Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BP
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 petroleum giant, BP (BP.L) stacked up.
| FTSE 100 Company | RSS | Podcast | Blog | Online Video | Audio | Facebook, Flickr, etc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BP | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
………………
Online Video/Webcasts: Yes, US TV ads
Usage of Social Media platforms: No
(Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, del.icio.us, Twitter, Digg etc)
According to Yahoo! Finance:
“BP, a vast company, arose from the merger in 1998 of British Petroleum (English) and Amoco (American), which made it number three in the world in oil and gas behind Exxon Mobil (American) and Royal Dutch Shell.
With reserves mainly in Alaska and the North Sea, the group is the American number one in oil and natural gas, its leading activity.”
My pre-evaluation expectation of how the company will fare:
I expect BP, who have significant consumer facing operations in the UK, to have a social media-rich web presence. Let’s see.
Commentary:
Another Olympic connection, this time the London 2012 Olympic Games. BP is the official Oil and Gas Partner for the 2012 Olympic Games.
BP.com is a friendly and highly usable site. I particularly like the clear ‘What We Do’ notice on the home page:
What we do
We find oil and natural gas, extract it from hard-to-reach places, move it over land and sea, and make useful products from it for people like you
I also like BP’s clear explanation of RSS feeds:
“An RSS feed (also referred to as, a feed) is simply a subscription to updates from a Web site or Web page. Through RSS, you can be automatically notified as soon as updates are made.”
BP’s Press Centre offer a number of RSS feeds, from BP press releases and speeches to the BP Investor Relations podcast.
There is very little online video content though. You can view BP’s US TV ads if you happen upon the BP Brand Communications page. There is not much else, however.
So much for a charming and easy on the eye website.
Recommendations:
- Feature more rich media content that shares BP’s rich legacy and history - The Yahoo! Finance profile for BP alludes to a very colourful history and the BP History section of the website makes some effort to illustrate this graphically. Online video would work much better however and deliver miles more engagement.
- Blog about BP’s noteworthy educational initiatives – Share details about noteworthy case studies like BP’s Environmental Education Resources in the UK via a corporate blog. Not only would this improve search engine visibility for BP products, it would also act as a positive consumer touch point for the company online.
………………
What do you think?
Are you a customer, employee, shareholder or stakeholder of BP? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this review. What would you like to see BP 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 BP and want some insight into some of the ideas published here?
Or perhaps you look after marketing for BP and would like a quick chat about putting some of those recommendations into practice. Contact us.
UPDATE: See our thoughts on BP’s recent efforts to curtail the public relations disaster that is the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill in 2010.
Related posts:
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BT Group
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BHP Billiton
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – CADBURY ADR
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Bunzl
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BSkyB Group
