evo design - graphics, photography, web
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Organising Content through Information Architecture
02
JunWhat happens before a website is live? What does it take to build a website? What is involved? Creating a high quality user experience, in which visitors find relevant content and consequently the objectives of the website are met, is not a simple matter of dressing up press releases and regurgitating company statements.
Information architecture is the rather grandiose title given over to organising content efficiently and effectively, in a way that provides the best user experience whilst continuing to meet the objectives of an organisation’s website.
In order to effectively architect a website, particularly for larger projects, it’s vital to have a clear content strategy - the rules governing the type and structure of content as well as the means to harvest and maintain the content. And for all of this to work properly, it must be planned.
So returning to the original question, what happens before a website is live? What does it take? What is involved? Planning. Lots and lots of planning and drawing and scribbling:
The somewhat inadequate title of web design, creates a rather false impression that ‘design’, in traditional terms, forms a significant part of the overall project. Whilst it is true we want projects to deliver aesthetically, in reality the organisation of good quality content will have a much stronger bearing on user experience than pretty colours and pictures.
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The Ad Man
15
OctSo much of advertising focusses on perceptions and not reality - but why?
It turns out we are just as thrilled with perceived value as we are with real value.
Whilst it’s important to avoid gaps between perception and reality (cognitive dissonance), there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun with marketing communications.
This is superbly demonstrated by Rory Sutherland in an amusing and insightful TED lecture called - Life Lessons From An Ad Man.
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The Reality of Viral
13
OctIn an attempt to improve the plain old viral, many companies are now turning to reality marketing. We’ve all seen it but what is it?
In its simplest terms, reality marketing involves the production of something, typically video, in which the content is seemingly real and not the product of a several million pound media campaign.
The essence of reality marketing is to remove the ‘corporate’ entity from the equation at the onset, and in so doing, liberate the viewer from preconception.
Without this burden the viewer is watching for pure interest alone. When the reveal is made the viewer is intrigued by the curious juxtaposition of the natural content and the novelty of it actually being an advert. The YouTube example below is from the Sony Twilight Football Campaign.
Of course the obvious question is - “Is this not just like any other advert, filmed using a camcorder?”. The short answer is yes, but as it’s not delivered by conventional mass media and instead quietly seeded across the internet in an entirely non-commercial way, it’s not immediately clear - and this is what creates the intrigue.The concept keeps the primary features of a viral, in that the novelty, interest and perhaps comedy value are compelling enough to tell your friends about it. The clever twist of corporate affiliation has people saying things like ‘have you seen the really cool Sony video for their twilight camera’.
This is a far more potent force than, ‘have you seen the advert for that camera’, which for the most part invites a ‘no’ and ‘I’m not that interested’.
For a more in depth look with examples head over to Campaign website and look at the article From Branded Content to Reality Marketing.
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A Holistic Approach to Search Engine Marketing
16
SepAsk any PR guru and they will tell you one of the biggest problems with press releases is tracking conversions - in other words attributing a given activity directly to the release.
Historically PR has been regarded as an activity that falls outside the domain of marketing. This flawed approach has only been overcome in the last decade or so, during which time companies have begun to see how PR and traditional marketing activities should work in unison.
internet marketing; the place in which PR and marketing become so intertwined as to be almost inseparable
Perhaps the biggest reason for this merging is the growth of internet marketing; the place in which PR and marketing become so intertwined as to be almost inseparable.
Nevertheless, the infrastructure of the web and the different nature of consumerism online bring unique challenges which must be approached with an unconventional strategy.
Several hundred years ago the world gave birth to the printing press and in so doing, for better or worse also came the newspaper. For a monochrome, 2D, low resolution medium the de facto method of grabbing attention became the headline. It’s no different today. The average news stand has a seemingly infinite number of papers and magazines, each vying for your attention.
Print has always used the headline; ergo the goal of the journalist is to produce eye-catching, clever headlines which, in an instant, turn that casual glance into an insatiable need to find out more…. and hence, make you part with your money.
A computer algorithm can’t unpick the nuance of a metaphorical headline.
The human brain has a limitless capacity to invoke symbols and images, play with metaphor, debate irony, double entendre and the word play. This offers the average journalist an enormous catalogue of potential when crafting those wonderful headlines. On the web things are very different. Very different indeed.
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What is Viral Marketing?
01
SepThe frequent use of the term viral marketing and/or viral advertising would suggest a relatively new phenomena. In fact the idea has been around and used with success for many years, though it’s true, in the area of Web 2.0 - social networks, video sharing and Flash gaming, viral marketing has seen an explosion.
Viral marketing itself is not tied to any specific medium and at its core refers to the way in which information is spread. The notion that the message is self-replicating, in other words the recipient is filled with a desire to ‘spread the word’ gives rise to the idea of a virus.
Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter create the perfect conditions for a marketing virus
It just so happens the world of social networking and video sharing using applications such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter create the perfect conditions for a marketing virus.
Unfortunately many organisations fall foul when embarking on a viral marketing quest. They do so because they fixate on the concept of the virus (the vehicle) rather than the content (the payload). In other words, marketers think the following: Facebook is cool. Therefore my message will be cool. Therefore Facebook users will think my company is cool.
If there is one thing users of Facebook are not going to think, it’s that you’re cool for using Facebook
Not true. If there is one thing users of Facebook are not going to think, it’s that you’re cool for using Facebook. In much the same way as someone using a telephone doesn’t think you’re cool if you are using one as well.
To truly go viral you need to ‘not’ think viral and instead take your product, service, company or brand and make it look completely different to anything that’s come before. You need to turn things on their head and present them in such a way that people are genuinely surprised, even for just a few seconds.
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Make Your Budget Work
05
MarSuccessful marketing relies on research; knowing your customers and your marketplace.
This is not rocket science, but so many businesses pour money into advertising channels that are completely fruitless.
They don’t do it on purpose, they do it because they make unfounded assumptions about their market.
Make conclusions not assumptions.
It’s so easy in business to draw unsubstantiated conclusions about what we do. Perhaps borne out of a desire to impress, to demonstrate we know our market, or maybe naivety. Whatever the reason you should always try to justify your claims. Make conclusions not assumptions.
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Email Marketing Works!
09
FebAsk your customers to buy. I read this in a business development kit by Brendon Sinclair published by Sitepoint. Many businesses have great products and/or services but fail to get around to asking their customers to buy.
It seems a huge over-simplification of what businesses refer to as marketing. In fact there are organisations who fail to deploy an adequate marketing channel with a succinct call to action.
“Hey Guys, we make ‘this’ and we think it would be great for you. It does x,y,z and is available at this discounted price for a short time. If you’re interested - do this!”
In fact there are organisations who fail to deploy an adequate marketing channel with a succinct call to action.
Sounds very straightforward? It is quite staggering how many people don’t actually utilise such a basic approach to developing their business.
Some would argue they send out their glossy brochure with a business card. Or invite people to look on their website. This is not the same. This is asking people to look. It’s not asking them to buy.