Event Highlights | Lifeforce or Lifeless: How well does your website serve your purpose?
On 22nd June, we held the first webinar of our 2021 Web 100 series to share the results and key findings of the seventh edition of our annual digital research. Our research involved an in-depth analysis of the FTSE100 companies against 200 metrics that reflect best practice trends and content, regulatory requirements, and effective user experience.
Our speakers at the webinar were:
- Richard Dixon, Chief Digital Officer.
- Daniel Cowley, Head of Digital Strategy.
- Erika Susanto, Head of Knowledge and Innovation.
This year, we have communicated our research findings through a Web 100 microsite, which you can access here.
Why is the corporate website important?
Your corporate website is at the heart of your communications strategy – the one place you can communicate your corporate story to each of your key stakeholder groups. It influences what investors think and their investment decisions, is the most popular route for prospective employees to apply for a job, and is the go-to resource for journalists.
Our three takeaways for 2021
1) Purpose-led
The upward trend in companies articulating their purpose has continued this year – rising to 79% of FTSE100 companies (up from 71% last year). We are seeing companies moving away from boilerplate purpose statements - with purpose instead becoming more centre-stage, clearly linked to strategy, and reinforced through thought leadership. Best practice purpose disclosures can also include clearly stating how purpose benefits stakeholders, including a message from the CEO introducing the purpose, using purpose videos, showing how purpose is intertwined with the company values, and using case studies to showcase how the company is living its purpose.
2) Strategically-connected
We are seeing companies enhancing the connectivity between their strategy and other disclosures across their sites, such as their purpose, business model and KPIs. Best practice websites are providing deep-dive strategic information on what they are trying to achieve, their targets and progress, and are tying their strategies to their long-term vision. Companies are also using strategy in-action case studies, which resonate well with audiences as they evidence what the company is doing on a day-to-day basis and consequently help to build trust.
Enhanced strategic connectivity has also been manifested through the improved articulation of investment cases, which has increased to 44% of FTSE100 companies in 2021 (up from 34% in 2018). Companies are delivering more accessible and impactful investment narratives, which are tied to long-term value creation stories and backed up by financial performance highlights.
3) Sustainability-focused
We are seeing continued advances in ESG disclosure, which has grown to 41% this year (up from 34% last year and 13% the year before). The rise of ESG discussions has been accompanied by enriching content such as webcasts, presentations, reports, and other supporting documentation. Companies are bringing their ESG approaches to life through visual elements, creating ESG investor packs, providing pull-out sustainability statistics, providing sustainability-specific news, and disclosing how they report in line with the SASB and TCFD frameworks.
Summary Trends
- Greater emphasis on digital communications than ever before.
- There has been a sustained investment in corporate websites.
- Narrative and storytelling are key to powerful communication.
View this year's results
Our upcoming Web 100 events
We have three more webinars in our 2021 W100 series, each of which is targeted at specific audience groups and areas of interests. Please follow the links below to find out more about our upcoming events and to register.
- 6th July (10am – 11am): Meeting the needs of the sustainability community.
- 27th July (10am – 11am): Attracting and engaging the best talent.
- 15th September (10am – 11am): Delivering an outstanding user experience.
How can Black Sun help?
Want some insights to enhance the content or user experience of your website? We offer two types of benchmark assessment to evaluate how your website stacks up.
1) Summary Review – where we share trends, provide an overview of how you perform, compare your performance against the FTSE100 performance, and provide high-level recommendations for improvement.
2) Full Report – where we build upon the offering of the summary review by providing a named peer review, highlight weaknesses and opportunities for each area of your website, and provide relevant best practice examples.
To request a personalised assessment, please get in touch with our Senior Business Developer, Naomi Hawkins: [email protected]
Black Sun is a stakeholder communications company. We help businesses to communicate authentically how they deliver value to inspire, engage and influence their important stakeholders. We believe that inspiring strategic communications can spark positive change and drive long-term, sustainable performance. We want to work with companies who want to build better businesses through better communications.
