OVERALL GRADE: D
Ethan Allen’s About Us pages offer almost no information about the company.
The main About Us page automatically runs a video of Chairman, President, and
CEO Farooq Kathwari. While we are usually happy to hear a company’s leader discuss
his goals, the video window takes up all the “above the fold” space on this
page, with no option for fast-forwarding and no indication of running time. Closing
this window brings up a photo of Mr. Kathwari that takes up the same large amount
of screen real estate. The only text outside the header and footer are the
captions for many more interviews with Mr. Kathwari. This is a huge violation
of one of our key commandments
for About Us pages: Thou Shalt Not
Generalize.
This page desperately needs a tagline, a summary of what the
company does and how long it’s been around, images of Ethan Allen’s product, and
links to lure us to pages with further information. In short, it lacks any
sense of corporate storytelling.
Products/Services: D
The main About
Us page has no still photos of Ethan Allen
furniture, and its Timeline
is another missed opportunity. On the timeline screen for any given decade, one
or two items about Ethan Allen are scattered among 3 or 4 events of world
history. Why are the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, Dolly the cloned sheep,
and the launch of Facebook worthy of mention here? Photos of the company’s
products vintage ads and earlier designs would be much more to the point.
Personality: D
The text of the About Us pages is written throughout in a
fragmentary style. For example, the Corporate Profile page
begins, “A strong American brand with global reach. A design authority with a
modern attitude. A high-quality manufacturer. An innovative retailer. A
destination for the one-stop shopper. A full-service design center staffed by
design professionals who make house calls.” Using occasional fragments for
emphasis can be very effective. Overusing them makes your writing disjointed. More
polished and traditional prose would be appropriate here, given Ethan Allen’s
reputation as a maker of solid, traditional furniture.
Accessibility: C
The footer of every page offers a toll-free number and an
email address. The Customer
Service page provides
links to recalls, design consultants, financing, and so on. However, the order on
the page needs revamping: why should Facebook appear before Online Services or
Gift Cards?
TAKEAWAY
Wake up, Ethan Allen! Your “About Us” pages look as tattered
as the sale banner over the marquee of your Paramus, NJ, store when I drove by
it last month. Corporate history simply goes missing here. These pages offer too
few images and too little content, and they’re written in a style that is at
odds with the traditional craftsmanship and quality on which the company built
its reputation.
Does your Web site’s “About Us” section
accurately convey your organization’s history and capabilities? Every two weeks
we evaluate one example, grading it in three areas that are key to potential
customers: Personality (Who are you?), Products/Services (What can you do for
us?), and Accessibility (How can we reach you?). Contact us if you’d like to
have your site evaluated. Today’s example was chosen at random;
CorporateHistory.net has no ties to this company.
Posts
