Danny Meyer’s first restaurant (opened when he was 27 years
old) is the award-winning Union Square Cafe, which has held the top spot in Zagat’s
New York City restaurant guide nine times. Under the name Union Square Hospitality
Group, Meyer also runs the Gramercy Tavern, a catering service, and restaurants
at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney, among others. Together these have
won 26 prestigious James Beard Foundation awards. And let’s not forget the
ubiquitous Shake Shacks. The main About Us page is
Company.
OVERALL GRADE: B
Products/Services: B
The above-the-fold graphic on the
Company page is (how rare!) full of
solid business history content: when the company opened its first restaurant
and its first Shake Shack, number of Beard Awards, number of employees with the
company for more than ten years, and so on. It’s concise and attractive. Adding
links to pages with more information - for example, a list of Beard Awards
received – would be a great idea.
The text below the graphic gets a slow start with an
abstract discussion of what it means to enrich lives. For the sake of fickle
web-surfers and those of us who appreciate corporate storytelling, why not
start with the second paragraph: “We’ve created some of New York City’s most
beloved and celebrated restaurants ...” ?
We appreciate the clever text of the timeline (
History), which has catchy
phrases such as “elegant and fiercely seasonal cuisine.” But once the corporate
history has made our mouths start to water, why not offer us links to the
websites of the restaurants mentioned on the timeline?
Personality: B
Our
Commandment
3 of About Us pages is, “Reveal thy personality.” Danny Meyer, founder of
the Union Square Hospitality Group, unfortunately isn’t given much space on the
Company and
History pages. There is a
page is devoted to
his book
Setting the Table: The
Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business, with a sidebar that offers a
thought-provoking quote of substantial length from Meyer (bravo!). Digging into
the
People and
Leaders pages, we found a
good
bio of
Meyer. But ... we assume that as the founder, it’s his ideas and his drive
that have led to the award-winning quality of his restaurants as well as his
focus on philanthropy (see
Community).
Why not have him explain in his own words why he made these choices and where
he plans to go from here? That would make for compelling corporate
storytelling.
Accessibility: C
The
Contact
page (available from the footer) offers a mailing address, phone, and email
address, with social media icons). This is adequate.
TAKEAWAY
Even if you’re proud of the stellar team your company has
assembled, don’t be afraid to let the founder’s or leader’s personality shine
through in your About Us pages: it’ll give visitors a much better sense of what
makes your company tick.
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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