8th annual BC FT Index

8Highlights from the Index: eighth edition

1© Bowen Craggs & Co 20152

contents

overview 3Whatmarksoutthetopperformers? 7Buriedtreasures 8Whyaresomestillgettingitwrong? 9themini-boomincorporatesocialmedia 11Whattodoaboutmobile 13

overallrankings 14

topperformers: serving society 16

serving investors 18serving the media 20serving jobseekers 22serving customers 24

Whatourclientssay 25

Whatwedo 27


‘This is about much more than corporate communications – it is about the way giant companies speak to the world’Readmoreofourinsightandanalysisatwww.bowencraggs.com/our-thinking


oveRvieW

The world’s largest companies own magic devices that allow them to talk to half of humanity at trivial cost – and few of them know what to do with them.

The eighth edition of the Financial Times Bowen Craggs Index of corporate online effectiveness shows that far from coming to a consensus about how they should be using their websites and social media channels, there is more variety than ever

among the biggest businesses in the world.

The Index, which has been running since 2007, judges corporate websites and social media channels of the 80 largest companies in the world. However, this is about much more than corporate communications – it is about the way giant companies speak to the world. Call it group-level marketing, and it suddenly seems more important.


At the same time, a few top performers are getting increasingly slick. They are marked out by:

• Arefusaltogoalongwithtrends–theydothingsbecausetheyareappropriate.BPand Total have relaunched their sites with profoundly unfashionable left menu navigation. But they work.

• Abeliefthattheymustnotbeboring.GeneralElectrichassometerrificmagazine-style material, exploiting multimedia with verve.

• Anunderstandingthattheinternetisthemostflexiblemediumeverinvented,and using a corporate site for one purpose is to abuse it. Apple.com is fantastic at serving consumers; pretty useless for other groups.

Only a handful of companies in the Index come close to using online channels as they might, and the gap between those who get it and those who don’t is widening.


After several years of being outshone by social media, websites are now back at the centre.

Top performers see that ‘social media’ are really a set of individual channels that complement the website.

LinkedIn is often best for communicating the company’s attractions for jobseekers, Facebook for corporate social responsibility messaging for customers, jobseekers and the general public. Slideshare is useful for posting content for investors and analysts.

YouTube and Flickr are often used as extensions of the corporate website – essentially integrated channels for publishing further information about the company, rather than truly ‘social’ media, inviting interaction. Real social media channels – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter – need careful, active management. As with everything about the web, proper governance is what marks the good from the bad.


‘As with everything about the web, proper governance is what marks the good use of social media from the bad’viewourfull,interactiveresultstableatwww.bowencraggs.com/Ft-Bowen-craggs-index


WhatmaRksoutthetoppeRFoRmeRs?

thetopfive

shell: A highly coherent web estate, with country and business sites sharing content and functionality – its exceptional management pushes it to the top.

eni:Goodlookingandwellmanaged,itservesallitsaudienceswiththoroughnessand panache.

nestlé:Theglobalsitebuzzeswithinterestingideas,manyrelatingtoreputationmanagement, that have pushed it steadily up the Index.

unilever: This is a highly coordinated global web estate that is used with great effect to transmittheCEO’svisiononsustainability.

siemens: The specially commissioned online videos are long established but still effective – an early example of the ‘stories’ that are now so fashionable but originally an example of Siemens’ preparedness to go against the trend.


Bayer: A model for those needing to hold a complex web estate together. A set of tools at the top of each page allows quick navigation to different areas, while a (rare) effective searchenginegivesquickaccesstospecifics.

Gsk: A relaunched global site is notable for the way it is actively managed – recently for itsprominentlinkstocoverageofitsChinacrisis,aswellasEbola.

saBmiller: A newcomer to the Index with a slick new site that puts stories at the centre.

sap: Last year’s number one has slipped on a range of detail issues, but its approach to navigation is still remarkable – it is not conventional, but it works.

Generalelectric:Amassofstrongmagazine-stylematerial,somewithanunderstandingthat old-fashioned editorial skills still count.

BuRiedtReasuRes


Toomanycompanieshavebeensweptalongbyfashion,sacrificingeaseofuse for navigation that owes much to social media or news sites, but is unsuitable for complex and deep corporate sites.

ExxonMobil’snewsiteisthemostegregiousexample.Themaindevicesformovingaroundaredropdownmenusthatopenonclickandscrollingdownthepagetofindlinks.

Moresurprisingly,CommonwealthBankofAustralia,whichwaspreviouslyamodelofusability, has gone down a similar route – click, scroll, click, scroll. Why?

