Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100 Company – Cobham plc
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’s how the aircraft company Cobham (COB.L) stacked up.
| FTSE 100 Company | RSS | Podcast | Blog | Online Video | Audio | Social Networking |
| Cobham | Yes | Yes | No | Yes Yes | Yes | Yes |
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Online/Video Webcasts: Yes
Usage of Social Media Platforms: Yes
(Facebook)
According to Yahoo Finance:
“Although it is based in Dorset in Great Britain, the Cobham group has an international dimension. It works for the aerospace sector and for military aviation through its large number of subsidiaries. It designs and develops systems that are evermore innovative: pneumatic bearings, equipment for storing high-pressure gas, pressure regulation and flow control (via Carleton Technologies) and electro-explosive valves (via Conax).”
My pre-evaluation expectation on how the company will fare:
Communicating with people throughout the globe should be Cobham’s main target. Therefore I would expect a lot of ways for Cobham to communicate with its customers.
Commentary:
The design of this site is very tidy, as everything is in sections of related content and has helpful sub headings to help you navigate round it.
Whilst browsing the site, I began searching for social networking features being used. I did not find any however. I then tried to find them on Facebook.
On their Facebook page they talk about their company and their goals. What caught my attention was at the very top they are trying to build a repository of aviation knowledge, which is built up by the general public.
This to me is a very good idea as they are building a relationship with their customers or even people simply having a passion in the aviation industry, on how they can improve their services. However I was a bit disappointed in finding that this feature was not included on their homepage, as it would have enabled different forms of web services to link together.
They do however have an image library within the media section, which contains videos on the services they provide and RSS feeds. Even though a rich source of media coverage was displayed here, the RSS feeds would have been better suited on the front page to enable users to get instant news updates from the company.
Looking very carefully at the site now, a picture at the bottom of the homepage was actually a link. It took me to another site which went through the 75 years history of the company. I liked the way they made a page especially for multimedia as it enables people to gain a better understanding of the company.
Recommendations
- The ideas that Cobham implements are very good, however if they are not made aware they are simply irrelevant to have. Bringing social networking features along with the RSS feeds to the front of the page could involve and help users to collaborate more with the company on different issues.
- Displaying a link clearly on their homepage to share knowledge could enable the company as well as users to frequently take part in discussions on various aeronautical topics.
- Restructuring the site so all the different ways to communicate with the company is brought to the front and less important information is moved further into the site. Certain features could also be made more aware to people, like the picture on the home page that was in fact a link.
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What do you think?
Are you an employee or a customer of Cobham? Do you think they need to make features more aware to people to engage users more on the services they provide? Or perhaps you would simply like to get more information on our recommendations? Contact us
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- Social media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Compass Group
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Diageo
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