Social Media Report Card for Top 10 A&D Companies October 20, 2009
Posted by ludozone in Aerospace, FaceBook, International Business Development, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Twitter, eBusiness Applications/Services.Tags: Aerospace, FaceBook, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter
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When Northrop Grumman announced their new website and solicited feedback on Twitter, I immediately checked out how they had used social media in their new design. Although there was a lot of progress from their previous version, I decided to analyze how they ranked against the websites of the other top Aerospace & Defense companies. Here are the companies and websites I analyzed:
| Company | URL | Main Twitter Account(s) |
|---|---|---|
| GE Aviation | http://www.geae.com | @ge_reports @getech_infra |
| EADS | http://www.eads.com | @airbus |
| Boeing | http://www.boeing.com | @boeingairplanes |
| United Technologies Pratt, Sikorsky, Hamilton Sundstrand |
http://www.utc.com | @prattandwhitney |
| Lockheed Martin |
http://www.lmco.com | @lockheedmartin |
| Northrop Grumman | http://www.northrop.com | @northropgrumman |
| BAE Systems | http://www.baesystems.com | @baesystems |
| General Dynamics |
http://www.gd.com | |
| Raytheon | http://www.raytheon.com | @Raytheoncompany |
| Thales | http://www.thalesgroup.com | @thalesgroup |
Even though most of the companies have a main twitter account, there are some notable exceptions. GE is the most prolific with a number of accounts covering every aspect of their large business. They even have a really nice blog site (http://www.gereports.com – What’s happening at GE) that makes full use of social media. Boeing, EADS, UTC, and General Dynamics are the only ones that do not have a main twitter account although some of their subsidiaries do. (Note: @boeing does exist but is not owned by the company). Most puzzling is that Northrop Grumman is the ONLY ONE listing their twitter account on their home page. Why aren’t the other companies doing this? It makes no sense! Pratt&Whitney is listing their twitter account at the bottom of their contact page. Lockheed and Raytheon are referencing their accounts in some press releases and trade show pages (e.g. Paris Air Show). However, Raytheon has a special Twitter account for recruiting prominently featured in that part of their site. They also leverages FaceBook in their recruitment, the only company to publically do so from their main website.
(You can now follow the 10 companies’ Twitter streams
from this Twitter List)
SHARING FORWARD
One of the important uses of social media is to be able to share news and information about a company or its products in other environments. Although all companies except for General Dynamics offer various RSS Feeds from their site, only three offer the ability to share information on other social media networks. Lockheed, Northrop and Raytheon provide the full social media “share” icon allowing users to broadcast a link to news and other information on Twitter, FaceBook, Digg, etc… The advantage of this method is that it allows companies to track where the news is posted and to subsequently follow the conversation. This is a major loss opportunity for the others.
INTERACTION
Soliciting feedback from the masses seems to still be foreign to the top A&D companies. Although a majority provides “private portals” were registered suppliers and customers can probably interact to a great extent (Note: I was not able to test this), NONE try to engage the website visitors in meaningful interaction. GE Reports has a “Submit your ideas” portal, but it is not specific to Aerospace. Raytheon has a “Connect with us” link at the top of the site, but it requires login. Sikorsky has a “Feedback” button at the bottom of most pages, but it is a generic email contact page. This is the one area where the Northrop Grumman site really disappointed me. Boeing recently launched http://www.unitedstatestanker.com that is a modern, interactive, social site with all the bell and whistles! (More on that here) Why wouldn’t they do that for their other offerings? I understand that our industry requires controlled and confidential discussions and collaboration, but is there no value is soliciting input from unknown suppliers and customers? Not all feedback needs to be public, but wouldn’t these companies want to know what other ideas or comments are out there? All the other industries seem think so, so why not us?
REPORT CARD
Based on all my observations above, I compiled this report card for each company:
| Visibility | Sharing | Interaction | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northrop Grumman | A | A | F | B |
| Great other than sharing | ||||
| Raytheon | C | A | C | C+ |
| Extra points for social recruiting section | ||||
| Lockheed | C | A | F | C |
| Good sharing, references to Twitter | ||||
| GE Aviation | D | D | D | D |
| Extra points for gereports.com | ||||
| Boeing | D | D | D | D |
| Encouragement points for unitedstatestanker.com | ||||
| United Technologies | D | F | F | D- |
| Extra points for Pratt and Sikorsky efforts | ||||
| EADS | F | F | F | F |
| BAE SYSTEMS | F | F | F | F |
| General Dynamics | F | F | F | F |
| Thales | F | F | F | F |
| Overall: | D | C | F | D |
Having the newest website, Northrop Grumman takes the lead unsurprisingly. Boeing would be top if it expanded its tanker approach to the rest of the site. And GE could take a page of its GE Reports site and apply it to its aviation business unit. I also note that the three European companies rate at the bottom of list when it comes to Social Media. Many suspect this approach is not yet as popular in Europe as it is in the USA.
CALL TO ACTION
Based on my observations, all these companies could and should do much more if they want to stay in sync with their younger employees, evolving customers, and high tech suppliers. I suggest all of them take the following three simple steps as a good start:
- Put a twitter badge on the home page and start publicizing and leveraging their account. This is an easy step and it will start the conversation. As discussed previously, get the executives involved in the process.
- Put a Social Media “share” icon at the bottom of every press release, white paper, and product page of the website. Help people promote the information and track the conversations that ensues.
- Create a “submit your idea” page and promote it in context throughout the site. Copy the mechanism and structure of http://www.defensesolutions.gov/ which has already sorted out the confidentiality and IP challenges this kind of page could generate.
I feel there is a definite first mover advantage for the A&D companies that will leverage social media in the near future. Integrating various communication methods and shifting from pulpit shouting to trusted conversation are the two most important steps these 10 companies can take to improve.
Ludo Van Vooren, a 15 years veteran of the industry, blogs about eBusiness, Social Media, Internet Marketing, and International Business Development.
After reading this post, Raytheon added a Social Media badge on their homepage (http://www.raytheon.com ). It looks really good. With that change, they deserve to jump up to the top of the list with an overall B+ rating. Well done!
Not to be outdone, Northrop Grumman just informed me that they too made changes at http://www.northropgrumman.com
They added icons for their twitter and facebook accounts on the main pages. They also added the “share” button on their press release pages and key product pages. Well done!
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