New Year, New Blog

Art courtesy George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library. 
Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e4-8261-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Starting January 4, 2016, we invite all Blogger.com and Blogspot.com readers -- and everyone interested in corporate history and business anniversaries -- to follow us at our blog's new home, http://www.corporatehistory.net/blog/

The CorporateHistory.net team sends best wishes for a superb New Year's weekend!

How to Write a Great Website Timeline (Part 3)

History faces tough competition on the Net: when was the last time you shared a website timeline? Before we talk about the details of General Electric’s timeline, let’s note that not only were we intrigued enough to look through each of the 12 pages of the timeline (starting with 1878), but we spotted two items so irresistible that one of our writers shared them on Facebook.

What makes General Electric’s web timeline so great? Let’s look at it in terms of the questions and guidelines in our first post on this topic.

1. Audience(s). The timeline is focused on GE’s spectacular achievements across a wide range of fields, over more than a century. There’s no mention of mergers and acquisitions, but after reading a few pages, we were sorry we hadn’t invested in its stock a century or so ago.

2-3. Major events and structure. If you want a quick overview of the company history, the leading paragraphs of the 12 segments combine to form a coherent story. The breaks in the timeline are irregular (1878-1904, 1905-1912, etc.) - presumably so that major events can be featured in the segment’s leading paragraph.

For those who want more information, the second section -- below the leading paragraph on each page -- offers a series of 8 or more major events in a slideshow of a very superior sort. Each major event has a well-chosen photo and a brief description of the event and its importance. (See #4 below.) The navigation bar beneath each event (with simple, obvious left and right arrows) summarizes this major event in a few words, and states how many events are in this particular sequence. Someone at GE knows how to work with short attention spans!

4. Context. The text for each major event puts corporate history in the wider historical context. For example, from 1913: “GE develops the hot-cathode, high vacuum X-ray tube. By replacing the cold aluminum cathode with the hot tungsten filament in a high vacuum, the company could provide tubes with better control and greater output than had ever been achieved. The development greatly facilitates the use of X-rays for diagnosis and treatment.”

5. Images. The leading paragraph on every page has an image, and so does every single major event. The images are large enough to see, but small enough to flip through easily: a tricky balance to achieve.

Below the leading paragraph and the major events is a wonderful third section: a series of GE advertisements from the period. As a brief history of advertising styles these are great fun. But even better: every single one shows how cutting-edge GE’s products were and still are. (1939: “General Electric Television Receivers! Thrilling reception of exciting events as they happen!”)

6-7. Layout and navigation. The three-part layout for each page of the timeline is easy to grasp: leading paragraph, series of major events, sample GE advertisements.

The layout is the sole point where the GE website timeline has a flaw. The header image is a photo of Thomas Edison, with links to his bio, GE’s research, and GE’s past leaders. On a laptop, this header is so large that it takes up all the above-the-fold screen real estate. We assumed this was due to the fact that the page was designed to be mobile-friendly ... but then we discovered that on a smartphone, too, the header image is so large that the tabs and leading paragraph are pushed to the next screen.

This would barely matter, if it didn’t discourage visitors from finding the excellent content below the header image. Fortunately there’s an easy fix: make the header shorter top to bottom (much wider than its height).

But that’s a minor quibble. Overall, GE provides a great example of a website timeline done right.

How to Write a Great Website Timeline (part 2)

Last week we offered guidelines and suggestions forwriting a great website timeline. This week, CorporateHistory.net looks at the timeline on the website of Pepsico, a corporation that has plentiful resources and more than a century of company history. Sadly, Pepsico’s timeline isn’t spectacular.

Pepsi’s timeline is a single series of dates and events, with the most recent date at the top. A tab option at the top allows readers to skip from decade to decade.

Kudos to Pepsi’s designer for the layout, which is simple and elegant. The font for the years is easy to read, and a vertical line indicates the direction of the time flow. More kudos for the well-chosen and plentiful images. Of the 70 or so entries, 28 have illustrations.

