This may be interesting for the Internet Marketing folks onlist .... [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > @d.Tech.Chicago > Report 9 > July 30, 1998 > > This is the ninth in a series of 10 reports from Richard Hoy, who > covered @d.Tech.Chicago. You will receive these reports in addition > to your normal Online Ads posts/digests. > > This coverage is archived at: > http://www.o-a.com/adtech.Chicago/adtechChig-archive.html > > ====================================================================== > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > This conference coverage is generously underwritten by: > > AdKnowledge makes planning, placing and tracking web advertising easy. > > If the web spells chaos to you when it comes to developing a web media > plan, it's time to check out MarketMatch and SmartBanner from > AdKnowledge. Find out how to automate the entire web advertising > process from pre-planning to billing and everything in between. Gain > control over your campaigns with a single point of contact. Save time > and money with the experience and know-how of AdKnowledge. Contact us > today! > > e-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > phone: 1-800-286-6778 > URL: http://www.adknowledge.com/ > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ====================================================================== > > INTERNET MARKETING TIP: WHAT I LEARNED JUDGING THE @D:TECH AWARDS > -- by Cliff Kurtzman > > In addition to orchestrating the Tenagra Awards each year, > this year I was also invited to serve as a judge for the 1998 > @d:Tech Awards. These awards were presented at the @d:Tech > Chicago Conference in May along with the Tenagra Awards. > > While the Tenagra Awards recognize high-level achievements > that fundamentally impact the way marketing is done on the > Internet, the @d:Tech Awards judge specific creative efforts > in a variety of different areas. > > Tenagra is frequently hired by clients to evaluate their Web > sites, so I expected that judging these awards would be > pretty straightforward. But when Tenagra undertakes a > formal Web site evaluation, it is a rather extensive > undertaking. We put together a team of people with > backgrounds in the areas of online marketing, public > relations, Web design and information systems. We then > generate a report that evaluates the Web site from the > point-of-view of content design, architectural design, > graphic design and its ability to meet strategic > objectives. > > For the @d:Tech Awards, I was asked to rate, over a very > short period of time, a total of 47 entries in the > categories of Best Sales Generating Site; Best Interactive > Design; and Best Overall Creative Design. Obviously, it was > not feasible to go through anything approaching the same > kind of formal evaluation process that we use in a standard > Web site evaluation. It reminded me a good bit of playing > speed chess, where many of the usual strategies and thought > processes used in playing regular chess must go out the > window in order to beat the clock and your opponent. > > On the other hand, I discovered there is a lot that can be > learned by spending just a few minutes on a Web site. Web > surfers typically expect instant gratification, and if they > cannot find what they are looking for on a Web site in a > very short period of time, then they are usually "out of > there" and on to another site. So my quick evaluation > process, in many ways, mirrored the evaluation process that > Web surfers typically go through when looking for > interesting or useful content on the Web. > > All the Web sites I was asked to evaluate were > professionally created. Most were created by Web > development, Web marketing or advertising agencies, but some > were also created by in-house groups. In each case, the > developers must have felt that the effort was good enough > to be worth spending the $150 entry fee for a shot at winning > a Bronze, Silver or Gold award. Further, it was obvious > that many of the Web sites that had been submitted for the > award had been created with very significant budgets (i.e., > well over $100K). > > Many of the entries I evaluated were wonderful examples of > Web design, and I'll describe some of them below. But I was > also somewhat surprised by how many flawed entries there > were. Some of them were so lacking in usability that it > only took two or three minutes on the site to come to the > conclusion that they were not award contenders. Some of the > more glaring problems included: > > * There were several Web sites where I had great difficulty > figuring out what the purpose of the Web site was and what > audience it was attempting to serve. > > * In nearly every Web site that I evaluated that had used > frames, they were used in such a manner that significantly > detracted from the experience of visiting the Web site. > Problems included non-intuitive interfaces, slowness, and > windows that were too small to include a significant amount > of useful content on my screen without up/down or > right/left scrolling. In nearly all cases, good Web design > could have accomplished the designer's original objectives > without the need for frames or their associated problems. > > * Lack of respect for a full range of typical users. With > only the rarest of exceptions, a Web site should be designed > to be usable by someone with an older computer over a modem > connection. I recall evaluating a consumer oriented Web > site for a major car manufacturer, and clicking on a link > only to get a surprise message telling me that to view the > link I needed some esoteric plug-in I had never seen before. > After finding and installing the plug-in, I clicked again on > the link only to see a 15-megabyte file start downloading to > my computer. I'm sure the