Papa Don't Preach… Web Design

For this weeks blog assignment I came across an blog on Eyemagine: 7 eCommerce Web Design Trends That You Will Regret Ignoring." It explains the importance of staying on top of latest trends within the web industry. It's not enough to build a site but to constantly innovate their site or else risk losing the consumers interest. 

The blog explains that the first interaction that a consumers has while visiting a page is the company's storefront design. "It can create trust, enhance the shopping experience, and increase sales based on fluid interaction." Eyemagine has created a list of 7 design trends that may help improve engagement on an ecommerce business for new and returning customers. 

1. Large "hero" images

2. Minimalism

3. Animations

4. Stand Alone Typography

5. Grid Navigation

6. Long Scrolling Sites

7. Responsive Web Design

To view further detailed information, please visit the link provided below. I personally think that this is a one person job or a team that specifically focusses on researching these trends in order to stay on top of it all. This type of job requires the study of analytics and extensive quantitative research.

http://www.eyemaginetech.com/blog/ecommerce/7-ecommerce-web-design-trends/ 

Advergaming on the ESA, not the EAC.. whoa!!!!

Hey everyone!! This week I landed on The Entertainment Software Association, ESA, website on some key info and history on what they call In-Game Advertising. Massive, Inc., estimates the in-game advertising market could grow up to $1 billion globally by 2014. Massive is a creator of video game advertisements. 

Before the present day ads we see in-between video games, there were Static advertisements which were unchanging and consisted of virtual billboards, as they call it, a product placement. The first example was in the 1978 computer game Adventureland by Scott Adams, who created an advertisement for his next upcoming game Pirate Adventure. This eventually sparked a trend throughout other video games in the 80's and 90's. Cross promotion came into effect in 2002 when the South Beach Beverage Company (SoBe) paid Ubisoft Entertainment to the main character in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent reach for a SoBe drink when he got thirsty. They had hope that games would do the same as the character.

Dynamic Advertising now allows in-game advertising to be more interesting and entertaining especially with today's ad campaigns. Agencies can tailor the ads to geographic location or time of day. It allows flexibility for time-critical campaigns, such as movies or product launches. Dynamic Ads don't have to be hard-coded into the game by programmers, and advertisers no longer need to formulate and insert messages months in advance. 

In Advergaming the games usually feature a company's product and refers to the practice of using a video game to advertise a product. Jupiter Media Metrix Research suggest that 50 percent of recipients who receive an advergame will play in for an average of 25 minutes.  

This site is an awesome source to see what was and is the current trend(s) in advertising via video games. See what also sparked due to video game ads on the site. "Games provide inspiration for companies to develop new products. In 2010, Chrysler Group LLC began selling a limited edition 2011 Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty: Black Ops model based on the Activion Blizzard, Inc.'s popular video game by the same name." 

http://www.theesa.com/games-improving-what-matters/advertising.asp

If it had been a SNAKE it would have bit me!!

I discovered something this week that I didn't know while doing this weeks assignment. I kept searching for video marketing and kept getting tips on how to improve my youtube page if I decided to market, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Sure, the information was useful, and I must say that if I did want to go "viral," I at least know how to. 

I searched twitter, google, youtube, and for the first time ever while I was on youtube I searched for anything that would have Pre-roll ads and could not find one!! I seriously couldn't believe it. I wanted to utilize at least one for my assignment and observe how successful they have been by using video marketing. What did hit me was that no matter what I searched the ads were always on the top of any search. I didn't need to look any further than what was on top. 

What I did find odd that no matter what I searched-  music, movies, or products, the same ads were on the top of every search. How IRONIC!!! I'm not sure if I'm late on this information, but I thought it was relevant to what we have been talking about in class these past few weeks, and also what the guest speaker was saying about buying media. I wonder how much each of those Ads had to pay to be on every search. 

It was interesting to see ads like "19 Kids and Counting on TLC," "The Order:1886" by Playstation, and "Bojack Horseman- Netflix." Its funny, sometimes the answer is just in font of us. 

http://youtu.be/i1eJMig5Ik4#aid=P-ztEZcbBn0

http://youtu.be/NedZT-tIBLA#aid=P8cZxgvdAGA

http://youtu.be/rMUVOmL_tRE

Its a Mobile-Web Affair

Hey Everyone! So, over the weekend I stumbled on an awesome tweet, Mobile Matters When It Comes to Website Design by eB2B_mobile. They are an awesome source of information when it comes to the mobile industry and keeping up with the latest trends, do and don'ts, who's making it happen, or how to.

