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Archives for 2009

A Christmas Post: Room for Beauty . . .


Winter Trees

Every season has its own kind of beauty, and Winter is no exception.  Those pesky leaves that looked so refreshing when Spring came are now long gone, so trees are showing off their sculpted shapes.   It’s an annual reminder that what’s underneath is just as important as what’s apparent.

Which is my not-so-subtle way of saying that the fundamental design values of a website are as much a key to excellence as those persuasive videos and clever messages that decorate the surface.

By and large, corporate Career site designs are not exciting.  And some are downright dull.  In a number of cases that’s just because the design has been around for too long.  While business sites can’t be continually scurrying after the look of the moment, they should periodically shake off the dust of outdated design values—not merely because time has passed, but because web design has come a long way fast.  The paradigms emerging today are just far better, aesthetically and otherwise, than what could be done (or imagined) in the past.

Here are a few other reasons why dullness happens:

  • “Boring” has been mistaken for “businesslike.”
  • Stakeholders are afraid to take a chance on something different.
  • No one thinks the design really matters.
  • The Careers site is tied to a dull corporate design and can’t get loose.

I keep an eye out for signs of changing approaches among the mid-size to very-large companies, but don’t see much yet.  While we wait, though, here’s a Christmas card of beautiful sites designed for smaller businesses and creative professionals.  Consider them an inspiration!

First:  A rich, inviting design sets the tone for this thematic microsite, created by Sounds True to showcase related products and content.

WithInsight 2

Next, the artful energy of WebDesignerDepot has helped to build a large, enthusiastic audience for the site.  And the outstanding content is worth following for anyone who has an interest in design.


WebDesignerDepot

Whimsical charm paints a quick picture of imagination at work, from the Australian design studio Racket.

Racket

The eclectic artistry of Peapod creations is perfectly captured in this design.  (Mousing over a category produces a ravishing color view.)

Peapod

Of course–sometimes all you need is a beautiful product!

Porsche

And finally, here’s proof that stand-out colors plus bold simplicity can make even a grid look great.

FWJ

That’s all for this Christmas.  But while we’re exploring imaginative options, here’s food for thought from 37 Signals:

Imagine an employee handbook that just said: “We trust you. Be mischievous.”


(Many thanks to ahisgett for revealing the beauty of winter’s bare branches.)

Most Popular Google Searches in 2009 Unveil Opportunities for Brand Marketing

Each year, Google produces a report (the Google Zeitgeist) that provides an overview of the top rising and falling search terms in a variety of categories and in a variety of regions throughout the world (as well as globally).  The most popular Google searches in 2009 were predominantly related to entertainment and breaking news, but there are some trends that brand strategists can take away from the statistics to help create marketing plans for 2010 and beyond.

First, take a look at the top 5 fastest rising searches on Google in 2009 globally:

  1. michael jackson
  2. facebook
  3. tuenti
  4. twitter
  5. sanalika

Compare those to the top 5 fastest rising searches on Google in the United States in 2009:

  1. twitter
  2. michael jackson
  3. facebook
  4. hulu
  5. hi5

Notice something in common between these two lists?

How about the fact that two of the fastest rising searches globally and three of the fastest rising searches in the United States were for social networking and microblogging sites (Facebook, Twitter and hi5)? And Hulu, which offers streaming video of television shows and movies as well as from sites like MySpace and Facebook, also made an appearance on the top five fastest rising searches in the United States in 2009.

So what does this tell us?

The opportunities for brands to connect with consumers through social networking are vast and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon.  The fact that people are still searching for information about sites like Twitter and Facebook tells us that there is still growing interest in the social Web among an audience of social networking and microblogging novices.

In short, if there was any doubt in your mind that you should be investing in promoting your brand and building relationships with consumers through social networking, microblogging, content sharing, and so on, then let Google search trends seal the deal for you.  In other words, if all the statistics from research studies that show the opportunity to connect with consumers via the social Web haven’t convinced you or your executives to shift part of your budget to social media marketing, then let actual Google searches prove it to you.