Unfortunately, the text of the entries is subpar. We have no clue which of the 70-odd events are most important in Pepsi’s corporate history. For example, the inauguration of the first Pepsi-Cola operation in China (1982) is immediately followed by Frito-Lay’s introduction of Tostitos (1981). Given this mix of topics, we don’t even know whether the timeline is aimed at consumers or potential investors.

But much worse comes (or doesn’t) at the end of the timeline. Pepsi was founded in the 1890s, but the company history from then until 1966 is summarized in one very short paragraph. Most of that paragraph consists of names of CEOs, rather than storytelling. There’s not a single image. What a waste of a great history! If people have been loving your product for over a century, why not flaunt that fact with vintage ads, logos, and photos?

Next week, we’ll see how another major corporation handled its website timeline. (Hint: much better!)

How to Write a Great Website Timeline (Part 1)

Like a well-written corporate history, a well-written website timeline can be a great marketing tool: it can set your organization apart from its competitors, let you brag a little, and tell your story in a way that makes your company memorable. In decades of writing corporate histories, we’ve created dozens of timelines and looked at hundreds more. (For some examples, see our blog posts tagged with “web timelines.”) In the next two weeks, we’ll look at the website timelines for two corporations that have more than enough resources to make wonderfully effective timelines ... But did they?

Here’s CorporateHistory.net’s series of questions and guidelines for writing a great website timeline.

1. Consider your audience(s). Will your readers be your clients or possible investors? In other words: will they be more interested in your products, or in your mergers and acquisitions history? Consider separate timelines, if appropriate.

2. Use major events as centerpieces. Given your target audience, what are the six to eight major events in your company history? Make sure these don’t get lost in a barrage of less important data.

3. Build story into the structure. Given that website visitors have notoriously short attention spans, can you make your timeline a connected story? A series of problems and solutions? A brief history of a niche subject, with your company in a starring role? A humorous escapade, like Kentucky Fried Chicken’s timeline narrated by Colonel Sanders?

4. Layer in larger timelines—maybe. Do you want to keep readers laser-focused on your company, or will you set your company’s achievements in the wider framework of science, business, politics, or pop culture? Will your framework be your company, your community or industry, the United States, or the world?

5. Add images and captions. What will you use for visuals: current or archival photos, logos, advertisements? Any item with an image will get more attention than an item with only text. Captions will get more attention than text. Choose your visuals and captions accordingly.

6. Strategize the structure. Will you have one long timeline, or split it into or sections? If sections, what are the best divisions? Decades are easy and obvious, but if your major achievements came in 1932, 1939, 1955, and 1959, consider breaking the timeline in a way that gives those dates get more attention. Don’t forget to mark business anniversaries!

7. Make navigation easy. Is the layout easy to understand? (In July, we commented on Boeing’s bafflingly complex timeline.) If you’re using tabs for sections of the timeline, can readers see that option on both laptop and mobile screens?

Next week, we’ll analyze how one major corporation handled its website timeline.

Easiest Marketing Tip Ever

For marketing purposes, the end of one month equals the next month. Today is September 30, and in the past three days I've received five marketing e-newsletters dated "September." "Yikes," I think to myself, "these folks do run late and are desperately playing catch-up." But if they'd changed the date on the masthead to October, I'd think, "Congrats, these folks are on top of things by issuing their newsletter a few days early." 

So what if changing the date means skipping a month? Get out in front of your marketing instead of falling far behind it.

This advice applies in spades to corporate history. History doesn't happen overnight and it can't be reconstructed overnight. Business anniversary books, websites, timelines, and campaigns take time to develop. When your organization has a milestone coming up in a year or two or three, allow plenty of lead time. Your project will go more smoothly and it will cost less.

Happy 100th, National Park Service

For its 100th anniversary, the U.S. National Park Service has erected a handsome if glitchy centennial web portal. Readers can delve into: 

• Stories of individual parks (Find Your Park)
• Future plans (Building on Success) 
• Visionary Leaders (such as environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas, shown above with a feline friend; Douglas's book, The Everglades: River of Grass, published in 1947, describes "the natural treasure she fought so hard to protect").
• and a call to action (Get Involved); this is always a good idea, especially for a perennially underfunded institution such as NPS

Unfortunately the centennial page's back button seems to lead to dead-end error messages. And NPS would benefit from a clear link to a separate batch of wonderful organizational stories. Last but not least, why no Timeline? Maybe it's in there, but we couldn't find it. Business anniversary tip: Honor Commandment 7 of our 10 Commandments of About Us pages, namely Keep Navigation Easy.

