Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BAE Systems
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 3rd largest defence company in the world, BAE Systems (BA.L) measured up.
| FTSE 100 Company | RSS | Podcast | Blog | Online Video | Audio | Facebook, Flickr, etc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAE Systems | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
………………
Online Video/Webcasts: Yes
Full Year Results Announcement, sign up required
Usage of Social Media platforms: No
(Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, del.icio.us, Twitter, Digg etc)
According to Yahoo! Finance:
“Originating from the 1999 merger between British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems, the English company is one of the global leaders in the field of military equipment. BAE Systems designs, develops, and is responsible for systems maintenance for the army, the navy, and aerospace.”
Commentary:
According to Sara Hirsch, director of brand and communications strategy at BAE Systems:
“We are proud of being British and of using British suppliers. As a major contributor to the UK’s national economy, one of the biggest financial contributors to the country’s supply chain and a company that trains more skilled engineers in the UK than any other, we have a great story to tell.”
BAE Systems is the 3rd largest global defence company and the 6th largest US defence company.
The BAE Systems corporate website is the most Web 2.0 of all the sites reviewed so far.
By Web 2.0 I mean that its design is the most intuitive and user friendly implying that web usability standards stipulating a clean separation of structure and style have been adhered to.
It has a clean, accessible design with liberal use of white space. RSS feeds are provided for news and investor information. These are tucked away in the Newsroom section of the site, disappointingly.
The Speeches and Presentations subsection presents you with a transcript of a speech by Dick Olver, Non Executive Chairman, amongst other things, and not a video presentation as one would expect!
The BAE Systems website does have a fantastic Image Gallery with lots images of the various parts of the company all provided copyright free for editorial use.
It is interesting that BAE Systems has recently launched a major nationwide advertising campaign in press, on taxis and mobile displays and in mainstream media.
An investment in social media would bring this campaign to life online.
Recommendations:
- Use more online video - as a starting point, make TV adverts from the recently launched 2008 advertising campaign available online. Most of its target audience are early adopter digitally savvy web users who would probably expect to see its ads on the web.
- Start a company blog – BAE Systems has an impressive track record in taking its corporate responsibility seriously and could show off this and other achievements on a company blog. Activities it could enlighten its various stakeholders and current and future employees about are:
- WaterSentry – the first product to automatically and continuously test for chemical toxins that have been introduced into water supplies.
- Sara Pullen – a Crew Systems Engineer for BAE Systems and the 2005 Young Woman Engineer of the Year.
- Amazon Hope 2 – a floating medical centre for the Amazon which will provide much needed medical services for the people of the Peruvian Amazon.
All in all, BAE Systems has an information-rich yet highly usable corporate website.
It could improve on this by using social media like blogs and online video to tell its story online and engage directly with its various stakeholders.
………………
What do you think?
Are you a customer, employee, shareholder or stakeholder of BAE Systems? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this review. What would you like to see BAE Systems doing more of in terms of social media? More online video? A CEO blog, perhaps?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Need any help?
Do you work for BAE Systems and want some insight into some of the ideas published here?
Or perhaps you look after marketing for BAE Systems and would like a quick chat about putting some of those recommendations into practice. Contact us.
Related posts:
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Barclays
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Associated British Foods
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – British Land
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – British Energy
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BG Group