The social Web represents the biggest opportunity to connect with consumers, build brand loyalty, and generate word-of-mouth marketing.  It’s a dream come true for marketers, but just as marketers struggled to find ways to connect with consumers through new media introduced generations ago, we struggle to find the best ways to connect with and motivate consumers to action through the new social media of the 21st century.

It’s an exciting time to be a marketer.  Sure we face a lot of challenges, particularly in terms of changing existing mindsets and shifting investments from traditional to new media, but there truly has never been a more exciting time to be a marketer in our lifetimes than today.

Here’s to an exciting and successful 2010!  See you on the social Web!

Economic Considerations, Value and Store Brands will Dominate Purchase Trends in 2010

store_brandA new report by Nielsen Business Media identifies consumer purchasing trends in the U.S. in 2010, and as you might assume, the fallout from a weakened economy is expected to continue to have an effect in purchasing in the coming year.

Three of the 2010 consumer purchasing trends in the U.S. can be directly related to brand strategy:

1. The economy

Economic considerations won’t go away in 2010.  Instead, consumers have become savvier shoppers in recent years thanks to the weak economy.  In 2010, consumers might start to see an end to the recessionary tunnel, but they won’t give up their savvy ways when it comes to spending anytime soon.  Discount brands and brands that make consumers feel good about spending their money will gain market share while brands that represent more frivolous spending will have a harder time retaining or gaining market share.

2. Value

After living through a recession, consumers in the U.S. expect more value for their dollar than ever.  Brands that push the value proposition (whether they’re luxury or discount brands) and live up to consumer expectations based on those value propositions will prevail.

3. Store brands

Generic brands and store brands will continue to grow, again, as a result of recent economic conditions, which prompted consumers to try these lower cost alternatives and in many cases realize that they’re just as good or better than more expensive, branded alternatives.

In short, we might be over the worst part of the economic struggles the U.S. and much of the world have faced in recent years, but consumer purchasing habits won’t revert back to the way they were before overnight.  Brands that recognize that and communicate messages of value, frugality, and trust will be better positioned than their competitors in 2010.

You can read a more detailed overview of the study (including results and predictions for Canada) here.  The full analysis is available for download here.

What are your predictions for consumer purchasing behavior in 2010?  What do you think about the predictions from Nielsen’s analysis?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts!

Image: Flickr

Riddle: How Is a Careers Site Like a PPT Presentation?

Actually, a Careers site is pretty much exactly like a PowerPoint presentation.  Which means the answer to this riddle isn’t very funny.

But the answer is important, and here’s why:

PowerPoint presentations (affectionately known as PPTs, or sometimes “decks”) have become the most frequent means of communicating information in many—perhaps most—organizations.  And for purposes of discussion, we’ll just lump in niche platforms like the Mac program Keynote and online options like SlideRocket, which are PowerPoint-by-any-other name, even if they are better in some respects.

The result in all cases is basically the same:  ideas/information organized in slide-sized “bites.”

Once you start thinking about it this way, a website could be seen as a stack of presentation-like pages, each one displaying several slides—sort of like the Slide Sorter view in PowerPoint.  The visitor has self-serve access to these slides, so they can jump around to different parts of the “presentation.”

And now to the point.  The rules for creating good slides/presentations are few and definite, but mostly ignored.  For example, some excellent rules are:

  • Don’t put too much information on one slide—use several slides to build a theme or explain a complex idea.
  • Include something visual on every slide—but be sure the visual content is informative, not merely decorative.
  • Be consistent in formatting—not only on each slide, but across the whole presentation.
  • Provide a clear structure that organizes the slides—and make sure the audience always knows where they are and where they are going.

These rules apply every bit as well to a website design, but are just as often ignored.