Strand Bookstore Timeline Display

Displaying your timeline is one of the most powerful ways to showcase your company history. Here's a good example from Strand Bookstore in New York City, a handsome mix of business history photos and infographics. 
  
> The historical timeline enlivens what could be dead space in the stairwell.  

> It's a reminder that Strand is the sole surviving bookstore on Book Row in Manhattan. It never hurts to make your customers feel good about where they're shopping. When I buy books at the Strand, I'm helping to keep alive independent bookselling, the publishing business, New York history . . . . 

> Creating an organizational timeline compels you to gather your big-picture history. It's how most corporate historians initially organize their research. 

I'd love see another panel that updates the timeline to 2015!

Airline Visual Identity

From "Airline Visual Identity
1945-1975," Callisto Publishers

Can your organization tell its story in a single image? For inspiration, look to Airline Visual Identity 1945-1975 by M. C. Huhne, new from European fine arts publisher Callisto. The book costs $400, but consider that the trim size is 12 x 16 inches. As we like to say at CorporateHistory.net, a book is not truly a coffee table book until it's the size of a coffee tables. Also, per Callisto's website: "To reproduce the outstanding work of that era as precisely as possible, a total of 17 different colors, five different types of varnishes, and two different methods of foil printing and embossing were used, resulting in a book of exceptional vivacity that highlights the state of the art of today’s printing technology."

A 17-color print job! This is no mere business history. Instead it's the visual chronicle of an industry in a golden age of transportation and design--truly a historical timeline. 

Union Square Hospitality Group: “About Us” Evaluation by Corporate History.net

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.

Happy 75th, Col. Sanders

Colonel Sanders is out of retirement after 21 years. KFC has given him a cool new 75th anniversary website of his own, in which the Colonel (at six stages of his life) talks about Cuban donkeys, strums a mandolin, and of course fries up some chicken. The animatronics are cute, with SNL alum Daryl Hammond playing the Colonel. Business anniversary tips:
1) It's refreshing when the Founder as Great Man is presented with a sense of humor.
2) It's fun to have a person or character narrating the corporate timeline.
Great work by agency Wieden+Kennedy.

L.L. Bean: “About Us” Evaluation by Corporate History.net

L.L. Bean was founded in 1912 in Freeport, Maine, by Leon Leonwood Bean, to sell a single product – the “Maine Hunting Shoe.” The company now has about 5,000 employees, and annual sales of $1.61 billion. Its headquarters is still in Freeport, Maine, and it is still privately owned. The main About Us page is Company Information.

OVERALL GRADE: A

Products/Services: A minus

The Company Information page looks at first like a raging bore: long, dense, and with headings that are less than enticing (“Current Corporate Information,” “Products,” “Manufacturing,” etc.). In fact, however, the page is great corporate storytelling. It explains what the company does, and where and why and how. As a series of bullet points this sort of information would be unreadable. It’s fascinating here because we’re given a backstory (for example, the reason behind each expansion) and provided with several engaging quotes from past and present leaders of the company.

One quibble: many people read on their phones, where it’s easy to be interrupted and to lose one’s place on a very long page. A simple solution would be to split this page into separate pages for Products, Manufacturing, etc. – with copious links between pages, so that visitors would still be guided to read them in a certain sequence. Our Commandment 6 of About Us pages is, “Honor thy visuals.” Shorter pages on a specific topics could be made even more interesting by including photos from L.L. Bean’s century-long history.

There are numerous, excellent photos on the timeline, 100 Years and Counting. It’s cleverly compiled so that reading the blurb on each decade gives a visitor a short company history. The focus is on L.L. Bean, Inc. – as it should be - but enough national events are listed to set the context. There’s even an option for customers to share their own L.L. Bean stories – a great idea. Unfortunately, during our four visits to the site, the interactive aspect wasn’t working, so we’re not sure we’ve seen all of it.

