Social Media Usage Amongst FTSE 100 Companies – Company Profile – G4S
This article forms part of a study on social media usage amongst FTSE 100 companies.
Each company in the FTSE 100 index was reviewed on its usage of such social media tools as RSS feeds*, blogs, online video, podcasts and social media platforms like Flickr and Facebook on its main website and on occasion, on websites of well-known subsidiary companies.
*RSS feeds are a simple way of delivering fresh versions of a website’s content to online readers automatically.
According to the Guardian.co.uk Business Glossary:
“The FTSE 100 index comprises the 100 most highly capitalised blue chip companies on the London Stock Exchange, representing approximately 81% of the UK market.”
Here is the result for the security group G4S (GFS.L).
| FTSE 100 Company | RSS | Webcast | Blog | Online Video | Audio | Facebook, Twitter, etc |
| G4S | No | No | No | Yes Yes | Yes | Yes |
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Online Video/Webcasts: Yes
Usage of Social Media platforms: Yes
(Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, del.icio.us, Twitter, Digg etc)
According to Yahoo Finance:
Group 4 Securicor: live in total security One of the largest providers of security services in the world, Group 4 Securicor was formed from the merger in July 2004 between Group 4 Falck and Securicor. The company is involved in all activities devoted to the protection and security of goods and people, on both a physical and moral level.
My pre-evaluation expectation of how the company will fare:
Now this may be easier than others in saying whether G4S will be involved in using social media platforms, due to the fact that G4S operate in areas that result in global brand awareness, for example I have noticed numerous security guards on retail premises sporting the company’s logo on uniforms, and also on motor vehicles, employees cars and vans also display the same logo. Therefore I have been more aware of that particular company, which has also made it a bit clearer in what they cover as a business. Therefore I expect G4S to cover at least one aspect of the social media platform, either Facebook or YouTube may house some marketing or information.
Commentary:
According to their website G4S are the world’s leading international security solutions group.
You get a sense of just how big a company and how big their span of operations are from the ‘Where we operate’, page. They operate in 6 continents, with a total of 121 countries. Their website is a comprehensive mix of downloadable PDF files and online videos covering all business information, from current share prices to yearly results to careers, plus lots more business related information.
As well as covering an international operations area, G4s also cover wide spread online presence. After searching the company name on popular social media websites, it’s clear that G4S are involved with the social media platforms for marketing and information relaying. Their Facebook page is basically the company bio taken from Wikipedia.
Though they have videos on YouTube, they do not have their own channel, which is strange as most of the videos are company adverts, which were probably shown on TV some time ago. G4S also have Twitter covered, with regular updates which are mostly links to pages on their website, not to mention various accounts for the different countries they operate in.
Like most companies that have a firm grip on the social media ladder, G4S have a Media Centre link page. Here they have taken the time to include multiplatform media in the form of online videos, which show they are interested in the public and media in knowing about their operations and what they are achieving as a company. It’s also good to see they have included an Image library with numerous downloaded images.
What’s interesting though is no use of RSS news feeds. They do have an email alert subscription, though i have said before I think this is the old fashioned way of sending and relaying information, time to update and use RSS.
Recommendations
- RSS- G4S are clearly up to date with the use of social media platforms and are aware of most of the popular websites, however I feel if they take a little time to add an RSS feed they will be able to improve their news feeds, they are half way there with their Twitter account but instead of posting links to their home website they could include latest news information.
- YouTube channel- They could create a YouTube channel to house all their adverts old and new, while there are videos on the website they have been posted by other people, having a separate channel for new adverts could create more brand awareness.
- Facebook page- G4S do have a Facebook page but it only contains a description from Wikipedia, maybe if the page was created for employees to discuss and share work related topics it may increase business and employee relations.
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What do you think?
Are you a customer, employee, shareholder or stakeholder of G4S? I would love to hear your thoughts on this review. What would you like to see G4S doing more of in terms of social media? More online video? More interaction between those affected perhaps?
Share your thoughts in the comments!
Need any help?
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