Tuesday, January 31, 2012

History: Almost as Good as Sports

The History Channel has moved from the top 20 to the top 5 of most-watched US cable channels. In fact, only ESPN draws more middle-aged male viewers. I cite this fact whenever I hear the opinion "no one's interested in history." Of course a lot of THC's programming involves "Pawn Stars" and its spinoffs, but objects have history, too. The success of the channel has facilitated H2--a spinoff with more traditional programming--and the financing of film documentaries. Pretty entertaining stuff.

Monday, January 23, 2012

“About Us” Evaluation: OpenChime Gets a B+

Submit a request for a service--pet care, plumber, accountant, security guard--and OpenChime will gather quotes from local businesses and email them to you. The two million vendors in its database pay a commission of their choice (on the honor system!) if OpenChime matches them with a project. OpenChime, established in 2011 and based in Chicago, is the brainchild of two young MIT graduates. Its About Us page is here.


OVERALL GRADE: B+

OpenChime had to tackle the question: What do you say on an About Us page if your company is new, your service is unique, and your leaders are young and unknown?

Products/Services: B

Not every company needs multiple About Us pages. As a new company based on a novel concept, OpenChime does. The About Us menu offers links to What Is OpenChime?, Team, Customer FAQ, Business FAQ, Press, Privacy, and Terms.

On the What Is OpenChime? page, OpenChime’s management is shown in a group caricature rather than a photo. This cleverly glosses over their age and makes them look like a team, without the expense of company T-shirts. On the Team page the caricatures are used separately as “portraits” of the leaders.

The Press page is attractively laid out: the links and logos for major media coverage (NBC, the Chicago Tribune, etc.) add authority to the headlines.

Even though the services OpenChime can help us find are listed as a menu across the top of the page, we suggest adding some of them in the text. People reading intently for information don’t always look at the graphics and menus of the web page.

Personality: B

The ebullience and energy of the OpenChime founders and staff are obvious from the text on the What Is OpenChime? and Team pages. In fact, the text on these pages verges on being a bit too clever. We don’t find out what the company does until three lines into the first paragraph of the What Is OpenChime? page.

Given this, it’s reassuring to find that they can be simple and straightforward. On the Terms page, the standard legal mumbo-jumbo is accompanied by a “Human Translation” that makes it easy to comprehend.

Accessibility: A

At the foot of every page is not a Contact Us link, but actual information: mailing address, email, phone number. Well done!


TAKEAWAY

Even a company with less than a year of a history can create an About Us page that helps entice and reassure customers.

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—there’s no charge and no obligation.

Today’s example was chosen at random; CorporateHistory.net has no ties to this company.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

L.L. Bean Celebrates 100 Years

No surprise that outdoor goods retailer L.L. Bean is a spry centenarian. The arrival of a catalog taglined "100 Years of Bringing the Outdoors Indoors" gave me pause--isn't being outdoors the essence of the Bean experience? But the Web site has rectified that. Kudos to Bean for sheer saturation: there are 100th anniversary events and tours planned for the whole year, along with centennial merchandise. What looks like an eight-foot Bean boot will tour the country, starting today in Times Square. You know, those yellow ones that are impervious to all kinds of weather. Oh, and a new history book by the original L.L.'s great-grandson is priced at, yes, $19.12.

Still, there are a few creaky knees. Though the creative team did a good job of fitting Bean's 100 years into a 1:48 video, why didn't they refer to founder Leon Leonwood Bean by name? Instead, he is "that man." And the interactive timeline is jumpier than a tick.

My anniversary wish for Bean is to offer more items made in the USA. That would be the best gift of all.

Monday, January 9, 2012

“About Us” Evaluation: Crest Gets a C

Crest Toothpaste, first marketed by Procter & Gamble in 1955, was the first toothpaste in the United States to have fluoride. In 1962, after the American Dental Association confirmed that it effectively prevents tooth decay, Crest became America’s best-selling toothpaste. Its About Us page is here.


OVERALL GRADE: C

Accessibility: A

The contact us link is at the foot of every page—fairly common—but the Contact Us page has tabs for emailing the company and for the FAQ page. That’s a great idea, because we often find it easier to email for any query that pops into our mind than to locate a company’s FAQ page.

Products/Services: B

The Crest Heritage page gives the historical context of the brand, with subheads for history, achievements, and research. The subheads help break up this dense page of text, but as always, we’d also like to see some illustrations--perhaps vintage ads or packaging. Since we tend to buy what looks familiar to us, the use of images here would also nudge us to buy the Crest next time we’re toothpaste-shopping.

The Heritage page has a footnote: so quaint! And so unwieldy and inappropriate to a web page!

Personality: D

Crest is part of Procter & Gamble, which has its own bevy of About Us pages. Even so, we’d like to see some indication on Crest’s About Us page of whose vision guides the brand. Alternatively, Crest might have included a quote from Dr. Joseph Muhler, who headed the research team that developed Crest, or statistics from the American Dental Association on the importance of Crest in improving dental health in the United States.


TAKEAWAY

Crest’s page offers basic information but it doesn’t get us excited about the brand.

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—there’s no charge and no obligation.

Today’s example was chosen at random; CorporateHistory.net has no ties to this company.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Happy 175th, Emory U.

Major kudos to Emory University in Atlanta for a literate, attractive, well-coordinated 175th anniversary campaign. Emory's full-page newspaper ads start with a headline few can debate ("We all yearn for institutions we can trust") and continue onto frank talk about the university's role in cases regarding civil rights, historical truth, and academic freedom. A dedicated Web history site and timeline, linked in the headline here, are models of clarity. A small quibble: the 175th logo on the main Emory page could stand to be brighter, with a clearer link to the goods within.

Universities are big businesses, and Emory's corporate history serves it well.