High marks to the Newsroom page, which puts company press releases front and center, but has a sidebar, “As Seen In,” with links to products featured in sources as diverse as Redbook, Elle, and Field & Stream.

A downgrade: Yes, the company commissioned a centennial anniversary book, entitled Guaranteed to Last: L.L.Bean's Century of Outfitting America, by Jim Gorman. (CorporateHistory.net was not involved with it in any way.) Alas, there’s no reference to it on the history pages. To find it, we had to enter “book” in the product search box. If you’re still selling your corporate history book, why not make it easy to find?

Personality: A

The Company History page is also long, dense, and excellent. It begins as the story of an outdoorsman with wet feet, and tells how he solved the problem with the original “Maine Hunting Shoe.” Bean’s early trials and tribulations – 90 of his original 100 pairs were returned – establish the company’s dedication to quality and customer satisfaction. This is business history at its best.

Quotes from the founder and from later leaders liven up the text, as do occasional fascinating factoids. We learn, for example, that by the 1930s, L.L. Bean’s mail-order business comprised more than 70% of the volume of the Freeport post office, and that the flagship store has no locks, because it’s open for business 24/7.

The list of awards at the end of the Company History page would get more attention if it were on a separate page, with logos, but it’s great to see so many confirmations of L.L. Bean’s status collected in one place.

In a lovely change from celebrating one’s centennial and then forgetting about company anniversaries for 10 or 25 years, the Company History page ends with highlights of L.L. Bean’s centennial year. Here you’ll find quick bullet-point references to the aforementioned centennial book, as well as the timeline—but these should be hyperlinked.

The Leadership page is top-notch. Why? Because the bio of the founder and his three successors all focus on the values that drive them as leaders of L.L. Bean, and on the results they achieved there. Even the philanthropic activities and hobbies mentioned reflect the values of the company: for example, membership in the Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy. Our Commandment 3 of About Us pages is, “Reveal thy personality.” We’ve seldom seen that done better than on L.L. Bean’s site.

Accessibility: A

How many times have you flinched from phoning a company’s Customer Service line because you were worried that the representative wouldn’t be able to speak English? L.L. Bean’s Customer Service page begins with a characteristically forthright note: no matter how you communicate with the company (there are options for Phone, Call Me, Chat, Email, and more), you’ll be speaking with a person in Maine: “because Maine is more than just an address – it’s part of who we are. It’s tough winters, Yankee ingenuity and a unique character you just won’t find elsewhere.”

TAKEAWAY

Your company may not have the size or the hundred-hear history of L.L. Bean, but it’s unique in who founded it, where it’s been, and where it’s heading. Make your About Us page reflect that uniqueness with great content, well told.

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, although we have been satisfied customers for years.

Dockers: “About Us” Evaluation by Corporate History.net

Dockers, established in 1986, is the division of San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co. that’s devoted to khakis and casual accessories. It’s a leading brand of business casual clothing for men and women. We were curious to look at Dockers because it’s part of a larger company, but has its own brand. The main About Us page is here.

OVERALL GRADE: C minus

The biggest flaw in this set of About Us pages is that we found them via a Google search, and can’t find a link to them on Dockers’ own site.

The main page has two headings, each with a distinctive tagline: Our Products (“Well-crafted comfort to help conquer the day,” with links to pages on size and fit) and Our Company (“A rough and tough work ethic is deeply rooted in our family tree”). Below these are links to Contact Us and Careers. It’s a simple, clear layout that works almost as well on a desktop as on mobile. (In fact, these pages are among the least offensive mobile-friendly pages we’ve seen, in terms of layout, because the header images are much less high than wide. Hence on a desktop screen, they don’t fill all of the prime above-the-fold real estate.)

Products/Services: A

Under the Our Company heading on the About Us page are links to About Levi Strauss & Co., History and Heritage, and Social Responsibility.

About Levi Strauss & Co. has a pithy statement linking the current brand to the long corporate history of Levi Strauss. One minor glitch: this opening statement says the first blue jeans were created in 1853. Further down the page, under “Our Values,” the “Originality” blurb gives the date as 1873. Our Commandment 9 of About Us pages is, “Worship clarity.” An error such as this leaves the impression that someone isn’t minding the details.

