up as you browse through it and once you’ve spotted the ant on the apple core you can’t help but smile.  Just a shame I couldn’t find a link to it from their main webspace!

Impahla Clothing

A small clothing manufacturer from South Africa, part of Puma’s sustainable supply chain.

Impahla don’t have a website so it would inappropriate to comment, other than to say they gained a lot of coverage as the carbon neutral manufacturer of several African nations’ kit at the 2010 World Cup.

Coca Cola

The US based world-bestriding drinks manufacturer.

An excellent example of arranging hardcopy report information in an imaginative way which allows the user to skip between sections at will. There’s very little which is technically groundbreaking, but the design just works really well.  I especially like the way the Data Summary’s been put in the top right corner, always available but not dominating proceedings.

Campbell Soup

A worldwide food and drink manufacturer from the US .. not just soup any more!

Another great example of reworking a linear report into the more dynamic web environment.  Specific data is embedded within the individual items and section headers have a java scroll of pertinent individual examples.  My only quizzical moment is when realising a section header lists the contents both in the left sidebar and at the bottom of the page, the latter seeming to be unnecessary.

(Part 2 of this post will follow next week)

Picture Credit: thumbs up by anthony kelly under Creative Commons Attribution License.

Which Logos are the Best Logos of All Time?

Creative Review magazine is asking its readers in over 80 countries to help them put together a list of the greatest logos of all time, which will be provided to a group of designers, experts, and academics who will narrow the list down to the 20 greatest logos ever.  Those logos will be revealed in the April 2011 issue of Creative Review.  You can add your votes for the best logo ever by leaving a comment on Creative Review or on Brand New.

The quest to identify the best logos of all time launched publicly this week, and already hundreds of people have added comments offering their opinions.  Some of the top contenders from the population at large appear to be Nike, Apple, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s FedEx, Playboy and The Rolling Stones.

Of course, identifying the best logo is somewhat subjective, and well-known logos from big brands typically take the top spots in these types of ratings.  However, it’s still a fun initiative.  I’d love to see the top 20 list broken down into three separate lists though — top 20 logos overall, top 20 big name logos, and top 20 lesser-known logos.  I think it’s more fun to find the diamonds in the rough — those logos the wider population might never see and the designs that don’t get the widespread recognition they deserve.

The logos that are getting an early buzz have a couple of elements in common, which I think are marks of the best, iconic logos — those that can stand the test of time.  They are simple, and they use limited color palettes — one or two colors and that’s it.

Which logos do you think are the best ever and what do you think are the key elements of iconic logos?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts, and don’t forget to add your votes on Creative Review.

Read more about logo design on Corporate Eye:

Sainsbury’s Values, CR Reports & the Corporate Website

supermarket-shopping
What is your approach to supermarket shopping?

Some people go in with a list, and stick to it; others prefer to wander around the aisles to see what takes their fancy. For some, the supermarket run is an event, and they try out all the tastings, look for new items, and pick up leaflets; for others, it’s a chore, to be done as quickly as possible. I’m convinced that for a few, it is seen as a challenge: beating your personal best, whether this is time taken to complete your shopping, or price at the checkout.

But how many people pay attention to the corporate messaging which that supermarket run inevitably includes – and, in particular, to the messages about corporate responsibility?

Though we all see these corporate messages, how many of us really notice them? It isn’t always easy to communicate corporate messages in a retail arena, where people are naturally very product focused.

Ben EavisPaul Nixon (CEO at Corporate Eye) recently interviewed Ben Eavis, who heads up Corporate Responsibility (CR) for Sainsbury’s (one of the biggest supermarket chains here in the UK), and I’m delighted to be able to share this interview with you.

It’s fascinating – and wide-ranging, as they cover not only the changes in Sainsbury’s CR reporting, and how that affects the corporate website, but also social media, engaging influential CR bloggers, Fairtrade, the Ethical Trading Initiative, carbon-footprinting for dairy farmers and more…

You’ll also hear Thomas Knorpp, Digital Media Manager at Sainsbury’s, who tweets as @jsainsbury, and who is responsible for the corporate website, talking about how Sainsbury’s are using social media channels. The volume levels on Thomas’ voice were very low, so I’ve amplified those sections, and tried to cut out some of the noise. It’s not perfect, because I’m no sound engineer, but it is well worth listening to.

The references to Lucy? That’s me: coincidentally, in my domestic life, I’m one of the bloggers found by Sainsbury’s blogger outreach programmes.

I’ve broken the interview into smaller chunks, to make it easier for you to listen to the parts you’re most interested in – but the whole interview is also available, so you can listen to Paul and Ben discussing CR while you’re out running, or while you’re warming up those last few mince pies.

I’m sure you’ll enjoy it: it’s full of detail about Sainsbury’s approach to corporate responsibility and reporting. Thanks to Ben and Thomas for taking the time to share so much information with us.

