Site Wars 1:Best Buy vs Futureshop

Today I will be discussing the difference between Bestbuy's and Futureshop's sites.

These two brands are owned by the same company but have two different feels. Futureshop seems to be targeted towards the older demographics and Bestbuy towards the younger. This shows in the colour scheme and designs of the sites, as well of what they name the buttons (Ask for help for Futureshop and Geeksquad for Bestbuy).

I can understand all of the different aspects except for one thing. The user friendliness of the Futureshop site is superior compared to Bestbuys. Best buy's button bar looks better but lets say you want to get something specific like X-Box 360 controllers you would have to click on Xbox's link from the video game bar on the home page, which brings you to the xbox page of Bestbuy and then you would have to click on Xbox controllers. This doesn't seem like a big deal but Futureshop has that option under video games on the home page and brings you directly to that specific page which cuts out that middle step.

I can understand that they are two different target groups (to avoid cannibalization) but the sites should be just as user friendly.

Looks Better On TV

I just saw another pointless japenese car commercial. This time it was not from Hyundai or Kia but Nissan. This comes as a surprise to me since on television it seems to be the only one that has good ads. Whether its the Leaf ads or another car I am usually impressed with their commercials.

But while on msn.com today I saw a rather disappointing ad. It was a standard big box ad in which it showed the Nissan name then cut to text saying "The most----- per dollar of any car in America.", within the blank the text changes between "Technological, leg room, head room", then it changes to a picture of a bunch of peoples heads wearing very odd hats. They then say that this car is innovative give off the idea that the car is for innovators.

I see this ad as trying to sound American and doing a bad job doing so. Instead of trying to change the perception of consumers they should explain why it's better for them.

A car is an important purchase, innovation differientiates a brand. Headroom doesn't seem vital to either of them.

So people obviously know that Nissan is imported and they aren't helping their country out by buying them, but Nissan fails to explain the value of buying their brand by going this route. And more head room and fancy hats isn't that.

Video Game Sites

I was just thinking about how much video games have changed over the years. Since I was a child playing duck hunter, sonic 1 and doom. It's entirely different world.

As I regress I think about the evolution of video game promotions. Before it you could see a trailer on tv or an ad in a comic/magazine for promotions. And after you purchased the game you would have to buy a strategy guide (usually 15-20 dollars) to get extra help and cheats.
The Internet has turned this world upside down. While games have developed!so has the promotions.

They have utilized websites to promote their games from up to two years before the release.
Websites such as the ones for Arkham City and Saints Row have character profiles, community forums and various trailers. This lets people Connect with the games on a whole other level.

Now I only wish they made there sites more iPad friendly and an alternative to flash.

Blown Away by WIND

What's the power of web, interesting interactivec

I was on yahoo.ca before class today when I say a very interesting ad. The ad asked you "What's the power of wind?" and gave you the option to mouse over to find out. I was immediately intrigued so I obviously rolled over. The video was real interesting and well done. The ad was for WINDmobile.ca which is a new brand of mobile carriers.

After just that one ad I felt like I knew the brand more than other brands such as Koodo and Virgin Mobile. I clicked on the link to the site and checked out their plans. They have great plans and a very user friendly website. The only reason I would not consider them at this point is because I'm loyal to the iPhone brand and they don't have that as an option. Still they offer great phones such as blackberries and androids.

This ad shows that rich media if utilized right can be a very effective tool for a brand.

Free Advice

I saw a Mc Donald's ad the other day on some site (can't remember which one) and it was promoting it's free coffee during last week. The ad was a standard big box in which it had several changing texts until it finally said free coffee October 31st to November 6. I cant recall the exact text that was popping up but it was saying it was changing the perception of premium coffee in three blurbs before the offer.
To be completely honest if I wasn't looking for advertisements I would of lost attention before they were able to get the message across.
Today I noticed a net flicks ad on sympatico. All it was was a red background, pictures of movies, text saying "instantly watch movies and tv shows" and the 1 month free trial in a yellow bubble.
This is how the Mc Donald's should of done there ad. Flashy isn't necessarily key to get someone's attention. Show what your offering and give a brief description of your campaign such as "is our coffee as good as other premium ones. Feel free to judge" or something like that (as long as you don't use the word ridiculous)
This is all what net flicks has done over the years and they've been very successful doing so. Even ask Blockbuster.

iPad Experience

After such a long and critical post last week I am going to give the exact opposite today. While checking my professors blog on my iPad 2, I noticed the unique format that Wordpress gives on their website for tablets and smartphones.

The entire sights interface changes to fit these devices. You easily swipe through blog pages as if it was a magazine or something.

Good job Wordpress and blog sites......especially Bloggers.com

It's Funny, the creator should be Charged, and it's Ridiculous

I was searching websites a random to find an ad or link to write a blog about and then I hit yahoo.ca. In a standard big box Chevy showed us how an old fashion attitude doesn’t fit well with a new medium like the internet. 

The big three are known to be notorious when it comes to bad marketing and advertising. Although they have seen to be slowly leaving these old fashion ideals, this ad seems to be just that. 

This big box ad begins with a picture you see with changing copy. From “It’s fun”, to “turbocharged” and finally “Ridiculously fuel efficient turbo engine” before changing into the picture you see in front of you.

Who is their target? There is a hip looking lady on the top of the picture; next to her are a heart, and a speedometer. This is all above the car and a cool looking rainbow coloured wall.

Without the copy this ad seems like it would be targeted towards hi young woman (badly designed towards hip young woman). The copy however makes the car sound cheap and throws off the feminine vibe. “It’s Fun” sounds condescending, “Turbocharged” and “Ridiculously Fuel Efficient” kind of feel contradictory. They are trying to give it a girly vibe and they throw in turbocharge. I can understand it sounding nice with the Sonic name but it’s out of place. Ending with Ridiculously fuel efficient turbo charge engine would be fine after fuel efficient but I don’t think “Turbocharge” belongs in front of the fuel efficient statement. 

The choice of wording for an ad is very important. If someone tried to sell me a car claiming it was fun, I would tell him to quit his job and to go back to school for anything but advertising and marketing. Also I think the word ridiculous is being thrown around too much these days. I understand the angle of using this word but I would only use that word to describe the use of the same word in an ad.

Possible replacements- unbelievably fuel efficient, surprisingly fuel efficient and fuel efficiently fun (the last one a was joke).

When looking at the ad, I thought it was just badly designed, but when actually dissecting the overall target group I believe the only positive factor of this ad is that at least they are using the internet.

I originally wanted to comment on how I would change this ad but I feel that I would have to go to square 1 and actually check out the target market, car information, different design concepts, etc. You know all the stuff they failed to do in this ad.