I've always wondered what the difference between corporate sites and their blogs are? Standing by themselves I wonder if they depict something different? I decided to analyze two different kinds of corporate blogs that reflect different concentrations, opinions and thoughts. GM (http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/about.html) - one of the biggest US automotive industry and ADOBE (http://blogs.adobe.com/) - a multimedia and creativity software company. These are two different companies that inevitably want to reach their organizations goal.
GM FASTLANE BLOG
Their intended audience for this blog is targeted towards prospective auto buyers, shareholders, investors and designers. The goal of their blog is to discuss the development and design of their current and prospective products and services. They also discuss other important issues the company is facing; be it social, political and otherwise. Also, they share ideas and inventions.
I appreciate that they encourage not only questions but criticisms and comments. They even have something called the GM Lab (http://thelab.gmblogs.com/) where contributors (anyone) can enter into an interactive design research. Although they hide certain ideas from their competitors, they encourage ideas on products that need a little extra tweak or anything in general. All the comments posted on their website are displayed excluding comments that are off-topic, spam or defamatory. They reply comments and provide the appropriate corrections where necessary and disagree with some respectfully. Average entries are not more than 600 words, some entries run much shorter depending on the topic. More than 90% of their entries include videos in relation to the topic to better elaborate on the subject. Therefore, because most entries include videos of some sort there is not a lot of visual design on the site. However, the blog is not at all filled with dull colors but rather goes with the simple white background for simplicity and soft touch that visitors can recognize immediately. There is a distinguished line used for the header of their page which includes their logo and underneath the line their mission statement. Their search engine, contributors, recent comments, links and etc are neatly arranged at the right-hand side of the page. My overall feeling of this blog is the company’s unique style to communicate with customers. I feel their bringing their own set of opportunities for it’s users to have a positive experience. I like that they discard posts that do not add value for readers. Also, I like that they include the names and position of employees who add entries.
ADOBE BLOGS
Adobe’s intended audience are their customers and potential customers. The content posted on their blogs solely have to do with updates and news of their products. Their goal is to educate their buyers on the development and inform them on the latest news on their products and services. Although the site allows comments; on the homepage of their blog with over 20 posts there is not a total of 25 comments. Average entries run from two to three paragraphs. Their visual design is simply laid out with a white background and black text that lacks visual appeal.
The overall corporate image to me in this blog design, is that of a very basic look.I would have expected a major company like this to provide the opportunity of executives/employees the chance to communicate openly.
In conclusion, my opinion on corporate blogs is really a way these companies can strengthen their relationships with important target groups as industry experts. However, isn't that the intent of blogs? To serve as a tool for communication with the public, collaboration, demonstration of corporate responsibility, reputation management, promotion of product and services and knowledge management.
RESOURCES:
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/GM%252520Logo.jpg
http://tinycomb.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/adobe-logo.jpg
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/20/corporate-blog-design-trends-and-examples/
"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."
0 comments:
Post a Comment