Part 1: Communicating Corporate Values

Ben explains how their corporate values fit with Sainsbury’s retail business, and discusses the key communication challenges that supermarkets face and the prioritisation of communication channels.

Surprise point: there are potentially 300 sustainability touch-points for Sainsbury’s to consider. That’s a wide range of CR issues to consider: everything from the amount of salt and sugar in foods, to carbon footprinting, to working with farmers, to the impact on the local communities.

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/sainsburys-part-1.mp3]

Length: 4:45

Download: Sainsbury’s Part 1

Part 2: CR Reporting and the Corporate Website

Just how do you approach integrating your corporate social responsibility reporting and the corporate website? Often the CR section on the corporate site ‘is’ the CR report.

Sainsbury’s have a new approach to reporting: this section of the interview covers CR reporting, the issues around having both a retail and a corporate website, and ways to invite people arriving on the retail site – or on a social media site – back to the CR section to find out more detail.

Surprise point: Sainsbury’s provide their CR report in A6 format – pocket size – and give a copy to all their staff.

Listen for: Thomas explaining how he uses social media to connect the corporate values with the retail products

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/sainsburys-part-2.mp3]

Length: 5:04

Download: Sainsbury’s Part 2

Part 3: Getting Traffic to the CR Site

Ben talks about how they’ve increased traffic to their corporate CR site by adding interactivity, and by using Facebook, Twitter and their partners and advocates in other organisations to drive traffic. Also discussed: meeting the different needs of different audiences.

Listen for: Ben explaining how the change in frequency and style of CR reporting is boosting web traffic

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/sainsburys-part-3.mp3]

Length: 5:07

Download: Sainsbury’s Part 3

Part 4: Social Media and CR

Just how much time does social media take? And what about social media governance?

Paul and Ben discuss the benefits and potential difficulties in engaging with social media, building a CR community, identifying influencers and engaging with them both on and offline.

Listen for: Ben talking about the support network around Thomas as he engages in social media, and the significance of the corporate values.

Listen for: Thomas talking about just how much time he spends on social media, and how they spot influencers – not just on retail matters, but on corporate matters too, such as CR.

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/sainsburys-part-4.mp3]

Length: 13:00

Download: Sainsbury’s Part 4

Part 5: CR Issues, Initiatives and the Corporate Website

How does a company select which of the many possible CR issues and initiatives to target?

Paul and Ben talk about the process of identifying the issues that matter most to the corporate stakeholders, and about how to ensure that, once started, initiatives continue to be reported on via the corporate website.

Surprise point: your Nectar card isn’t just for points and targeted vouchers; it’s also used in stakeholder engagement.

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/sainsburys-part-5.mp3]

Length: 4:35

Download: Sainsbury’s Part 5

Part 6: Industry-wide CR Issues and Communication

Retail, like so many other industries, is highly competitive. How should one company react when another in the same industry has a crisis? And what about industry-wide issues?

Listen for: Ben talking about how the corporate value-set can help Sainsbury’s avoid potential issues.

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/sainsburys-part-6.mp3]

Length: 5:27

Download: Sainsbury’s Part 6

Part 7: CR Initiatives and Product Labelling

Paul and Ben talk about how Sainsbury’s helps farmers to become more efficient, by providing them with data about their own farm and about those of their peer group, and why Sainsbury’s believe that translating that kind of information into CR labelling (e.g airmiles, carbon footprint) doesn’t help consumers.

Listen for: Ben talking about working with their supply chain in partnership to address CR concerns.

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/sainsburys-part-7.mp3]

Length: 9:00

Download: Sainsbury’s Part 7

Interview in full

The whole interview is available too, and we’ve also provided a transcript for those of you who prefer to read.

[audio:https://www.corporate-eye.com/main/audio/interview-ben-eavis-sainsbury-full.mp3]

Length: 47:30

Download: Sainsbury’s Interview in full

Download transcript: Sainsbury’s Interview transcript

Who were we talking to?

Ben Eavis – Head of Corporate Responsibility, Sainsbury’s

Ben joined Sainsbury’s at the end of 2009 as the Head of Corporate Responsibility and Ethical Trading, to lead Sainsbury’s strategies in these areas. Ben previously worked at Burberry, where he was Director of Corporate Responsibility. Prior to Burberry, Ben worked as Group Social Policy Manager at spirit and wine company Allied Domecq and as the Commercial Manager for Glastonbury Festival. Ben has an MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice from the University of Bath and a BA honours degree in Geography from Sheffield University.

Thomas Knorpp – Digital Media Manager, Sainsbury’s

As Digital Media Manager at Sainsbury’s, Thomas manages the supermarket’s digital corporate communications strategy, focusing on digital media relations via the Sainsbury’s corporate website as well as blog, social networking and multimedia sharing platforms. Thomas joined Sainsbury’s in March 2010 from AOL, where he most recently headed up corporate communications for AOL Germany. Thomas holds a BA in Media and Cultural Studies from Macquarie University in Sydney and an MA in Media Administration from the Freie Universität Berlin.