site worked great over the Web > designer's Ethernet with a state-of-the-art computer and > wide-screen display, but for a broad consumer audience this > site was nearly worthless. > > * Splash screens are nearly always an annoyance. A splash > screen is a very low content Web page that serves as a > gateway to a Web site. After a short period of time or > after clicking on the splash page, the Web site visitor > finally gets to the "real home page." Clicking on the > splash screen supposedly gets the Web site visitor > "involved" with the content and interacting with the site. > In reality, these screens are often self-serving monuments > that prevent Web site users from finding what they need > quickly. If you have ever built a Web site with a splash > page and looked at your Web logs to see how many people punt > the site after seeing no useful content on the splash page, > you will never use one again. > > * Web sites that thought they were print or TV ads. Wrong. > This is a very different medium, and needs to be used in > very different ways than print or TV. There were quite a > number of very elaborately produced Web sites that showed a > lack of understanding of how to use the medium to > communicate. Nearly all the sites that fit into this > category were designed by large ad agencies, although there > were a number of well-designed sites from large ad > agencies as well. > > But not all was bad -- there were quite a number of wonderful > Web sites too. One trend I noted was that nearly all the > Web sites that were either for or about an audience under > the age of 15 were very well done. There were two reasons > for this: the Web designers had made a real effort to keep > the design simple; and the Web designers often approached > their subject matter with a great deal of humor. It is a > rare site that would not benefit from an appropriate light > touch or bit of humor in the right place. The lesson > learned from this is that, if you design a Web site so > a 12-year-old will find it easy and enjoyable to navigate, > most everyone else will be okay with it too. Child-test > your Web site. > > Some of the winning sites that were children oriented included: > > Gold Medal for Best Audience Building Campaign > Silver Medal for Best Branding Campaign > The Huggies Web Site > http://www.huggies.com/ > > Gold Medal for Best Interactive Design > The Chevron Toy Cars Web Site > http://www.chevroncars.com/ > > Silver Medal for Best Sales Generation Web Site > Christian Children's Fund USA Organization > http://www.ccfusa.org/ > > Bronze Medal for Best Interactive Design > Cadbury Chocolate: The Land of Cadbury > http://www.cadbury.chocolate.ca/easter > > Bronze Medal for Best Overall Creative Design > The Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory > http://www.wonka.com/ > > There were other sites that came across as extremely well > designed because they consistently conveyed the look, feel > and message of the organization in a way that was attractive, > clear and easy to navigate. Mercedes Benz USA's Web site > ( http://www.mbusa.com/ ), which drove home with the Gold > Medal for Best Overall Creative Design, just reeks of the > kind of class you would expect from Mercedes Benz on each > and every page, and the pages have been optimized to load > quickly in spite of the large graphics used. > > Tektronix' Colorize.com site ( http://www.colorize.com/ ) > won the Silver Medal for Best Overall Creative Design. This > site also creates a strong and consistent visual appeal -- > although the site would have been even better if frames had > been completely avoided. > > Garden.com ( http://www.garden.com/ ) won the "Best of Show" > award along with the Gold Medal for Best Sales Generating > Site. A beautiful site planted on a firm foundation of > attractive design and intuitive navigation, and fertilized > with lots of useful information and solid marketing > strategies. Learn from their success and, as ye sow, so > shall ye reap! > > This ends the ninth report of @d.Tech.Chicago. Stay tuned for a final > in-depth session analysis. > > ====================================================================== > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > This conference coverage is generously underwritten by: > > AdKnowledge makes planning, placing and tracking web advertising easy. > > If the web spells chaos to you when it comes to developing a web media > plan, it's time to check out MarketMatch and SmartBanner from > AdKnowledge. Find out how to automate the entire web advertising > process from pre-planning to billing and everything in between. Gain > control over your campaigns with a single point of contact. Save time > and money with the experience and know-how of AdKnowledge. Contact us > today! > > e-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > phone: 1-800-286-6778 > URL: http://www.adknowledge.com/ > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ====================================================================== > > SUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS > To subscribe to the Online Advertising Discussion List, > Fill out the form at: http://www.o-a.com/ > > UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS > You may leave the Online Advertising Discussion List at > any time by sending an email message with the word UNSUBSCRIBE > (just the word) in the body or content of your message to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > if you get the digest version, and > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > if you get the non-digest version. > > Online Advertising Discussion List > http://www.o-a.com/ > > a publication of The Tenagra Corporation > http://www.tenagra.com/ -- ======================== Kathy E. 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