Poormanagementofwebestatesassingleentitiesisanotherproblem.Theworstoffendershere are IT companies (though US banks feature too). Click around the web estates of Oracle,Google,Microsoft,IntelorApple,andyoucaneasilyfindyourselfinunfamiliarterritory cut off from your starting point.

WhyaResomestillGettinGitWRonG?


‘Knowing when not to create a social media page is one mark of a well-run estate’Findouthowwehelpmanyoftheworld’slargestcompaniestoimprovetheironlinecommunicationsatwww.bowencraggs.com/about-us


Big companies might well be relieved that the emphasis on social media is in decline. So it is curious that far from keeping away from group-level social media pages, we are seeing a mini-boom. In the last three years corporate

communications departments in HQ have launched their own Facebook pages, and have been astonished by their popularity.

But big numbers of ‘likes’ do not necessarily equate with success. Sometimes these companies’pagesseemlikeastrangebattleground,witheachsidefiringpasttheother.

‘Social media management’ has become a skill in its own right, but there are still too many companies where website and social media are run separately, and where new channels pop up without control. Knowing when not to create a social media page is one mark of a well-run estate.

themini-BoomincoRpoRatesocialmedia

‘Knowing when not to create a social media page is one mark of a well-run estate’Findouthowwehelpmanyoftheworld’slargestcompaniestoimprovetheironlinecommunicationsatwww.bowencraggs.com/about-us


‘Goingresponsivecancertainlybetheright path, but some companies have managed to damage desktop usability while switching to responsive’Readmoreaboutmobileoptimisationandotherkeytopicsatwww.bowencraggs.com/our-thinking/commentaries


In the past two years, companies have rushed to make their sites mobile-friendly. The Index provides the evidence, with the big story being that 40 per cent (29 of 78 sites),arenowresponsive:theyreformatautomaticallyaccordingtothescreensize.

The next group, 21 companies, have done nothing. Then there are 18 with separate mobile sites – most long-established but not all. Finally, eight companies have mixes.

The real division, however, is between companies that have thought what is right for them, those who haven’t really considered it, and those who have followed fashion for its own sake.

Goingresponsivecancertainlybetherightpath,butsomecompanieshavemanagedtodamagedesktopusabilitywhileswitchingtoresponsive.Theslogan‘mobilefirst’hasalotto answer for.

WhattodoaBoutmoBile


Royal Dutch ShellEniNestléUnileverSiemensRocheBritish American TobaccoBPSAPNovartisSABMillerBASFGSKNovo NordiskBayer Daimler AGL’OréalBarclaysSanofiGoogleRio TintoAstraZenecaHSBCIBM

1 2 2 4 5 6 7

8 9 10

10 12 12 14

15 16 16 18 19 20 20 22 22 22

oveRallRankinGs

22 26 27 27 27 30 30

30 33 33

35 35 37 37 39 39

41 42 42 44 44

46 47

MicrosoftCoca-ColaBG GroupGoldman SachsStatoilChevronCommonwealth Bank of AustraliaVodafoneGeneral Electric Wal-Mart StoresComcast ValeBNP ParibasQualcommE.ONTotalWestpac Cisco SystemsGazprom BHP Billiton Philip Morris InternationalIntel CorporationProcter & Gamble

47 49 49

51 51 53 53 55 55 55 58 58 60 60 62 63 63 65 66 66 68 69 69 71

Sberbank of RussiaJohnson & JohnsonVerizon Communications CitigroupSchlumbergerTelefónica ToyotaApplePepsiCoPfizerSamsung ElectronicsWells FargoBank of America MerckVolkswagenAnheuser-Busch InBevOracleExxonMobilAT&TPetrobrasJPMorgan Chase & Co AmbevSaudi Basic Industries Rosneft

72 73 73 75

76 77 78

Royal Bank of Canada Banco SantanderLVMHIndustrial & Commercial Bank of China China MobileChina Shenhua EnergyCNOOC

Newcomers shown in italics

Ranking company Ranking company Ranking company Ranking company


‘Nestlé’sglobalsitebuzzeswithinteresting ideas, many relating to reputation management, that have pushed it steadily up the Index’

more

http://www.bowencraggs.com/Our-thinking


toppeRFoRmeRs:seRvinGsociety

enisaBmillerunileverBayerBpBritishamericantobaccochevroncoca-colaGeneralelectricnestlésanofitotal

This component of our analysis focuses on three areas:

• Corporategovernance–atopicthatEnisignpostsparticularlyprominentlyandcoversin impressive depth and breadth.

• ServingCSRprofessionalswithnon-financialperformancedata–whereUnileverisan exemplar in terms of clarity, scope and presentation of content.• Buildingareputationforresponsibility–whichSABMiller’snewsitedoesexceptionally well by putting engaging reputation-boosting stories front and centre.


