Intel: Relating people to positions

Biographies of senior executives are developed to add credibility and personality to content, and reinforce some company values.

The Site

Intel, the leading microprocessor developer, gives equal prominence in the Corporate Overview menu of its global website to Executive Biographies alongside standard headings such as Press Room, Investor Relations and Jobs. It is also a featured heading within the Press Room.

Biographies are indexed in six categories accessible from a series of tabs at the top of the page. As well as the board and corporate (executive) officers, there are lists for Appointed Vice Presidents (senior management) and Fellows. All the biographies include a downloadable high-resolution photo and a substantial career backgrounder, including current responsibilities, irrespective of the seniority of the subject.

These biographies are linked to from across the corporate content whenever an individual is featured in material. For example, pieces in Diversity at Intel by Paul Otellini, president and chief operating officer, and Rosalind Hudnell, director of diversity, both contain a link at the bottom to their respective biography.

The Takeaway

Biographies of senior executives are pretty much a ‘must have’ on the websites of companies and organisations across the board. But Intel takes the idea of biographies as a standard further than most to add credibility and personality to content, and reinforce some company values.

To begin with, it gives its profiles collection equal billing with acknowledged ‘standards’ in the corporate content menu, a clear signal that it really does think its people are integral to what the company is about. It then makes sure that the collection covers a range of executive and senior management roles, is easily referenced by role and that each biography is similarly detailed – both especially useful for journalists or analysts researching the company, but also implying an equal respect by the company of individuals.

Finally, it emphasises all this by integrating the biographies into site material so that whenever an individual is featured, they can literally be seen to be taking responsibility for their words while site users can judge for themselves what authority they carry on the subject.

First published on 12 May, 2005