On 22nd June, we held the first webinar of our 2021 Web 100 series to share the results and key findings of the seventh edition of our annual digital research. Our research involved an in-depth analysis of the FTSE100 companies against 200 metrics that reflect best practice trends and content, regulatory requirements, and effective user experience.
Our speakers at the webinar were:
- Richard Dixon, Chief Digital Officer.
- Daniel Cowley, Head of Digital Strategy.
- Erika Susanto, Head of Knowledge and Innovation.
This year, we have communicated our research findings through a Web 100 microsite, which you can access here.
Why is the corporate website important?
Your corporate website is at the heart of your communications strategy – the one place you can communicate your corporate story to each of your key stakeholder groups. It influences what investors think and their investment decisions, is the most popular route for prospective employees to apply for a job, and is the go-to resource for journalists.
Our three takeaways for 2021
1) Purpose-led
The upward trend in companies articulating their purpose has continued this year – rising to 79% of FTSE100 companies (up from 71% last year). We are seeing companies moving away from boilerplate purpose statements - with purpose instead becoming more centre-stage, clearly linked to strategy, and reinforced through thought leadership. Best practice purpose disclosures can also include clearly stating how purpose benefits stakeholders, including a message from the CEO introducing the purpose, using purpose videos, showing how purpose is intertwined with the company values, and using case studies to showcase how the company is living its purpose.
2) Strategically-connected
We are seeing companies enhancing the connectivity between their strategy and other disclosures across their sites, such as their purpose, business model and KPIs. Best practice websites are providing deep-dive strategic information on what they are trying to achieve, their targets and progress, and are tying their strategies to their long-term vision. Companies are also using strategy in-action case studies, which resonate well with audiences as they evidence what the company is doing on a day-to-day basis and consequently help to build trust.
Enhanced strategic connectivity has also been manifested through the improved articulation of investment cases, which has increased to 44% of FTSE100 companies in 2021 (up from 34% in 2018). Companies are delivering more accessible and impactful investment narratives, which are tied to long-term value creation stories and backed up by financial performance highlights.
3) Sustainability-focused
We are seeing continued advances in ESG disclosure, which has grown to 41% this year (up from 34% last year and 13% the year before). The rise of ESG discussions has been accompanied by enriching content such as webcasts, presentations, reports, and other supporting documentation. Companies are bringing their ESG approaches to life through visual elements, creating ESG investor packs, providing pull-out sustainability statistics, providing sustainability-specific news, and disclosing how they report in line with the SASB and TCFD frameworks.
Summary Trends
- Greater emphasis on digital communications than ever before.
- There has been a sustained investment in corporate websites.
- Narrative and storytelling are key to powerful communication.
View this year's results
Our upcoming Web 100 events
We have three more webinars in our 2021 W100 series, each of which is targeted at specific audience groups and areas of interests. Please follow the links below to find out more about our upcoming events and to register.
- 6th July (10am – 11am): Meeting the needs of the sustainability community.
- 27th July (10am – 11am): Attracting and engaging the best talent.
- 15th September (10am – 11am): Delivering an outstanding user experience.
How can Black Sun help?
Want some insights to enhance the content or user experience of your website? We offer two types of benchmark assessment to evaluate how your website stacks up.
1) Summary Review – where we share trends, provide an overview of how you perform, compare your performance against the FTSE100 performance, and provide high-level recommendations for improvement.
2) Full Report – where we build upon the offering of the summary review by providing a named peer review, highlight weaknesses and opportunities for each area of your website, and provide relevant best practice examples.
To request a personalised assessment, please get in touch with our Senior Business Developer, Naomi Hawkins: [email protected]
Black Sun is a stakeholder communications company. We help businesses to communicate authentically how they deliver value to inspire, engage and influence their important stakeholders. We believe that inspiring strategic communications can spark positive change and drive long-term, sustainable performance. We want to work with companies who want to build better businesses through better communications.