Accessibility at its finest: the FedEx Citizenship Blog
July 16, 2009
Right away, it’s very easy to see that this site caters to its audience. The FedEx citizenship blog serves a central point that offers a plethora of links for further information regarding all aspects of its company. Corporate relations, the philanthropic options, and various other activities FedEx implements, are all directly accessible with one click. Though this may sound a little overwhelming or chaotic, the site offers structure and organization, making it easier for the reader to find what they need. There are even brief bio’s about each of the blog authors, something I haven’t seen done as successfully as FedEx did it. This personalizes each author by putting a face to the writing. Making the authors of the site and the employees of FedEx seem more relatable and therefore trustworthy only helps build their relationship with its readers/customers.
Q: Who are the blog authors?
A: The authors of the blog are a group of seven individuals employed by FedEx. Among this group, is the CEO of FedEx. Although it is noted that Fed Smith is the CEO, there is no particular significance of difference with his posts compared to the others. As some other corporate blogs may have a separate page for the CEO’s own blog content, FedEx does not. In this regard, by not drawing attention to his position, there is less pressure to be more involved or knowledgeable than the other blog authors. This could be a positive. At the same rate, this could restrict the element of credibility that the CEO of a corporation could provide for such a site. However, interaction from its readers does not seem stifled by this decision and so change is not suggested.
Q: What specific content does the blog provide?
A: As said before, the site allows for direct access to further information about FedEx. The blog has content consistent to any corporate blog: its mission statement, latest posts, comments, application to follow on twitter, popular posts, and background information. Aspects of the blog that appear specific to FedEx are described in the four divisions of the post content: Community & Disaster Relief, Economic & Access, Environment & Efficiency, People & Workplace. All four sections exemplify FedEx’s role in the lives of its consumers. In the community, it regularly participates and sponsors philanthropic events. One specific example of this is a National Truck Driving Championship set to be held in mid-August. By positioning themselves as a part of consumers lives, FedEx maintains an operable relationship. FedEx is successful in considering what their audiences/customers want in a delivery service, and therefore allows their customers to easily incorporate FedEx into their daily lives.
Q: How does the site allow for user interactivity?
A: The site utilizes a number of applications to encourage participation. Each post allows its viewers to rate its content out of five stars. For each different post the number of views is shown along with the number of comments. Users are also able to subscribe to RSS feeds through a section titled “most popular posts” with the term described as popular to mean those rated highly by its users. Users that might be interested in the governing of the corporation can download a PDF FedEx Citizen Report directly from the Citizenship Blog homepage. FedEx has successfully provided its audience ease of accessibility and company transparency.
Kirsten, I found this article on the FedEx Citizenship to be loaded with information and really gave a vivid portrayal of what the site actually has to offer. The blog itself seems very interesting and focused on customer appreciation and actively trying to increase its consumer’s information base. I think smarter customers make for better customers, so I found this appealing as a potential customer. In addition I agreed with you on the positioning of the CEO on the blog. By not giving him a special section in the blog I found that it humanized him and his opinions which made the entire company seem warmer and more trust worthy. I specifically liked the blogs “most popular post” section. It is designed for users to quickly research other user’s comments. This is the easiest way for consumers/users to get unbiased opinions about the performance of Fed Ex.