In today’s digital world, marketers often focus on their
individual brands when they communicate with consumers. But when it comes to
talking about their parent companies, the UK’s corporate giants are far less
polished.
Indeed, the majority of FTSE 100 companies are failing to use
digital media to talk effectively about their corporate brands, according to a
report seen exclusively by Marketing Week.
When consultancy Radley Yeldar analysed how FTSE 100 companies
use their own websites, mobile sites and social media accounts to communicate,
it found that Shell is the most digitally connected company, followed by
Unilever and then SAB Miller. Meanwhile, Prudential, Burberry and Admiral Group
are all near the bottom of the ranking (see table, below).
The study uses an extensive scoring system, taking into account
parent company websites, presence on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook and how the
companies optimise their sites on smartphones (see Method, below).
Despite a corporate website being a regulatory requirement of
listing on the London Stock Exchange, the way FTSE 100 companies communicate
digitally is far from encouraging. They are particularly poor when it comes to
connecting up their communications channels. Although 98% have a presence on
LinkedIn and 56% are on Twitter, less than half of the select group use other
social networks, blogs, or have mobile websites and apps, according to this
study.
Unilever’s Keith Weed
Unilever’s chief marketing officer Keith Weed says the rise of
new media channels requires Britain’s corporations to pay attention to their
digital footprint. “People are getting much more interested in finding out
about the company behind the brand and have the tools to go online and find out
more,” he says.
Consumers and business communities alike use the web and social
networks to find and spread information, so companies need to make sure their
corporate ‘story’ is easily found and understood by increasingly diverse
audiences.
Unilever has focused on increasing awareness of its corporate
brand since 2009 and in 2010 launched its Sustainable Living Plan, which aims
to double the company’s sales over 10 years while cutting the environmental
impact of its products by 50%.
Unilever began telling this story of sustainable business
online, and it is through digital channels that the company has built the
initial groundswell of interest in the corporate brand. The company will run a
corporate branding campaign targeting consumers later this year, as Marketing
Week exclusively reported last month.
Introducing the Sustainable Living Plan 18 months ago required
Unilever to reform its digital corporate communications. It consolidated its
previously disparate social media resources, such as Facebook pages, cutting
down their number and honing their focus, says Weed.
“We have been stepping up in this area so you can now find a
coherent story about the brand - the heritage, the Sustainable Living Plan,
sourcing and consumer living,” he adds. “We are doing this to tell the story
behind Unilever, and I would want Unilever to be a quality mark of
sustainability.” Unilever’s consumer advertising now features its U logo, as
does its packaging.
