Delaware North, established in 1915 by the Jacob brothers to
sell popcorn and peanuts at theater concession stands in Buffalo, N.Y., soon
expanded into selling food at ballparks. The company (still owned by the Jacobs
family) has grown into a food service and hospitality company that operates
worldwide, with some 55,000 employees and annual revenue of more than $2
billion. Jeremy Jacobs, the current chairman and CEO, owns the Boston Bruins of
the NHL, and Delaware North owns their home stadium. The main About Us page
(“Who We Are”) is here.
OVERALL GRADE: B plus
Products/Services: B
plus
The text on the Delaware North About Us pages is excellent,
and the images are abundant and well chosen. Together they present a great
overview of the company’s products and services. One detail needs attention: navigation
and links. Our Commandment 7
of About Us pages is “Keep navigation easy.” The menus and submenus on the
Delaware North site aren’t always clear: the drop-down menu for Who We Are shows the
company’s operating divisions, but gives no indication that clicking on “Who We
Are” will take visitors to a page whose submenus include Company History, Family Leadership,
Company
Executives, Vision
and Mission, and Awards. Links
between pages should also be added. For example, on Who We Are, “100th
anniversary” should have a link to Company History.
“GuestPath” should be linked to the page dedicated to
it.
Incidentally, linking content makes it easier for those who
create and maintain the site to spot content that’s inconsistent. In Delaware
North’s case, the philosophy on the main About Us page (“One company. One
brand. One vision”) isn’t repeated on What We
Value or Vision
and Mission. The main About Us page says the company has seven divisions,
but What We Do has
only six subheads, and the “Who We Are” drop-down menu has nine.
Personality: A minus
Delaware North’s Family Leadership
page features photos of the members of the second and third generations of the
Jacobs family, with information on their corporate responsibilities as well as
their qualifications. Well done, but there are some missed opportunities here. We
glimpsed, somewhere, an anecdote that in 1930, Louis Jacobs personally
delivered a sizeable refund check to the owner of the Detroit Tigers because Jacobs
decided the contract had unduly benefited Delaware North. On a second visit to
the site, we couldn’t find this anecdote – only a slightly different version in
an untitled
PDF. Why not feature such examples from the company history more prominently
– on the Company
History page and elsewhere - as a way to demonstrate its long-standing commitment
to honesty and integrity?
A pleasant touch on the Company History page: the company
name has its own little box that tells a corporate citizenship story (“The name
‘Delaware North’ hearkens back to the company's previous location at the corner
of Delaware Avenue and North Street in Buffalo, N.Y. Once Delaware North
outgrew the facilities, Jeremy Jacobs donated the historic mansion that once
housed executive offices to the University at Buffalo School of Management”).
The Timeline,
always an opportunity for smart graphics, could be so much better. It calls
itself interactive, but it’s basically a batch of photos (attractive) with type
that’s in graphic format (uncopyable) and thus hard to read. The only
navigation tool is a set of arrows, and there’s no way to smoothly scroll from
decade to decade.
Accessibility: C
The Contact
page offers emails for doing business with Delaware North, a link to the Jobs Section, a phone hotline,
and finally, an online form for less urgent inquiries. These options are
adequate, but it wouldn’t hurt to repeat (or at least give links to) the
information that appears on the contact pages for the company’s separate
operating divisions: Gaming,
Sportservice,
and so on.
TAKEAWAY
Especially in a family-owned business, who you were drives
who you are. Don’t miss the chance to include quotations or anecdotes from the
company history that illustrate your guiding principles.
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.
Posts
