Imagination at Work

Forbes ranked General Electric Company, or GE, as the world's largest company which undoubtedly is a product of countless seriously working imaginations. The company is a Worldwide Partner and exclusive provider of products and services integral to the Games.

According to their website, GE works with the Organizing Committees as well as hosting cities that plays an integral role in producing successful Olympic Games. Their partnership was launched in January 2005 with GE providing infrastructure solutions including power, water treatment, transportation and security, and to supply hospitals with ultrasound and MRI equipment used to treat athletes.

The question that comes to mind is, can the world's largest company effectively use and manage social networking? Twitter research reveals there are many of what seems like random users posting and updating GE's news, but nothing that looks officially run by people at the company.

Their Facebook page offers a description on the company followed by an interesting section offering related posts that global Facebook users have written about the company. Posts range from individuals trying to sell their GE products to others posting news clips covering company products.  I find this is particularly exciting because unless they do some serious screening, it means they are not afraid of what people have to say about them, good or bad. Any feedback is helpful, positive or negative. Even the largest company in the world isn't squashing the public's thoughts or opinions, at least not on Facebook. Kudos GE!

Social Media to the Side

While thinking about the ways businesses use social media, I began to wonder why many businesses do not use it. In a world where technology and the World Wide Web point toward the future, it seems that joining in on Facebook, Twitter and other social media giants would be the most commonsensical thing to do. From what I've gathered from research as well as an interview with one of these non-conforming companies, fear of negative feedback and uncertainty of employee reception seem to be the most common reasons businesses are not participating.

A Google.com search under "businesses that do not use social media" found many websites listing reasons why, how to use and other helpful ideas on the use of social media. Very few yielded negative results such as this one which gives reasons businesses should not use social media; however, it maintains social media can be positive if planned and maintained on a regular basis. While many listed websites were opinion-based, the benefits of using social media can be obvious, from the immediacy of getting information to target audiences to positive ideas being spread around the Net.

Twitter has over 100 million active users worldwide, Facebook currently has more than 400 million users and there are countless other websites out there dedicated to social networking. It seems like a no-brainer to find a way into social networking for businesses to create or build relationships with their publics.

You Could Need a Visa

Since I have already posted on Coca-Cola and McDonald's as the Olympics' official soft drink and restaurant, respectively, I decided to discuss Visa's involvement as the official credit card of the Olympic Games.

The TOP ("The Olympic Partner" program) sponsors pay a boatload for exclusive use of the Olympic rings in advertising and logos. Visa's Web site states they are America's Olympic Team Partner and provide direct funding, promotional support and life skills training to athletes. Through professional events, they also provide the opportunity for Olympic hopefuls to train, compete and earn prize money.

As for Visa's social media involvement, they have an impressive looking Facebook page dedicated to Team Visa Athletes complete with videos, photos and posts packed full of updates on the Olympics as well as the Paralympic Games. With over 105,000 fans, this is a great medium where fans can easily find updates and interact with one another through discussions on posts. I'd say they aced it on the Visa Go World Facebook page.

I was unable to find Visa on Twitter, but hey, it's not for everyone. However, Twitter is such a big deal these days that someone over there in communications should consider adding it to their social media list. I was able to find a list of Twitter users that also uses Visa. It's a small list not created by Visa and I think if an official Visa Twitter page came up, people would be likely to follow. I mean, don't "more people go with Visa"?

The Olympics are here!

Besides the fact that the Olympics are being shown on NBC, I have noticed the signs that the winter Olympics in Vancouver are upon us. As I was cooking up dinner last week, I noticed the Tyson frozen chicken I was using officially sponsors USA's Olympics. This is just one example of the way a business has chosen to communicate to the public of their sponsorship in the Olympic games. I checked up on the Tyson Foods, Inc. Web site and found this in a press release:

"As the official chicken, beef and pork Sponsor for the U.S. Olympic Team, Tyson will serve as a vital protein source for America's Olympic hopefuls in Beijing and Vancouver. In addition to supplying product to all three U.S. Olympic Training Centers, Tyson protein will help fuel the athletes during the 30 days when the U.S. Olympic Team is in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games, including the 16 days of competition.

Their Web site features promotions such as "Eat to Compete" which lists recipes that promote healthy food choices as well as tips and recipes created by U.S. Olympic team chefs:

It's interesting to see how businesses contact their publics and make known what they support and how they go about promoting their interests!