Category Archives: Design

Design

The Website Microsite

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Categories: Design Marketing

The “Microsite” is becoming recognized as a part of a website dedicated to a specific subject. It is a separate section or a separate website, sometimes with its own domain name.  Microsites are set apart in that they have a rich media component like video, flash, or audio.

A new concept developing over the last year or two, it is now the subject of more research. One such study among marketers finds that the Mircosite is being used as much as video in specialized pitches, product demos and other short term information. This is somewhat surprising as online video has been well excepted among both marketers and buyers.

RedFusion Media builds Microsites generally for specialized media and subject. Examples include online personalities that guide the user through filling a form, or making an online sales pitch. This is particularly effective as the video can be both the demonstrator and closer. Additional questions can be referred to a FAQ section, technical specifications section or any possible objection to the close.

Our experience shows increased completion of forms and signups for service. Microsites, while not really very different from the Website, may become another hot trend, in that it is a way to work on a specific subject in an intense way without effecting the general Website. Microsites can also be built by outside vendors for larger corporate Websites without engaging the webmaster for creative, a task that most marketers find compelling to get the product they envision.

See http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006226 for the full article.

Personal Identifiable Information on your Website.

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Categories: Design

Online Privacy Protection Act, California Business and Professions Code Section 22575-22579

If your web site or online service collects personally identifiable information about individual consumers who are residents of California, you must comply with the California Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003, which became effective July 1, 2004.

Personally identifiable information includes first and last name, home or other physical address, e-mail address, telephone number, social security number, and any other indentifiers that permit the individual to be contacted.

Compliance with the Online Privacy Protection Act means conspicuously posting a privacy policy on the site that identifies categories of personally identifiable information your company collects; describes the process by which consumers can review and request changes to personally identifiable information collected by your company, if the feature is made available to consumers; describes categories of third parties with which your company shares personally identifiable information; discloses the process by which your company notifies consumers of material changes in the privacy policy; and displays the effective date of the policy.

Information is �conspicuously posted if it appears prominently on the home page or if it is directly linked to the home page by an icon that contains the word “privacy” and uses a color that contrasts with the background. It is also acceptable to use hypertext link that includes the word �privacy� and is written in capital letters equal to or greater size than the surrounding text, or is otherwise readily distinguishable from the surrounding text on the home page.

The operator is deemed to be in violation of this law if it fails to post policy within 30 days of notification on noncompliance. The law does not set forth specific remedies, but could be sued under California�s Unfair Competition Law.

So, if you collect ANY of this information:

  • First and last name
  • Home or other physical address
  • E-mail address
  • Telephone number
  • Social Security number
  • Other indentifiers that permit the individual to be contacted

contact us to help place a Privacy Policy on your site.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=bpc&group=22001-23000&file=22575-22579

Aesthetics and Design

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Categories: Design

Aristotle observed that, “It all starts with the eye.”

Every time a buyer makes a decision, it is a multi-sensory experience. Aristotle observed that, “It all starts with the eye.” Meaning that before we process information about a product, determine the integrity of the salesman , or considering the price , we take in environmental stimuli. The old saying “you only have one chance to make a first impression,” re-states Aristotle’s maxim.

A book by Alex Simonson and Bernd Schmitt, Marketing Aesthetics, The Strategic Management of Brands, Identity, and Image, raises the ante on product and corporate image. The notion that corporate image is important is not new to many. However, Schmitt and Simonson show how the aesthetics of company and product in fact are crucial to the highest levels of success. If you as a business executive or owner have ever had doubts about your budget for corporate image, instruction booklet graphics, product labeling, or lobby design, this book makes a case for even the most tight fisted controller to embrace.

The total aesthetics and design supporting product positioning are clearly the major differentiation between you and your competitor’s products. Assuming the quality and service are appropriate for the market positioning, the aesthetics complete the sale. “Aesthetics offers strong, multiple, specific, and tangible benefits to organizations,” according to Marketing Aesthetics.

These assets include:

  • Loyalty, the experience is one of the major “satisfiers” to the buyer.
  • Premium Pricing—Due to aesthetics, the perceived value is increased by properly positioned products. Aesthetics cut through information clutter—with thousands of images daily bombarding our lives, only the best are remembered.
  • Aesthetics build bonds with customers that protect against competitive attack.
  • Increased employee satisfaction and longevity. Comprehensive aesthetic marketing includes buildings, work spaces, correspondence and transportation. Employees are more efficient, and can be tougher to lure away by competitors.

These are concrete and monetary benefits which cannot be explained on a financial statement. Yet hundreds of companies know that the aesthetic benefits are real and carefully craft entire companies around a careful conceived aesthetic concept.

Marketing “all starts with the eye,” but ends with the ear, the nose , emotion, touch, and finally the dollar. In a market place crowded with products, and customers that are sophisticated, the higher degree of image is the aesthetic one. It’s a vital strategic edge in creating perceived value.

Ronald Burgess – 10/2002

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Redlands, CA 92373
www.RedFusionMedia.com

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