Corporate Eye

...compare, compete, excel

Archives for 2013

Investor: Meet the COO

potash-meeting-coo-sLack of accessibility to a corporate COO is common on corporate websites. Often, only professional stakeholders have methods of access to COOs, and even they have to go through a rather convoluted process.

Potash has implemented an innovative feature located on the rotator of their home page that links the viewer to a virtual meeting with the COO. At first, this feature invited questions from stakeholders (to be submitted in advance), but it now links to a replay of the webcast, including transcript, audio, and video.

This is an excellent strategy because the feature clearly highlights the invitation to submit questions on the home page. More importantly, however, it makes this opportunity available to all, not just professional stakeholders. This portrays Potash in a very approachable light, thus increasing the trust of the viewer.

Android and iOS Users Display Different Mobile Behaviors

iphone apple iosWhich mobile operating system is driving the most internet traffic? That’s an important statistic for marketers, but most don’t know the answer. In fact, the result might surprise you.

Despite higher market share for Google’s Android mobile devices, the Apple operating system, iOS, drives more internet traffic according to the new “State of Mobile Benchmark” study by Adobe.

In the United Kingdom, Germany, China, the United States, France, and Japan, iOS internet traffic from tablet devices beats Android by a significant margin in February 2013. The numbers are closer for smartphones with iOS beating out Android in three of the six countries researched — the U.K., Germany, and China.

In all six countries studied, other mobile operating systems weren’t even close to generating the kinds of internet traffic that iOS and Android do. As you can see below, the gap is largest among U.K. mobile consumers who are also driving the largest percentages of internet traffic from tablets and smartphones.

Tablet Internet Traffic

  • United Kingdom: iOS = 84.2%, Android = 13.8%
  • Germany: iOS = 81.8%, Android = 17.5%
  • China: iOS = 81.6%, Android = 17.3%
  • United States: iOS = 77.8%, Android = 20.5%
  • France: iOS = 77.4%, Android = 22.0%
  • Japan: iOS = 77.2%, Android = 22.4%

Smartphone Internet Traffic (February 2013)

  • United Kingdom: iOS = 53.5%, Android = 37.2%
  • Germany: iOS = 51.0%, Android = 41.2%
  • China: iOS = 49.5%, Android = 45.5%
  • United States: iOS = 44.9%, Android = 48.9%
  • France: iOS = 36.3%, Android = 60.9%
  • Japan: iOS = 32.0%, Android = 49.6%

The important takeaway for brand marketers based on this data is simple. Mobile behaviors, including internet usage, vary based on the mobile operating system. Emarketer predicts that Android will continue to lead the smartphone market and will successfully steal significant market share from Apple over the next five years. As a result, internet traffic from Android smartphones and tablets will go up, too. However, there are inherent differences in mobile engagement between users of the competing operating systems. Brands must consider these differences to maximize mobile marketing return on investment.

In simplest terms, not all mobile consumers are alike. They use their devices differently and they choose devices and operating systems that fit their needs and lifestyles. This data is just one more piece of the brand marketing puzzle.

Is your company targeting consumers with messaging and offers based on the mobile operating system they use? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: Gonzalo Baeza

Investor: Analyst Information Upfront

costain-analyst-reports-sMany times, important shareholder information is buried deep in document libraries. This makes it more difficult for both potential and current shareholders to find vital information.

Costain Group has made pertinent shareholder information readily available and easily accessible. They have clearly and attractively highlighted their analyst presentations on their investor landing page.

This allows shareholders to easily access the information they need to learn about Costain Group, while also attracting a wider audience of potential shareholders.

Careers: Explain to an 8 year old

ing-fb-bank-qs-sOut of the mouth of babes comes wisdom.

ING embraces the power of social media by implementing an interesting social media campaign on their Facebook page.  As part of recruitment efforts, this feature asks potential bankers to answer questions posed by 7-10 year olds.

This feature is particularly powerful as the demand for clarity and transparency has never been higher, especially given the current turbulence in the banking industry. The strategy communicates that ING embraces clarity and transparency, while at the same time enticing candidates who are interested in gaining exposure to the vice-chairman of ING bank

Brand Social Responsiveness is Far from Perfect

questionAccording to research by Social Bakers, the number of people who have chosen to use social media to get answers to customer service questions rather than telephone, email, or any other method has skyrocketed in the past year. Brands are getting better at answering more consumer questions via social media, but they have a long way to go to meet consumer expectations related to brands’ social responsiveness.

During the second quarter of 2012, brand Facebook pages tracked by Social Bakers received 756,000 customer questions, and just 360,000 of those questions were actually answered by brands. In the first quarter of 2013, the number of questions jumped to 1.2 million but only 744,000 of those questions were answered. In other words, the number of questions that consumers asked on brand Facebook pages grew by 30% in less than one year, and brands were able to increase the number of responses they provided to those questions from 47.6% to 62%.

In fact, brands in all industries tracked improved their social response rates between the second quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013. That’s great news, but it’s not good enough if brands want to meet customer expectations.

The same could be said of brands’ response times to customer questions published on Facebook. In the second quarter of 2012, Social Bakers reported that the average response time for a company to answer a customer question published on its Facebook page was 20.9 hours. During the first quarter of 2013, that response time had increased to 22.6 hours. The number of questions consumers are asking on brand Facebook pages continues to rise, but brands haven’t invested in the necessary manpower or developed the necessary processes to answer those questions in a timely manner as consumers expect.

It’s only a matter of time until that customer expectation of quick service via brand social media profiles, like Facebook pages, will grow into a customer demand. The brands that are ready for the shift from expectation to demand will reap the benefits of their forward thinking. Consumers are abandoning the frustrating automated telephone response systems, unhelpful customer service representatives, and long hold times that they’re accustomed to receiving when they call companies with questions. Instead, they’re turning to social media to directly ask companies questions — a medium where they expect instant interaction. Furthermore, that interaction must be personal, which means customer service telephone scripts and automated responses won’t work.

What do you think? How does your brand perform in social responsiveness?

Image: Sigurd Decroos