The Timeline (“History and Heritage”) is good corporate storytelling. It focuses on the long history of khaki pants at Levi Strauss, then offers nostalgic glimpses of pop culture (Seinfeld) and advertising history (“Nice pants!”). Haute couture and culture are represented by names such as Alexander Wang and Vanity Fair. Each timeline entry has an intriguing headline, a short blurb, and an archival image – all large enough to see easily. Having done a timeline or two ourselves (such as this one for California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund) we appreciate the design and content of the Dockers example.

Personality: D

The Timeline is excellent for showing where the company has been, but not for showing what its current goals are. No information or links are given for the company’s leadership. Mentioning Levi-Strauss as a parent company doesn’t fill this gap, since there are no links to Levi-Strauss’s leadership team, either.

Accessibility: E

The Contact Us page (accessible via the main About Us page or the Help link in the footer) is elegant in layout but quite confusing. The options are “Find a Store” or “Get Help.” Clicking “Get Help” sends us to a page with the options “Contact Us,” “Send Feedback,” “Find a Store,” or “Top Reads” (a FAQ). But clicking either “Contact Us” or “Send Feedback” takes us right back to the Contact Us page. So in fact, the only ways to reach Dockers are via the 800 number in the footer and the online email form that is (we eventually noticed) below the fold on the Contact Us page.

Our Commandment 8 of About Us pages is, “Remember to make yourself and your organization easily accessible.” Dockers, do you really want to hear from us?

TAKEAWAY

Have a fresh pair of eyes (or two or ten) look at your About Us pages for obvious errors, including whether those pages can be easily discovered and whether visitors to the site can contact you easily.

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.

Rado: “About Us” Evaluation by Corporate History.net

The Rado brand launched its first collection of watches in 1957, but the company history goes back to Schlup & Co., who had been producing watch movements in Lengnau, Switzerland, since 1917. Rado’s forte is the use of sophisticated materials such as high-tech ceramics: they produced the first scratch-proof watches. Today the company, still headquartered in Lengnau, has some 470 employees and is part of the Swatch Group. The main About Us page appears when you click “About Rado” in the top menu.

OVERALL GRADE: D

Products/Services: D

The big problem with the Rado About Us page is obvious from its opening lines: “2010s. 2013 - Rado further develops its use of ultra-light high-tech ceramic, presenting the DiaMaster RHW1 in ‘old bronze’ coloured Si3N4 TiN. ...” This is the page that appears when you click “About Rado” in the top menu, but there’s no summary of the company: what it produces, where it’s located (if you’re a Swiss company making watches, surely location matters!), what market its products are aimed at. Our Commandment 1 of About Us pages is, “Know thy audience.” The first About Us page ought to be self-sufficient. Rado’s is not.

Rado has excellent photos ... on two completely different timelines, one of which counts backward, the other forward. The one on the main About Us page is, as we said above, so abstruse that a layman is unlikely to understand it. The Design Milestones timeline (under About Rado / Rado & Design) works forward from 1958, describing specific watches and what made each innovative. Its text is easier to grasp, but needs work. For example, we’re told that the 1981 Anatom was the first Rado watch “that exhibits a curved ergonomic form in order to “[this quotation is never closed] embrace the wrist with anatomical perfection. The design of the Anatom dial is reduced to keep its minimalism ...”

For a Swiss watchmaker not to be precise plays havoc with our preconceptions. Our Commandment 9 of About Us pages is, “Worship clarity.” If you’re translating web pages for an international audience, have them proofed by someone fluent in the language.

Personality: D

The Rado People page is elegantly laid out. But we expected it to list the company’s management; instead, it talks about the celebrities who wear Rado watches. There’s precious little elsewhere on the site about Rado’s corporate history. Although the timeline on the main About Us page goes back to 1917 (the founding of Schlup & Co. clockwork factory in Lengnau), we’ve been unable to discover on the Rado site what the relationship is between Schlup & Co. and Rado.

Accessibility: C

The Contact Us page (reached via a link at the end of the footer, under “Keep in Touch”) has a mailing address, phone number, and an online form. This is minimal but acceptable.