 

I thought this article was relevant to our class because it is something we are learning about, and I believe Adrienne said the first or second week, "If you're not on mobile, you don't exist." This is sooooo true and I know from experience by searching some of my favorite brands and discovering that they don't even have an app. Its a pain to try and look at whole website via Safari if you have a iPhone and I can't imagine how bad it would be from other cell phone providers. 

To sum up the article, according to WebPageFX web browsing will likely be the next top used Internet platform, with more than 5.9 billion mobile phone users and thousands adding every minute. Mobile web users account for 20% of all web traffic, and that number seems to be increasing at a high pace. Websites that are not on board with mobile strategies lose traffic to all mobile users, according to Software Developers India. They have studied the growth in companies who update their mobile presence and have seen a high ranking due to their mobile engagement. According to Google Ads Blog, "Building a separate mobile site allows for the ability to design specifically for mobile user needs and quick site creation."

Although there are challenges to the mobile platform, such as mobile users who are typically on the go, and a mobile device has about one-tenth as many pixels as a regular screen, according to Orbit Media Studios, its important to keep the site quick and easy to access. 

This article will give key factors on what to consider when going mobile and WebPageFX gives several questions to consider also. 

https://exploreb2b.com/articles/mobile-matters-when-it-comes-to-website-design

https://twitter.com/eB2B_Mobile

You've got SNAILS…

According to Media Post: Email Marketing daily, 45% of Marketers use for Customer Service Communications: Lionbridge Technologies.

Marketing via email allows companies to engage with their customers and communicate product news. They also state that, "The 2014 Global Email Survey also revealed that more than 45 percent of marketers use emails for customer service communications and 58 percent use email to share thought leadership research." 

I stumbled on this information via email from my Twitter Account and I thought that it was interesting like always that they would send me a highlighted topic about emails itself. Media Post is a company I subscribe to which keeps me updated on current topics within the Advertising/ Marketing arena. Love it!! In their words, MediaPost is the one source for advertising and marketing professionals looking for the most comprehensive industry coverage. If you have a Twitter and are not interested in excessive emails but care to see small captions of current topics within your industry, subscribe to MediaPost, BrandRepublic, 4A's, AAF National, Adrants, Adweek, the list goes on…

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/231928/australia-post-warns-customers-about-spam-email-ou.html

https://twitter.com/Adweek

https://twitter.com/adage

https://twitter.com/4As

https://twitter.com/MediaPost

Foam Party: Tame the Beast

Its Summer time!! Show some of that smooth skin!! Lush has a New Invention for those unshaved legs, D'Fluff, a strawberry shaving cream. 

Lush says, "When you’ve had enough of the rough stuff, there’s D’Fluff! This fluffy, sweet shaving soap will have you dreaming of Strawberry Fluff sandwiches while you shave."

Its made with fresh strawberries, egg whites, golden syrup, mixed together with rosehip oil, coconut oil, and not to mention  maple sugar that creates a soft light texture that will leave skin feeling smoother than ever. D'Fluff also has cocoa butter to help keep any shaved area feeling moisturized and reduces post shave redness!

I know I'll be purchasing this after this post. Although, if its as good as it looks, I might be tempted to spread it on some angel food cake!!! Now that sounds like a party, cool whipped, strawberries, angel food cake pretty much sounds like D'Fluff!

Guys, don't be fooled by its pink, fluffy nature. Turn that morning shave
Sweet and Spiffy!!

Lush does an amazing job of listing exactly all the fresh ingredients, natural, and "safe synthetics." The site demonstrates "How To" videos for those inexperienced shavers, as well as step by step instructions. Based on the customer reviews (25) customers give it 4.5 stars!! I'm all in!! This product has all the four "S's," smooth, smells good, soft, and soft skin written all over it. When it comes to pros and cons, there is no cons! 

Spread that good stuff with D'Fluff!!


Where can you find this? On the Lush website of course! If your visiting the home page make sure to click on their New Inventions tab. 

http://www.lushusa.com/D%27Fluff/9999905241,en_US,pd.html

Spread that good stuff with D'Fluff!!