Visit the websites of Procter & Gamble and Harley Davidson
FInd the financial data for the organization
Create a posting answering these questions
How accessable and understandable is the finacial data?
What is the overall feel of the website?
What is the website selling?
Responds to two of the following posts
1.The first site I visited was the Harley Davidson homepage. Immediately, I found myself squinting at the small text on the top of the home page, searching for the word investment or investor. After realizing the links at the top of the page were not going to do me any good on my search, I scrolled to the bottom of the page. In even smaller text, I found something slightly related to investment or investor, the about us link. While searching for the financial data I noticed the majority of each webpage was filled with marketing type photos of the various Harley models. I got the impression that Harley was more interested in putting you on that new Harley than making the financial information readily available. Once I did find the annual report I had to search through 117 pages in order to find the information we learn about in chapter 2.
Procter and Gamble, on the other hand, made it much easier to find their financial information. Investor relations was placed directly at the top of their homepage, and it was the first hyperlink in the list. Once that page loaded it was very bright and filled with investment related facts the company was proud of. Only a small portion of the page was dominated by the actual products they sell. I got the impression that P&G was more interested in their overall brand, and marketing the financial data they are proud of rather than a product they sell. Once I loaded their annual report, I was immediately presented with data we learn about in chapter 2 on the second page of their report. I felt P&G did a better job at selling their company to an investor on the investor relations page than Harley did on their investor relations/about us page.
2.Harley Davidsion
I visited the Harley Davidson website first. I found the website was very appealing from a design aspect. It did take me a bit of searching to find the financial data. At the bottom of the page there is a link "About Harley-Davidson", and from there you can navigate to the financial information. The financial tear sheet was helpful as a tool to explore recent news and data. It is very clear Harley-Davidson means motorcycles! From the home page to the financial page there are pictures and ads for all kinds of motorcycles. There will be no mistaking what it is they are selling.
Procter & Gamble
The second site I visited was the Proctor & Gamble website. Here I clearly saw the link "Investor/Shareholder Relations". From here I am taken to what I felt was a somewhat busy page. Part of this feeling could be my personal preference for a darker background to make the site feel softer. On the left hand side there were links to all financial information including strategy, financials, and a breakdown to where P&G does it's business. This website had many different home based products on it throughout the pages that i navigated through. It's main category of net sales is fabric care, and based on the number of ads I saw for Tide laundry detergent I can see they are well aware of this.
Overall I liked the feel of the Harley Davidson website over the Proctor & Gamble website, but it was easier to get to the finacials on the Proctor & Gamble one.