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February 11, 2010
What Is Your Corporate "Look"?
In a recent client meeting, we flipped through a series of websites to review what the client felt was "corporate" because they wanted to target larger corporate clients. We looked at a series of content-rich sites whose home pages were predictably jump-stations to their interior content. This particular client had nowhere near the volume of content, but felt that was the look for them.
While I fully understand the logic of hewing to convention and stylistic guides, I think it is increasingly important for companies to know who they are and what their culture is first. Is your company approachable and personal? Or is you style analytical and informational? Do you have a large repository of information to offer prospects?
Especially as more and more websites are developed/guided by professionals with an understanding of the web world, the more that sites are all beginning to look the same. Going into meetings to discuss the subtleties of marginal differences in imagery instead of discussing the broader issue of corporate personality is a waste of energy.
Marketing isn't about being me-too. It is about differentiation. So, what is your company's "look"?
Posted by jcioban at February 11, 2010 9:39 AM
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Comments
Indeed, marketing managers waste a valuable opportunity when they create websites before understanding who they are. Or to try and look like something they are not.
Home pages and landing pages need to succinctly communicate what the company does at both the intellectual and emotional levels. The folks at Marketing Experiments have shown that a user decides within 7 seconds whether to hit the back button or continue. So it’s necessary that all of the elements be in sync and be free of clutter.
And you’re right that instead of going out and getting the best designers and writers to present ideas, too many marketers go for the short money and micromanage the design process themselves. As a result they end up with standard layouts, stock photos of people sitting around a laptop looking way too serious, and imprecise text. Not the best choice when the website is more often than not the company’s first impression.
Posted by: Michael Selissen at February 12, 2010 4:31 PM
