OVERALL GRADE: D
Products/Services: D
If you want a kitchen with Ionic columns and baroque drawer
pulls, Poggenpohl isn’t the company for you. The starkness of the About Us
pages conveys the company’s minimalist esthetic very well. But ... On the main About page, as well as four
of the six subpages, not a single image
appears. It’s a missed opportunity for making visitors lust after a Poggenpohl
kitchen of their own. For example: the Innovative
Design page offers a list of awards, with logos. Why not show the model of
kitchen or the feature that led to the award? Our Commandment
6 of About Us pages is “Honor thy visuals”: Poggenpohl’s About us pages
strike out here.
On several pages Poggenpohl mentions its 120-year history. Bravo:
citing a long, illustrious company history is an excellent way to demonstrate
both innovation and staying power. The site also has a timeline (see Heritage), arranged as a slideshow of images. We are confused,
though, by the fact that some of the captions are repeated with different
photos. And alas, there is no way to pause the slideshow and look with bemused
fascination at (for example) Luigi Colani’s “bubble kitchen,” ca. 1970.
A minor issue, but one that affects many companies with
websites in several languages, is erratic English. The Poggenpohl timeline
refers several times to the “carcass” or “carcase” of Poggenpohl cabinets. (See
here and here, under 1995.) Since
the primary meaning of “carcass” in English is “dead body,” this carries
connotations inappropriate for a high-end kitchen. Perhaps this is only a
problem on the English website -- but if sales to English speakers are
important enough to deserve a separate website, then that website should be
written in flawless English.
Personality: D
The Management page
has large pictures of the company’s leaders, each one smiling cheerfully in
front of kitchen cabinets, each one with a department and email address. Why
not add a few words about their career, or their feelings about the company, or
their favorite Poggenpohl design? On this page, ironically, too much space is given
to images, too little to text.
Accessibility: D
The Contact
Us page offers generic address, phone, email (no options for specific
departments), and an option to find a Poggenpohl studio near you. It’s adequate
but not innovative -- except for making us type info in small,
difficult-to-read white characters on black fields. That annoys us enough to
downgrade the page from C to D.
TAKEAWAY
If your product has a visual aspect, illustrate, illustrate,
illustrate. And spend a few dollars, euros, or Swedish kronor to translate your
corporate story into the idiomatic language of each country in which it
appears.
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?). To talk about your About Us
page, contact us!
Today’s example was chosen at random;
CorporateHistory.net has no ties to this company.
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