Clearing Your Clutter
September 28, 2010
When the internet first appeared, many didn’t foresee the prominence it would have in our everyday lives and more importantly, how it would overtake all other channels as a source of information. So implied the article ‘over-hyped.com’ which appeared in the Guardian in the year 2000. Writer John O’Farrell explored the few uses of the internet, surmising that “the usefulness of the internet has been hyped out of all proportion.”
So it’s no surprise that corporate websites initially entailed some information thrown together for anyone who was interested. As the internet’s novelty value never wore off, over the last decade companies have had no choice but to expand their sites, adding more, adding microsites, adding new features, investing in makeovers, new skins… and the result of this gradual build-up is sometimes, well chaotic.
One almost thinks it would be easier to start from scratch then from a decade’s worth of ill-coordinated content accumulation. It is one thing to have a wealth of information out there, but having this content consistent and organized, having information together in one place in a navigable fashion is another. Many sites, due to lack of planning and haphazard growth have ended up with the first scenario.
Another issue which adds to this, is the fact that different departments may be responsible for their own sections of the site. So, while the site may be consistent in colour palette and other such aesthetic qualities, the style, tone, level of detail and so on may vary from section to section. On top of this, things like staff turnover add to this ambiguous responsibility for content. It certainly makes sense to ensure each department has designated publishers who are wise in the ways of the corporation’s communication style. It is also a good idea to have a chief editor responsible for tweaking and okaying any content before it goes live.
But these of course are preventative measures. If a website is already cluttered it can be hard to know where to begin in culling content. I’ve often thought that the only way to get rid of homely clutter is to move house (even trying to stage a pretend move), so that the question becomes what to keep rather than what to throw away.
Of course the website equivalent of this is creating a new shadow site, copying over the useful bits, and then switching over. The old junk is lost and you haven’t had all the deliberation of pressing delete.
Move house or spring-clean?
Are the FTSE 100 Image Conscious?
August 26, 2010
Browsing media sections on FTSE 100 sites, I couldn’t help but notice the huge disparity in the quality of material available.
While at the top end there are sites boasting a multitude of resources – BP being exemplary and unsurprisingly so – at the bottom there are FTSE 100 sites with very basic media sections.
Perhaps these don’t feature in the limelight as often and so their press area need not be so exhaustive. But still, I think it’s an area worthy of a little time and effort, especially given that if someone’s covering your company in some capacity the last thing you want to do is disgruntle them with a weak media section.
On that note, here is what I found looking for images:
Search option
Even some of the best sites don’t have the option to search images by keyword – BP offer instead the chance to search by theme – and other sites offer neither. Of course, you can use the general search on the website to look for images but the search will return lots of other things.
Barclays offer a well laid out resource library complete with search option (see right).
Image baskets
Some of the best sites I looked at offer the opportunity to put multiple images into a basket while you carry on browsing. You can check out when you’re ready, downloading the images in whatever format/density you choose. This is good because it means you can line up some “potentials” and then pick the best!
No logo?
Not all companies have the corporate logo available for download; simple, but makes a difference. Some sites go as far as to use the title Image & Logo Library to emphasise where they are.
External sites
Quite a few FTSE 100 sites have their image and video library managed by external sites, such as online newsroom www.footagefile.com, www.newscast.co.uk and www.prshots.com. To get images or footage from these sites you have to sign up and state who you work for/ your intentions etc.
“Please note: the newscast service is restricted to bona fide media titles.”
Meanwhile other sites have their images readily available for anyone to download without having to register with another site, which surely has to be preferable, no?
A place for positive publicity?
The media section can complement the corporate responsibility section through highlighting some of the company’s best bits and featuring any positive press the company has received. J Sainsbury plc’s site does just that, focusing their image gallery on their healthy living and fair trade produce endeavours.
And finally to consider: make journalists’ lives easier by preempting what they will be looking for – logos for instance -and putting it on the first page.
Something to learn from BAE Systems?
July 28, 2010
In May this year BAE Systems launched their new website – a website dedicated to education. Aimed at fostering an interest in engineering from an early age, the site features a selection of fun online educational resources. These complement the ongoing activities that BAE Systems do in schools around the UK: road shows, school challenges and BAE Systems Ambassador visits.
The BAE Systems UK Education Programme website extends above and beyond the call of duty in recruitment, nurturing the next generation of engineers. In order to do this successfully, BAE Systems tailored the site to cater for the 5-8, 9-13 and 14+ age groups.
Taking advantage of interactive technology the site offers young people the chance to rate news stories, play games and watch videos to learn about the history of engineering. It adapts the BAE Systems corporate image to appeal to young people – trying to showcase its cool side. It also has educational material available for teachers to download.
BAE Systems previously offered games and educational materials but it wasn’t all together under one roof, so to speak, instead constituting a collection built up over time and spread out over different sites. The new site brings all this together in an accessible way; well-planned and easy to navigate. The new site mirrors the main corporate site in its layout but varies in its colour scheme – a slight tweak of image.
The games and multimedia section includes, amongst others, an addictive blockbuster game which requires you to answer science questions to make your way across the board. A recommendation could be to enhance this gaming experience by offering small postal rewards (key rings, model-building kits…) for successfully completing the games – providing an incentive to get involved and generating even more brand awareness.
Jumping on the education bandwagon is something that most corporations can do, as no matter what the industry is, surely there is a wealth of information on science, history and certainly business case studies that can be shared. Not only does this boost CSR credentials by giving a little back, but putting a familiar brand and snazzy website alongside learning can make it a lot more exciting for young people. Who else is going to take the time to target young people with the development of interactive educational software on engineering other than the industry leaders?
Since young people are all digital natives they are a good place to begin in using digital channels to develop not only a high level of brand recognition but also creating a long-lasting positive image.
So, should every big corporation divert a little of their funds into producing some educational material? It gets their name out their in a positive way; to customers, suppliers, investors and job-seekers of the future, as well as supporting their corporate responsibility programme. What do you think?
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