TAKEAWAY

Always start your About Us page with a brief summary of your company, geared to your target audience. If you’re going to mention your history (and you should!), be sure to give some details that make it impressive.

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.

Exemplary 125th Anniversary Website by Barnard

Barnard College does almost everything right on its 125th anniversary website:

• Good video with a mix of old and new
• "125 Scrapbook" invites students and alumnae to share their Barnard stories -- oral histories with a soft touch
• Ultra-thorough timeline; the parallax design is confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy to slice and dice by category 
• Photos of alumnae from all fields tell a story of accomplishment. It's not clear at first that you can click on each one for a short bio (in fact, you can do that); I would have liked to have heard the voice of the person pictured as well, wherever possible. 

In all, excellent organizational storytelling and a fine use of archival material. It's a site that should also work well as a recruiting tool. (And keep in mind that this praise emanates from someone who made it a point not to attend an all-female college.)

Happy 175th, Cunard

I confess to a soft spot for Cunard. When the company's US office was at 555 Fifth Avenue in New York City, I wrote reams of Cunard catalogs, promotional copy, and newsletters. I sailed on QE2 and the beautiful Sagafjord, ships now retired. The key fact about cruise marketing is that it, like the ships themselves, literally can't afford to stand still. 

So it's great to see that Cunard is celebrating its 175th year with appropriate pomp and circumstance:

• An image-driven video that makes good use of artifacts and even quotes Mark Twain for us Yankees
• A year full of events that reflect the glorious history: Lusitania remembered, the 3 Queens Meeting in Liverpool, and a sailing that evokes the original Transatlantic Crossing 
• A felicious tagline: Cunard 175 Years / Forever Cunard

The website promises a Timeline, but it seems identical to the video. (Business anniversary tip: Call it a Timeline only if it is a true chronological presentation.) And how about a book? None is shown on the Cunard website, but a web search reveals one history that has been published in the UK (2014) and one to come in the US (mid-2015). I hope one or both are being made available to customers aboard the ships, and I hope they pay homage to the beautiful 150th anniversary book written by the prose-perfect John Maxtone Graham. 

Happy 50th, 1010 WINS

"You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you ... a headache." That's how I twisted the 1010 WINS  tagline when I heard the station booming from the radio in the mailroom of a film company I worked for. The distinctive clatter that ran behind the voices would drift down the hall and upset my train of thought. Well, 1010 WINS has the last laugh. I'm still listening.

This iconic station celebrates its business anniversary of 50 years on April 19, 2015. "You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world" proved such a sturdy concept that it's still going strong. While teletype machines are defunct, the clattery background sound remains. Along with the distinctive voices of WINS reporters, it separates 1010 from other talk stations. The idea of turning a rock music station into a "talking newspaper" was visionary 50 years ago and remains central to 1010 WINS's corporate story.

Like everyone else who relies on "the most listened-to station in the nation," I feel that the people at 1010 WINS are part of my extended family. Here's where you'll find the station's history (page shown above), but WINS or its corporate parent (CBS NY) unfortunately makes it hard to locate. (Remember Commandment 7 of our 10 Commandments of About Us Pages: "Keep Navigation Easy.") I had to Google various phrases in order to arrive at this page and others. Dear WINS friends: Please make it easier for your fans to go straight to your history! It's fun to browse the biggest NY events and celebs of the past five decades. TIP: This chunking by decade is a good idea for businesses seeking an accessible way to celebrate their corporate anniversaries and company timelines. 

P.S. Big thanks for leaving the late, great Stan Brooks in the roster of reporters. I only wish Judy DeAngelis was still with you.

Nikon Corporation: “About Us” Evaluation by Corporate History.net

Nikon was founded in 1917 as Japan Optical Industries. It still specializes in optics and imaging products, notably the cameras and lenses for which the company is now named. Headquartered in Tokyo, it is one of the companies of the Mitsubishi Group. The company’s main About Us page is here.

