Eric G. Wiley

The home page clocked me with a screen full of horizontal rainbow. My first thought was that the site represented a marketing agency showcasing its unlimited creative prowess. My theory was strengthened after reading the heading that said, "Thinking Outside the Box".

Once I had mentally established that stereotype, I decided to look around. My first stop was the Our People section because any marketing agency that put phrases like "Thinking Outside the Box" on rainbow backgrounds couldn't succeed without some extremely good looking people on staff.

The expected headshots and bios were there, but they weren't the exaggerated credentials of hot chicks with pointy glasses & frat-lads that I had expected. What I saw instead were portraits of intelligent looking, well dressed people who performed very unique services for a company that was most definitely not a cliché-spouting ad agency.

One young man who didn't look a day over 19 did things like "administer the Syndicate's Marine War portfolio." Another employee is praised by the bio writer because his legal qualifications "...are invaluable to the syndicate." They also had people who specialized in 'Political Risk and Terrorism' and 'Aviation War'.

What I had stumbled upon was a company that A) had the financial muscle to underwrite oceangoing ships and their entire cargo load and B) enjoyed such a solid reputation that they could make their site out of rainbows without frightening away what must be a very conservative client base. More like a fictitious company from a Hugh Grant movie than real life. Refreshing!

One last bit. Lest is seem like I'm ridiculing the web site, I should mention that I enjoyed the colors. Also enjoyed playing with some of the interactive backgrounds. But then again, I don't own a 320.0 meter Panamax loaded with brand new BMWs.