Google Cards for Your Business
May 31, 2009
Another social media platform? Yes, I’m afraid so. It’s such an appealing way for businesses to connect that Google wants to join in on the fun too. Now, your company’s executives and officers can establish themselves with a new social networking platform and position themselves to be found in the wonderful community of the World Wide Web.
I’m thinking that perhaps there may be an over-saturation of social media sites, so many that I can’t keep track of them all! I certainly have my favorites, but then again so does everyone else. Each of the sites serve a different and diverse audience and also serve different purposes. And, if many users are like me, they have accounts with more than one of them and utilize them for the some of the same functions on each of them.
While it may be just as effective to work two or three social networking platforms to get the desired results, users generally want to find that “one” site that serves most of their major goals.
Want to share music and the latest releases? Try MySpace.
Want to share what you did five minutes, ten minutes ago? Try Twitter.
What about photos, links and meatier posts? Facebook should do it.
The new social platform by Google should serve an even bigger, more diverse audience with their business card presentation and professional appearance. There really isn’t any new information shared there that you cannot find on any of the other sites. Perhaps only in layout and design will you find differences and nuances.
As for company executives and officers, I think the platform is going to really be an added bonus for company’s who are looking to gain more exposure. Perhaps when customers or clients can’t find a specific company, they will have more luck finding the people who work for the company. Therefore, instead of one shot at one hit in a search engine, there are chances of 10-15 shots in a search engine for one company. Sound plausible?
So, how do you think the new Google platform will measure up with the other heavy-hitters? Do you think it’s different or unique enough to last a while? I actually set up my page here and started playing around with it. One thing that I found that was really likable about it was the instant gratification of typing my name into the Google search engine and watching my information populate instantly. If nothing else, it certainly does wonders for the ego.
What do you think?
Turbo-charged PR Management Meets Social Media ROI
May 29, 2009
In a word: Vocus. I recently took a one-hour tour of this magical kingdom, and left feeling that I could never again be satisfied with ordinary life. While you’re in the Vocus world, it really seems as if you have the entire media establishment of America (and the UK) at your beck and call. Just waiting to hear from you!
Okay, so that part is a fantasy. But what you do have with Vocus is access to a very powerful database of media outlets and contacts, combined with an exceptional toolset (for contact management, distribution, etc.), and accessed through a user-friendly, virtually seamless interface. It’s on-demand online, so no infrastructure or upkeep is required.
All this comes at a price, of course, but not actually an outrageous price. And it has the potential to pay for itself. First, the built-in reports and analytical tools could be a big help in terms of tracking and justifying the PR budget-including social media investment. And second, the time savings, plus improved targeting, could definitely improve PR ROI.
On top of that, Vocus provides comprehensive capabilities for monitoring what’s being said about your company. The need to see media trends and manage PR issues in nearly real time has by now become more than obvious.
But before I begin to sound like an advertisement, I should say there are other products that do each of these things, and there may be one or more that does them all–I didn’t research the whole space. And your company may already be doing a great job of coordinating these factors in-house. The point is not how it’s getting done, but whether it’s getting done. And my Vocus tour was a strong reminder that every company needs to have a strategic plan for creating PR and a tactical plan for measuring the result.
If it sounds like this line of thought applies to something that happens in other departments (or on another planet), consider that a warning signal. Treating PR and HR as separate worlds is one of the root causes for weak employer branding. As an exercise on this point, look at two questions:
1. “What are consumers thinking and saying about our company’s product/service?”
2. “What are high-value candidates thinking and saying about our company as a place to work?”
Not the same! Of course there’s some overlap, but measuring 1 doesn’t tell you anything about 2. And if there is a problem in the area of 2, it won’t be solved by fixes applied to 1. Et cetera.
There’s plenty of advice out there on building the employer brand. (Browse this interesting white paper on the topic from the Human Capital Institute.) But let’s say your company has developed a good employer brand. How do you promote the brand effectively? Not so much advice available on this topic.
Presenting effectively on the corporate website is a key component, needless to say. There’s a lot more to it, though. So I rummaged around a bit, and the best thing I found was an old article (1998!) from the always-ahead-of-the-curve Dr. John Sullivan. Seems like it could have been written tomorrow . . .
About Novozymes “About Us”
May 29, 2009
Sometimes you come across something so extraordinary that you can’t wait to share it. So it is with the About Us section of Novozymes a Danish company a company that has a 40% market share in the industry for enzymes used in ethanol production. First there is a unique statement on the About Us section, not your typical vision statement–
A vision alone is not enough for Novozymes to make its mark on the world. So we have brought the fundamental guidelines for our day-to-day work together in what we call The Novozymes Touch. The Novozymes Touch explains where we are going and how we will get there. It contains the vision, the personality, the values, the commitments and the fundamentals of Novozymes.
