Kline and Company: Presenting good profiles

A little imagination and though-through content lift a standard feature of company information.

The Site

Kline and Company, a US-based international management consultancy and market researcher, has a well-populated Management Team Profiles sub-section in the About Us section of its group website.

An overview page lists the names and positions of 27 executives under four categories: Corporate, Management Consulting, Market Research and International Offices. Clicking on a name leads to a profile page that follows a standardised format. This is headed by a colour ‘cut-out’ head-and-shoulders portrait (the effect is similar to a featured-columnist picture in a magazine or newspaper) and attributed quote. The following text states clearly the individual’s main day-to-day responsibilities within the company and gives a short career résumé with, in many cases, some personal details. An e-mail link and contact telephone number are also provided.

The Takeaway

Team and board biographies are one of the ‘tick box’ features of company information, and consequently are all too often treated as such. Kline’s presentation of its team profiles shows how with a little imagination and thought-through content it is possible to turn an obligation into both attractive content and a strong marketing and promotional message.

Adopting a magazine-style approach to picture editing and layout gives an immediate visual lift to the profiles, marking them out immediately from most other companies’ efforts. The informal poses (no ties or jackets), categorisation, job details and direct contact options all give an impression of approachability that is appropriate to the business, and could well lead to more business.

First published on 04 January, 2007