Luxury Brands websites some of the worst in the world

I totally agree with this article from E Consultancy

Another one missing from this list is Louis Vuitton,

Have a read and have your say

A flowery opening page – Bentley

On your first visit Bentley shows you a great big ad of some kind or other, and then leaves you staring at some wild flowers. You must search for the ‘skip to home’ button, located in the bottom corner, to proceed to its homepage.

Eat carrots, find the navigation – Givenchy

Givenchy might make more than EU 81m in annual revenue if it allowed users to navigate around its website without the need for night vision cameras. Black text against a dark grey background isn’t cool, or classy. It’s abhorrent.

Hiding the key information – Mont Blanc

It is best practice to avoid obfuscation when it comes to shipping and delivery details (and options), especially when you’ve placed a £2,795 watch in your basket. See that little ‘shipping’ link, in the bottom corner of this shopping bag overlay? It doesn’t do anything.

Style vs substance – Tom Ford

Maybe it’s just me, but the navigation is all over the place. Try to go to the men’s sunglasses page in under a minute. The dropdown menus with their tiny fonts have transparent backgrounds, meaning that you can’t read them if they appear above other text. Also, there’s no fluidity in the pages. Needlessly Flashy, capital F.

Movement and noise – Cartier

Wailing autosound, more whizzy animation than Pixar, and lots of loading buttons and hanging around.

The slow madness – Dom Perignon

I could have opened a bottle of sparkling wine before […]

By Yvette Aitken|October 3rd, 2012|Posts|0 Comments

HTML5

Steve Jobs refused to allow Flash on his devices, he argued that HTML5 could do everything Flash did.

He wasn’t being entirely honest – the reality distortion field was strong that day – but ultimately Apple won and Adobe didn’t; HTML5, not Flash, is the technology that’s transforming the web. So what exactly is it, and what does it want from us?

What is HTML5?

HTML5 is the latest version of Hypertext Markup Language, the code that describes web pages. It’s actually three kinds of code: HTML, which provides the structure; Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which take care of presentation; and JavaScript, which makes things happen.

What’s so great about HTML5?

HTML5 has been designed to deliver almost everything you’d want to do online without requiring additional software such as browser plugins. It does everything from animation to apps, music to movies, and can also be used to build incredibly complicated applications that run in your browser.

There’s more. HTML5 isn’t proprietary, so you don’t need to pay royalties to use it. It’s also cross-platform, which means it doesn’t care whether you’re using a tablet or a smartphone, a netbook, notebook or ultrabook or a Smart TV: if your browser supports HTML5, it should work flawlessly. Inevitably, it’s a bit more complicated than that. More about that in a moment.

What does HTML5 do?

We’ve come a long way since HTML could barely handle a simple page layout. HTML5 can be used to write web applications that still work when you’re not connected to the net; to tell websites where you are physically located; to handle high definition video; and to deliver extraordinary graphics.

When will HTML5 be finished?

HTML5 is an evolving standard, so it’s a bit misleading to talk about when it’ll be […]

By Yvette Aitken|September 25th, 2012|Posts|0 Comments

QR codes

curated content from

http://www.openforum.com/articles/qr-codes-make-print-campaigns-jump-off-the-page?extlink=em-openf-SBdaily

QR Codes Make Print Campaigns Jump Off the Page

John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing

August 27, 2012
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In the evolving world of marketing we live in right now, traditional advertising mediums like radio and television are being passed over in favor of Internet-based marketing.

Print collateral still serves an important role in any marketing communications plan because it can be one of the best mediums to target very specific audiences. Its drawbacks, however, include limited space for messaging and lack of two-way communication.

Enter the QR Code
Print shops have moved aggressively into the world of print-on-demand, variable printing, bar coding and other digital models as a way to hold on to market share and provide more integrated offerings.

“Print is best for grabbing your customers’ attention,” says Art Coley, president of printing franchise AlphaGraphics. “But once you have it, digital products can make messages literally jump off the page, furthering the communication with your target consumers.”

Quick Response codes, or QR codes for short, are markings similar to bar codes which businesses use on print advertisements. A consumer can use their smartphone to scan the code, which will send them to the company website for more information or a special offer.