Now let’s look at About Us –
This is a very comprehensive section. First, because of the somewhat exotic nature of their industry, they wisely put an industry overview at the top of the menu list. Below this are links to other key site sections.
Next, look at the extensive “Our Company” . This gives the visitor, what ever their focus, information on essentially any aspect of the company. For example, click on “Facts” and you see this –
Note the financial summary. Putting this in About Us gives the visitor a quick snapshot without having to drill down to find this. For Novozymes this makes extra sense, theirs is an emerging industry. Note also the expanded menu–
OUR COMPANY
- About Novozymes
- Facts
- Brief facts
- Company profile
- Working at Novozymes
- Sustainability
- The biotechnology platform
- Business strategy
- Business ethics
- Business areas
- Enzymes in brief
- Microorganisms in brief
- Sponsorships
- Awards and recognition
This is well organized and provides visitors with even more information to learn About the company. Another must visit section is The role of shareholders and their interaction with management which further outlines the company’s communications practices. No surprise that they won a Danish Media Association award for communications.
Novozymes is a model company for designing an effective About Us section on corporate websites.
AOL Breaks Free of Time Warner but is It Too Late for AOL?
May 28, 2009
Just eight years ago in 2001, Time Warner paid $147 billion to buy AOL. Time Warner even went so far as to add the AOL name to the company’s corporate brand, creating AOL Time Warner. Fast forward to 2009, and AOL has been draining money from Time Warner for years. Finally, Time Warner announced that it’s cutting ties with AOL and spinning it off as a separate public company in a press release distributed today. But is it too late for AOL?
As one of my undergrad professors always reminded his students, business is cyclical. Companies merge and centralize, and over time, they split apart again and become more decentralized. History repeats itself again and again, and so does business. Time Warner got too big. Just as AT&T did in the 1990s, Time Warner couldn’t handle all the various, disjointed aspects operating under its umbrella and realized, it’s time to concentrate on its core to survive. First, it spun off it’s cable and broadband Internet services business, and now, it’s AOL’s turn to break free of the Time Warner corporate stronghold. Time Warner has made the decision to focus on it’s core — media — through movies, magazines, and cable networks. It’s about time.
With its pending release from Time Warner, AOL has a chance to revive its brand and rebuild its business in order to actually appeal to a broader audience with relevant products and services. Let’s face it — the online world moves far faster than a corporate conglomerate like Time Warner can move. A new AOL actually stands a chance of succeeding in the long term.
The Time Warner and AOL split should be a good thing for everyone, including consumers. What do you think?
Image: Flickr
Eliminate Reasons for Consumers to Shop Elsewhere: Homebase Diversifies and Appeals to Many (Including Me!)
May 28, 2009
Alright, I love it! I love the idea and new market segment that Home Retail Group is carving out for themselves. Based in the UK, they are certainly onto something that hopefully will catch on quickly in the UK and find its way fast to the U.S. Although there are many companies here in the U.S. who offer pet insurance coverage, I don’t find many that are affordable and marketed very much. Do you?
Pet insurance, although not a novel idea, but a very needed one for families who love their animals and feel that they are just as much a part of their families as each other. But, I think often many people are somewhat embarrassed by the idea of having pet insurance and placing high esteem of their pets as a family priority. I say to each his/her own and priorities are personal.
My husband and I are still contemplating getting the children a pet. He leans towards no, I towards yes. I don’t really know why we can’t agree to either do it or not do it. Although we lean heavily towards no, there are some days we look at them (the children) and think about how nice and cute it would be to see them with a little pet.
We are primarily “no” about it because we are wondering if they are mature enough and responsible enough to handle a pet. When my siblings and I were their age, my folks did the same thing. They waited and waited and waited until what they thought was the “right” age and then got us not only one, not two, but three dogs; two toy poodles and one mixed breed. We were in hog’s heaven, to say the least.
But is my family ready for a new addition to an already busy and crowded lifestyle? I also worry about the maintenance and expense that it takes to keep a pet and to properly take care of it. When something went wrong with a pet of ours when we were little, my parents would just take it to the vet, get it taken care of with medications, shots, etc., and then sit and dread the bill. We didn’t have the luxury or the peace of mind in knowing that we didn’t have to angst over a sick pet or almost go bankrupt to take care of it. Pet insurance? I say go for it!!
Corporate entities like Homebase offer several strategic points of sale that work well with their business premise. If you will notice on their site, they also offer multiple other services for the consumer that appeal to the masses. Simply offering one service like pet insurance will invariably lock them into a market and create a situation that makes it hard for them to make a profit. Diversity is the key for any corporation who is trying to make a profit and make a name.
What other kinds of services does your corporation offer? How can you diversify your offerings and still appeal to the masses as much as possible?
Thanks Homebase for giving me (or rather, eliminating) reasons why I should just go ahead, bite the bullet and get the children a pet. I’m sure they will be happy!
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