Fortune 100 #96 Web site review – Hey Abbott!!

Well, I’ve been avoiding this for too long. #96 – Abbott Labs.

I’d like to say I’ve been avoiding it because I’m lazy or undisciplined but the real reason is that they were once a client ( not in the web world) and they indirectly helped me get my start in advertising and copywriting. I feel like I owe them.

C’mon, you’ve been there. I don’t care what field you’re in. Though, if you’re reading this, you probably work on the web or nearby. Everyone has that person who gave them a break, be it a Creative Director, VP or recruiter. Someone said, “Hey, this person might be good at something in spite of the fact that there’s no prior proof.” Maybe you said something brilliant in your cover letter or called the right person at the right time. How ever you did it, you were thinking, “Wow, they really bought it!” That was probably followed with “Oh @#$@! Now I have to actually deliver.”

My story is that I was working in HR communications and I moved to an HR advertising agency. It’s a niche market to be sure but there is a market. And putting “agency” on your resume is all it takes sometimes. I met some good, talented people there and I’ll always be grateful for that.

But, as usual, the alligators are circling and the swamp is full, so let me get to my task. With bias admitted.

Abbott Labs: a company with over 125 years under its belt and little or no brand recognition. This company is filled with brilliant products, some of which you’ve heard of, others of which my not. Likely, your life has been touched by them. To give you a few examples, they make baby products like Similac and Pedialyte.

So how could both of these be true? Notable products and no brand recognition? Well, as we climb our way up the Fortune 100 ladder, I think you’ll find it’s not as rare as you would think. Just because you build it doesn’t mean they have to come.

For Pete’s sake, people won’t come to your house if you don’t give them directions – even if they really want to come. When I knew them, there was no tagline. No promise to the customer or client. It appears they now they have one “a promise for life.” It’s a good start. The old guard might have said “that’s an over promise” but they are by no means the only group to ever say that.

Still, for a multi-billion dollar healthcare company, Their web site is not as memorable as it should be. The good news is that it looks as though they have a content management system with oodles of fresh content. And they should. The catch, as with any CMS, is how to keep it fresh. This one seems to have trouble doing that. It’s clean and neat with minimal navigation while still allowing for regular updates. It’s just a bit boring.

In this case I think the navigation is oversimplified. It would benefit from a division by audience, like our friends at Human. How about a nav bar asking if the user is a health professional or Joe consumer?

Immediately, you dish out the right information in the right tone, without wasting time selling biomedical devices to a soccer mom who’s looking for infant formula nutritional information.

Something I do like is their A-to-Z product page.

I think all huge corporations should be required to create a “product map” page. It’s incredibly useful and would be great in terms of SEO. Imagine a page that lists all your products in an easy to search format. It’s just crazy enough to work!!

There are, of course, thousands of other pages, some out of brand (whatever their brand guidelines are), most likely due to acquisitions huge corporations like these usually make.

The end result is like Vanilla ice cream. It’s simple and most people like it, but it’s about as plain as you can get.