There are more than 50 million smartphone users in the United States alone; so including a QR code in your print marketing products can bring you positive results faster. According to a study by Chadwick Martin Bailey, nearly 20 percent of adults in the United States have made a purchase after scanning a company’s […]

By Yvette Aitken|August 28th, 2012|Posts|0 Comments

Google+ Pages

by Yvette Aitken

Google+ has just merged with Google places, there are quite a few changes.

Thought I’d share this Youtube video which simplifies the reviews section

Snippet from Google blog on Google+

Finding the best places to go is an essential part of our lives, as are the people and resources that help us make those decisions. In fact, the opinions of friends, family or other trusted sources are often the first we seek when looking for the perfect restaurant for date night or the cafe that makes the best latte ever.

Today, we’re rolling out Google+ Local, a simple way to discover and share local information featuring Zagat scores and recommendations from people you trust in Google+. Google+ Local helps people like my husband turn a craving—“Wow, I need brunch”—into an afternoon outing: “Perfect, there’s a dim sum place with great reviews just two blocks from here. Let’s go.” It’s integrated into Search, Maps and mobile and available as a new tab in Google+—creating one simple experience across Google.

Google+

By Yvette Aitken|June 3rd, 2012|Posts|0 Comments

Future is Mobile

Helping businesses with the latest trends on marketing, here is an article ref mobile buying from emarketer

Mobile Phone Shoppers Show Growing Preference for Text Marketing

MAY 16, 2012

One in five respondents has made an online purchase on a mobile phone

The maturation of the mobile phone market has put a powerful shopping tool in the hands of an ever-growing number of consumers. And recent research shows that they are taking full advantage of it.

According to a February 2012 survey of online US adult mobile phone owners commissioned by advertising company Placecast and conducted by Harris Interactive, one in five mobile phone owners has made a purchase online via their device. Unsurprisingly, smartphone owners were more likely to make mobile purchases than feature phone owners. But the poll also revealed that consumers were most often using mobile phones to facilitate their in-person shopping—half of smartphone users said they had used a phone-based GPS or mapping tool to find a store’s brick-and-mortar location.

Overall, US consumers are steadily embracing the idea of making purchases on their mobile phones. The survey found that the percentage of people who thought it was at least somewhat important to be able to make a purchase on their mobile phone had climbed to 38% in 2012, compared with 30% in 2010. But despite those gains, the vast majority of respondents, 62%, still said it wasn’t important at all for them to be able to make purchases on their mobile phones.

By Yvette Aitken|May 16th, 2012|Posts|Comments Off

New Facebook , ‘Offers’ for business pages

News ! Facebook is running tests on ‘Offers’ for business pages.

Read more …. from the great Facebook marketer Mari Smith….

A few select brands on Facebook are currently running tests of a new Facebook product for businesses called “Offers.” The most recent Offer, which generated a fair amount of buzz in the past week, was posted by Macy’s. Macy’s first posted the Offer on Thursday, February 23rd at 7:11am Pacific with an expiration date of February 26th. The Offer was: “Get 25% off your purchase of $100 or more.”

The Offer jumped out at me in my News Feed last Thursday when a friend of mine (plus six others!) claimed the Offer. Then I saw the Offer repeatedly in my News Feed, so clicked through to Macy’s to check it out on their wall too.

Facebook Offers - Marsh Engle Claimed Macy's

Macy’s Facebook Offer – appeared in the News Feed when friends claimed the Offer

Simple, one-click claim – INCLUDING on mobile!

What’s super exciting about this new Facebook product for businesses, is the absolute simplicity and ease with which users can claim the Offer. Literally ONE click and Facebook lets you know the Offer is in your email inbox!

One click on “Get Offer” and Facebook emails you details!

Users can claim the Offer from the wall of the brand’s fan page.

Or, users can claim the Offer from their News Feed. Including MOBILE. Hello? Yes, mobile. Now that is thrilling.

More than half of Facebook’s 845 Million active users access the site via their mobile devices. Imagine the possibilities of Offers for your business! For local businesses. […]

By Yvette Aitken|April 16th, 2012|Posts|0 Comments

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