Dodge celebrated its 100th anniversary in the best way an auto brand probably can: with centennial editions of certain makes of cars. Its TV ads grabbed me during the summer, the ones in which old Dodges morph into new models on wide country roads. Now that Dodge's total business anniversary and corporate storytelling campaign is five months old, what works and what doesn't?
Core message: consistent. "The Dodge brand is tearing into its centennial year as America’s
mainstream performance brand, celebrating its 100th anniversary on July
1, 2014. With the purification of the brand and consolidation with SRT,
Dodge is getting back to its performance roots with every single model
it offers." "Tearing into" and "purification" are odd ways to put this core message of "Focused on Its Performance Roots," and you have to be a Car Guy or Gal to groove on the SRT part. But Dodge carries through the message consistently, and they unveiled it right on time, which means that they started early. These are two basic essentials that every company can emulate, even the smallest business.
Web timeline: tough to navigate. I think it's time to retire so-called parallax timelines, and I say that as someone who has written and project-managed a few myself. The layers are just plain clunky. Dodge's timeline is divided into nine chronological chunks, but each one is sprawling. I'd rather browse an e-book ... they provide a much tidier container.
YouTube videos: fun to watch. I'm a sucker for the historical simulations of the brothers Dodge ("Their spirit lives"), but to my surprise I also enjoyed the "Don't Touch My Dart" spots. Obviously I'm not alone, since the various videos have collectively racked up millions of views.
Media information: sprawling. Reams of PDF downloads include 20-page chronologies, 37-page lists of Centennial events, and brand overviews, many of them divided into past, present, and future . . . again, this is why books are much neater containers. But kudos to Dodge for archiving, organizing, and making public this vital info.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Dodge's 100th Anniversary Campaign: What Works & Doesn't
Labels:
archiving,
business anniversaries,
corporate storytelling,
corporate timelines,
history in marketing,
web timelines,
website copywriting
Monday, November 17, 2014
Crain Communications: “About Us” Evaluation by Corporate History.net
Crain’s is an American publishing conglomerate headquartered
in Detroit, with 14 locations worldwide. It publishes trade magazines (Advertising Age, Autoweek, Plastics News, and many others) as well as papers such as
Crain’s New York Business and Crain’s Chicago Business. Founded in
1916 in Louisville, KY, by G. D. Crain, the company – still privately held –
has been run in succession by Crain’s widow and sons. The main About Us page is
here.
OVERALL GRADE: C
The main
About Us page is well laid out, giving teasers and links to separate pages on
Our History, Our Philosophy, and Our Leadership.
Products/Services: C
Our main complaint about Crain’s About Us pages is that they
have the feel of a collection that has been growing over time (good!) but has not
been revised for consistency (bad!). The number of employees is variously listed
as 825 or more than 1,000; the age of the company as over 80 or over 90. (In
fact, Crain’s will celebrate its 100th business anniversary in 2016.) The
company’s long-standing motto, “Readers first!,” is mentioned in the teaser to the Our Philosophy
page (and emphasized on the Careers
page), but not mentioned on the Our Philosophy page. Our Commandment 9
of About Us pages is, “Worship clarity,” which includes checking grammar,
punctuation, and yes, facts.
Also: logos or mastheads of the many Crain publications
would liven up the small, dense blocks of text on most pages.
Personality: B
Our
History emphasizes that Crain’s is a family-run business, with only three
chairmen and presidents since its founding—a potential theme for corporate
storytelling that this company doesn’t quite exploit. Continuing that
tradition, five members of the Crain family are listed on the Leadership page. The bio of Rance Crain, which
focuses on his experience in publishing and his role in the company, is very
good. The bio of Keith
Crain, on the other hand, sounds as if it was written for a third-party
site where the philanthropic activities are more important than work at
Crain’s. A bio of a company leader on an About Us page isn’t just a bio: it’s a
chance to show where and how a leader is leading.
Accessibility: D
The Contact Us page lists Crain offices worldwide, with
mailing addresses and phone numbers, but no emails or names. This is
substandard.
TAKEAWAY
Few things make you look as unreliable as conflicting
information on your website. It’s particularly egregious for a company in the
publishing industry, where fact-checking should be the norm. Review the
business history of your site regularly for consistency.
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.
Labels:
10 Commandments of About Us,
About Us page,
business anniversaries,
corporate storytelling,
history in marketing,
the publishing biz,
website copywriting
Monday, November 3, 2014
Cleveland Museum of Art: “About Us” Evaluation by Corporate History.net
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) opened its doors in 1916, with
funds and land donated by four local businessmen. Its substantial endowment
makes it one of the wealthiest museums in the United States. The collection of
43,000 works is especially strong in Asian and Egyptian art. The CMA’s main
About Us page is here.
OVERALL GRADE: B plus
For websites with more than one page under the About Us tab,
the main page should be a portal that lures visitors to other pages. The CMA’s mainAbout Us page entices with witty visuals matched with its 12 options,
including a portrait of George Washington for Museum Leadership
and a scroll of hieroglyphics for Contact Us. Even
better, these 12 images are tidily arranged to fit on a single screen, making
it easy for a visitor to see all the options. Well done! We’ll be curious to
see what CMA does for its 100th business anniversary next year.
Products/Services and
Personality: B
The History
and Mission page gives an overview of the Museum’s development via what each
of its ten directors chose to focus on—an interesting structure that offers
some subtle corporate storytelling. The founders get their own page, with an
image of each and an explanation of how he became interested in art. The Inaugural
Exhibition of 1916 also has a page. The Building
page offers a slightly different perspective: when and why different expansions
were undertaken. Take a lesson from the CMA: If your institutional or corporate
history is long and complex, presenting it from different angles on several
pages is a great choice.
Our Commandment 6
of About Us pages is, “Honor thy visuals.” That’s particularly true for an
arts museum, since one of the best ways to get people to visit is to show them
the treasures that await. In this respect, the CMA pages fall short. Most pages
have a single large photo at the top; it's not obvious that one can click on it to see more, and that some of the text below applies to these various images. On Picture
This: CMA Photographic History, why not make all the photos visible, each
above its corresponding text, rather than making us click through photos at the
top, and then scroll down to the relevant text? On the Inaugural
Exhibition page, why not space the images through the text? On the Building
page, why not show galleries then and now, as they're discussed? On the History
and Mission page, why not put the images with the directors, and for the sake of luring people in, show a notable acquisition of each director? And,
for yet another perspective, why not have a timeline of collection highlights, with
brief notes on why each was considered worth acquiring?
Accessibility: A
CMA boasts that it was created “for the benefit of all the
people forever,” and their Contact us page suggests
that they are in fact interested in hearing from people – a relative rarity
among large institutions. Next to the CMA’s general contact information is the
query, “Have a question for Director William Griswold?” – with his email. For
those who don’t want to go straight to the top, the Contact Us page links to a directory
with emails for dozens of departments, from Administration to Visitor Services.
TAKEAWAY
If you have a rich history, try telling it from several
different angles – but don’t forget to include great text and visuals.
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.
Labels:
10 Commandments of About Us,
About Us page,
business anniversaries,
corporate storytelling,
history in marketing,
website copywriting
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