European Central Bank : Clarity of purpose
Jason Sumner
| June 1, 2021
The European Central Bank’s ‘About’ landing page cleverly reinforces the organization’s reputation by providing a concise explanation of what it does and the benefits to society.
The feature
The ‘About’ landing page of the European Central Bank’s website describes the organization’s core activities at a high level, then drills down into different aspects of its responsibilities.
Above the scroll line, there is a succinct summary of the bank’s main role in the world: ‘We keep prices stable and your money safe’. Two paragraphs to the left describe the bank’s activities further: ‘We do this so that you will be able to buy as much with your money tomorrow as you can today.’
Five subsections further down the page summarize key aspects of the bank’s remit, including ‘We keep inflation under control’; ‘We contribute to the safety of the banking system’; and ‘We develop and issue euro banknotes’.
It is more unusual than it should be to arrive on a website ‘about’ page and discover precisely what it is the organization does. Digital communicators don’t set out to be unclear, but internal priorities and pressures often work against precision and completeness.
While most people have heard of central banks, many do not know exactly what they do. The European Central Bank appears to have embraced this, and made it the foundation of its approach to online communications. In addition, the writing is excellent, and the organization’s ‘purpose’ arises naturally from the text, rather than appearing heavy-handed. The result is an ‘about’ page that works well for visitors and internal stakeholders.
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/html/index.en.html