OVERALL GRADE: C minus

Products/Services: C

Our Commandment 7 of About Us Pages is, “Keep navigation easy.” We've read many fascinating pages on Nikon’s site, but we’re not at all sure we could find them again, or that we haven't missed important material. The problem begins with the main About Us page, where the above-the-fold space is taken up with the teasers for Corporate Information, Responsibility, and Investor Relations. It’s easy to miss the below-the-fold links to Technology and Feel Nikon, pages where the company’s products and innovations have a chance to shine. Smaller images with more explanatory subheads would work better here.

The navigation problem continues with hierarchy of menus and naming of pages. Who would guess from its title that the Life with Nikon page (under Technology) is an overview of Nikon’s cutting-edge technology? Recollections is a great page, in terms of company history and showing the innovations that Nikon has created over the last 98 years. But from the main About Us page, it’s difficult to find.  (It’s under Feel Nikon.)

Likewise, the company timeline, with its well-chosen illustrations for nearly every item, provides a great overview of products ... but it’s buried under About / Corporate Information / History / Corporate History, without any indication in its title that it is, in fact, an illustrated business history timeline. Once found, it offers a thoughtful touch: the option of seeing all or no images, and corporate events or products or both.

Personality: C

Under Corporate Information, the first teaser is for the Message from the President, which covers (in brisk but informative terms) the company’s goals for its imaging products, microscope solutions, medical, and other divisions. Well done, even if the corporate storytelling aspect is a bit dry. Sadly, the bios accessible through the Board of Directors page are the driest we have ever seen, consisting of a bulleted timeline of years and job titles for each person.

Nikon’s Philosophy page, where one might expect a glimpse of the company’s guiding principles, has vague terminology and graphics that don’t elucidate. What company would not subscribe to commitments to “Be pro-active,” “Seek new knowledge,” “Communicate well,” and “Display integrity”? Our Commandment 2 of About Us Pages is, “Thou shalt not generalize.” Statements as vague as Nikon’s won’t hold the attention of fickle web surfers.

Accessibility: D

The Contacts page (accessible from the footer on every page) funnels visitors to either consumer or industrial products, and then to specific products, each with its own contact information. Although there is a lengthy warning about the risk of transmitting ideas to Nikon (“Nikon Corporation has no obligation for monitoring any ideas, concepts, suggestions or comments you transmit to this Site by electronic mail or otherwise”), there seems to be no way to email the corporate headquarters or any part of the company.

TAKEAWAY

Make sure that your content is great, and then make sure visitors won’t get exasperated and leave before they find it. This is especially important for a company like Nikon, as it presumably prepares to celebrate a centennial business anniversary in just two years. Polish that centennial brand name until it shines!

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.

Piggly Wiggly: “About Us” Evaluation by Corporate History.net

In 1916, Clarence Saunders opened a revolutionary grocery store in Memphis, Tennessee: instead of having a clerk fetch items, you picked out your own groceries, put them in a cart, and took them to the front of the store to be checked out. Independent franchisees now operate over 600 Piggly Wiggly stores in 17 states, mostly in the Midwest and South. The company, headquartered in Keene, New Hampshire, is an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Its About Us page is here.

OVERALL GRADE: A

Products/Services: A

Piggly Wiggly’s About Us page is a great example of how much business history can be packed into a single page. It starts by describing Piggly Wiggly’s history as the first true self-service grocery store. Separate headings cover the origin of the lilting name, a list of Piggly Wiggly firsts, a bio of the founder after he left Piggly Wiggly, and a summary of Piggly Wiggly today. All this is laid out in paragraphs of manageable size and illustrated with logos old and new, plus two archival photos. Our Commandment 5 of About Us Pages is, “Honor they readers and their attention spans.” Piggly Wiggly does that with a page of fact-filled, easy-to-read corporate storytelling. Well done!

Personality: A

The connecting link for independently run Piggly Wiggly stores is the concept created by Clarence Saunders, who’s appropriately given a lot of space on the About Us page. Although Piggly Wiggly is now affiliated with the mammoth C&S Wholesale Grocers, Clarence Saunders’ DNA continues to make Piggly Wiggly distinctive—no mean feat as the brand approaches its 100-year business anniversary in 2016.

Accessibility: A

The Contact page (available via a link at the upper right) has an online email form for corporate headquarters, plus an easy-to-navigate directory for those who want to contact a specific store.

