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