‘Goodlookingandwellmanaged,Eni’sonlineestateservesall its audiences with thoroughness and panache’

more



toppeRFoRmeRs:seRvinGinvestoRs

RoyaldutchshellvodafoneBpenisanofiBarclaysnestléstatoilunileverBasFBritishamericantobaccosapsiemens

This part of Bowen Craggs’ analysis covers three aspects of online investor relations:

• Serviceforanalystswhoknowthecompany–anareainwhichVodafoneandCitigroup excel, due to their deep archives of clearly presented and comprehensive results materials.• Service for analysts researching the company –whereShellandEnistandout,duetotheirexceptionalarraysofbackgroundresources.

• Serviceforprivateinvestors–somethingthatSanofidoesbestthankstoapproachable content and useful tools.


‘Comcast’s site provides thoughtfully curated and mobile-optimised briefinginformationforjournalists’

more



toppeRFoRmeRs:seRvinGthemedia

siemenseniGazpromnovonordiskciscosystemscomcastdaimlernestléRoyaldutchshell

This part of our analysis is divided into sub-categories:

• Usefulnessofthepressreleaseservice–whereSiemensandCiscoaretop,duetotheir powerful search tools and rich content.• Keeping in touch with journalists – through comprehensive contact details, where GazpromandSiemensexcel;andusefulnewsalertservices,asShellprovides.• Backgroundonthecompany–viathoughtfullycuratedbriefinginformation,as Comcast offers.• Quality of the image library – where BASF is among those providing a particularly rich choice of high-quality, logically categorised photographs.


‘PolisheddesignandahugestockofstaffprofilesprovideanunusualfeelingofclassinGoldmanSachs’careers section’

more



toppeRFoRmeRs:seRvinGjoBseekeRs

GoogleGoldmansachshsBcintelcorporationmicrosoftnovonordiskunilever

This part of our analysis has three sub-metrics:

• Centralhandlingofonlinevacancies–whereGoogleisthetopperformer,dueto a powerful bespoke jobs search and application system that boasts a range of useful, innovative features.• Qualityofinformationforcollegeleavers–whereGoldmanSachsandHSBCoutstrip others,thankstotheirengagingemployeeprofiles,clearadviceandothermaterialto inform and enthuse potential recruits.• Added-valuefeatures–suchasGoldmanSachs’usefulandsophisticatedinteractive careersquizandGoogle’svideotoursofofficesaroundtheworld.


‘Technologyfirmsandbanksleadtheway for serving customers online’

more



toppeRFoRmeRs:seRvinGcustomeRs

microsoftappleRoyaldutchshellvodafoneBasFcommonwealthBankofaustraliaoraclesberbankofRussia

We examine three aspects of online service for customers:

• Customer‘journeys’–whereMicrosoft,Shell,VodafoneandOracleareamongthetop performers.

• Qualityofinformationandtoolstoaidcustomerdecision-making–anareainwhich Microsoft,alongwithGoogle,Johnson&JohnsonandMerck,leadtheway.• Completion/onwardcustomerjourneys–whereApple,aswellasSberbankofRussia

are exemplars.


WhatouRclientssay

1‘Bowen Craggs helps us better position our online communications at a corporate level’josémartin,headofglobalbranddesign,inG

2‘It’s a really useful way for us to understand how to improve our website for our business and our customers’simonQuayle,directorofdigitalcommunications,Gsk

3‘A great source for all trends and what’s happening in the market and for benchmarking’Florianhiessl,headofonlinecommunications,siemens

4‘They help us to build a strategy on the web at a worldwide level’philippekoechlin,digitalmediamanager,total

5‘An independant view of best practice for the corporate website including a practical critique of designs on which we are currently working’neilatkinson,headofglobalcommunicationchannels,unilever

toheartestimonialsinfull,pleasewatchourvideowww.bowencraggs.com/about-us


WhatWedowww.bowencraggs.com/What-we-do

The world is awash with online communications advice. But digital is different at group level. Applying received wisdom derived from elsewhere can do more harm than good. Bowen Craggs is unique: we specialise in group-level digital communications. Here are threewaysyoucanbenefitfromourknowledgeandexpertise…

accessresearchthatwillimproveyouronlinestrategyThe world’s deepest analysis of corporate online estates. Constant audience research across all stakeholder groups. A trusted and growing global knowledge-sharing network. These are the cornerstones of our research and consultancy. Email [email protected] to receive a free copy of our latest report.

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©BowenCraggs&Co2015

8

Internet

8th annual BC FT Index