TAKEAWAY

A single page that includes the right content with an enticing layout and illustrations can be very effective.

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.

Happy 110th anniversary, MTA

Commemorative MTA MetroCard

The Metropolitan Transit Authority, those folks who bring us the New York City subways and buses, is celebrating its 110th year. MTA's commemorative website is robust and well-organized, as befits an organization with professionally managed archives. CorporateHistory.net president Marian Calabro was filmed there when she gave commentary on pneumatic subway pioneer Alfred Beach for The Travel Channel's program "Mysteries at the Museum." It took awhile for non-pneumatic subways to develop; the first predecessor line of the MTA officially opened on October 27, 1904, so the 110-year party has 10 months to rock on.

IRT map 1939 (copyright MTA)

Cool things about the MTA anniversary site that any organization can emulate:
1. Loads of pix and memorabilia, including maps, many also uploaded to Flickr 
2. Google translate button appears on every page, a courtesy that helps a worldwide audience
3. MTA wasn't afraid to celebrate 110 years. Why wait until 125?

Things that can be better:
1. Timeline is not labeled as such (it's under History of the Subway), is overly detailed, and only extends to 2012, a very weird omission
2. There's a link to MTA Arts & Design, but when clicked, this unwelcoming message pops up: "There are currently no Open Calls to artists. Please check back again." Why not run a yearlong 110th anniversary call for art instead?

 

 
 

Kidde: “About Us” Evaluation by Corporate History.net

Kidde was founded in 1917 by Walter Kidde, who in 1918 pioneered the first integrated smoke detection and carbon dioxide extinguishing system for ships. The company, headquartered in Mebane, North Carolina, rapidly became a leading manufacturer of fire detection and suppression equipment. It was acquired by United Technologies Corporation in 2005. The main About Us page is here.

OVERALL GRADE: C

Products/Services: B

Kidde’s main About page gets right to the point: “Founded by Walter Kidde, a pioneer in early smoke detection and fire suppression, Kidde is the world’s largest manufacturer of fire safety products.” Well done: it’s surprising how few About Us pages express such basic business history information promptly and pithily. The page continues with a well-written and well-laid-out overview of the company’s history, goals, and relationships with clients.

Bravo, too, for giving a very company-specific goal on the Core Values page: “At Kidde, our mission is to provide solutions that protect people and property from the effects of fire and its related hazards. And for more than 90 years, industry leaders, the military, airlines, firefighters, businesses and millions of homeowners have turned to us to do exactly that.”

The page on Walter Kidde includes an effective combination of a brief timeline followed by a narrative that explains his goals and accomplishments. The Kidde History page offers a company timeline with 24 items, a reasonable number that doesn’t overload the visitor. One minor quibble: the entries for the 1960s and later focus on mergers and acquisitions; why not include some information on the company’s innovations?

The major flaw of the four Kidde About Us pages is lack of illustrations. The one and only image is of Walter Kidde. Our Commandment 6 of About Us pages is, “Honor thy visuals.” A company with a 98-year history surely has a rich archive of historical photos and advertising material that could be put to good use in corporate storytelling.

Personality: C

Our Commandment 3 of About Us pages is, “Reveal they personality.” Since this company still bears Walter Kidde’s name and still produces products in the same line, the stress on the founder’s innovations and goals is very appropriate. Still, information on current management--a message from the CEO, for example--would be welcome.

Accessibility: D

The Contact Us page has a “Find Answers Now” button that dead-ends in a blank page. The FAQ seems to have been shifted to tabs that appear on the page with the online email form (via the "Email a Question" button on the Contact Us page). Yes, visitors may stumble onto the right page--but making them stumble leaves a bad impression. Our Commandment 9 of About Us Pages is “Worship clarity”--which includes triple-checking links so you don’t look careless.

At the end of the Contact Us page is a telephone number, but no mailing address. Kidde is part of United Technologies, but there are no links to the United Technologies contact page, either.

TAKEAWAY

Great corporate history should be supplemented with great images and current information. That’s doubly important when a 100-year business anniversary is on the horizon, as Kidde’s is.

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.