Presentation expert Olivia Mitchell takes the psychology of PowerPoint even further in New evidence that bullet-points don’t work.  This substantive post explains research that shows improved comprehension in audiences viewing “sparse” slides (strong graphics, little text) rather than conventional slides that combine bullet-point text with smaller illustrations.  Mitchell goes into detail on the factors that involved—well worth a read.

Now in fact, most Careers sites I visit use lots of bullet points and lots of text.  To validate this impression, I picked out (completely at random) three big companies in completely different industry segments, two of which I’ve never visited before.  Here’s what I found . . .

Bullets--Costco
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Costco Careers

Bullets--WF
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Wells Fargo Careers

Bullets--MGM
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MGM Careers

This is not a criticism of the three sites—just a confirmation that the bullet-point style is ubiquitous.  Like these examples, a great many of the designs I see have a few visual elements around the perimeter, with a big block of text in the middle.

In terms of presentation-style impact, contrast that look with this one:

Bullets--Yahoo
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Yahoo Careers

Since website visitors aren’t getting additional information from speakers, the main ideas obviously must be explained on the page.  But breaking up text into thematic zones, putting some information into a graphical format, or even just changing the round, black bullets to (for example) square red bullets would certainly liven up the page.

Replacing boring bullets with interesting ones would be really low-hanging fruit!  And there are probably quite a few other tweaks that could improve the “presentation” qualities of a typical Careers site and bring about high-value change.

The Importance of Relationship Branding and Marketing in Building Loyalty

I love it when I’m contacted to speak at an event about relationship branding and marketing.  It’s one of my favorite subjects.  I suppose that’s why I wrote books about two successful relationship brands, Harry Potter and Playboy.

Today, I read about the results of the 2009 Cone Consumer New Media Study on eMarketer’s Web site, which was all about the importance of building brand loyalty through relationship marketing.  Naturally, I was intrigued and took a moment to check out the study results.  Check out the chart below from the study which show the attitudes of U.S. new media users towards companies and brands that they’re able to interact with via new media from September 2009:

emarketer_relationship_marketing_brand_loyalty

Nearly three-quarters of respondents have a more positive impression of a company or brand after interacting with them via new media and nearly three-quarters feel stronger connections with those companies and brands.  That’s a big percentage.

There is no doubt that social media presents a significant opportunity to businesses and brands to engage consumers, interact with them and develop relationships with them, which can lead to brand loyalty, advocacy, and word-of-mouth marketing.  The days of competing on the basis of the 4 Ps are over.  In the 21st century, savvy consumers need more than a competitive price, and brands need more than traditional advertising to get noticed and be remembered by consumers who move faster than ever before.

However, the key to social media marketing success is a willingness to give up control of the online conversation so relationships can develop.  Brands have to speak with consumers, not at them.  Are you ready to do that for your brand?  Or is the more appropriate question, “are your executives willing to let you do that for your brand?”  That’s where the gap continues to exist.

Next time you’re heading into a meeting with the C-Suites, take along this chart and show them that consumers truly do value social media interaction.  At the very least, it’s a step in the right direction, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get an approval on your next social media marketing initiative.

Holcim–Communicating Process and Strategy

Zurich based Holcim, a construction materials and consulting company, knows something about how to use their website to provide stakeholder information. You only need to to look at the About Us section…

Holcim
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Some highlights:

  • a good landing page, with teaser links to Strategy, Videos and more
  • “This Could Be Interesting”: an unusual title for related links, which contains a link to an good explanation of how the company manufactures their main products
  • a factsheet, “Holcim at a Glance”, is available but alas only as a PDF.

Click to enlarge

Holcim uses a well organized approach to explain its strategy to visitors in some detail.

The strategy is explained with the use of visuals. The link to the Value Chain displays a comprehensive visual and a portfolio analysis of its product lines. 

The company also includes targets related to the strategy. This is an item overlooked by some companies.

This post would not be complete without a visit to the Corporate Governance section.


Click to enlarge

There is a link to Vision and Mission.  Also visit the Organization section. The only suggestion I would make is to offer more content as HTML in addition to PDFs.