More importantly for the brand is the lack of any social integration. Absolutely crazy. There is a tiny ‘Email a friend’ option. Which let’s face it, how many friends emails can you remember off the top of your head? Probably about the same amount of friends mobile numbers – not many. There was/ is a real opportunity to integrate some great social features as being ill is now a social broadcast – how many Facebook status say “I’m home unwell “? Boots could and can jump on this with some great integration.  As an employer I know I’d be happy to post a few remedies and links to an employees wall. I also have many friends who need encouragement to stop smoking – what about letting me share this content with them, or encouraging tweets, or even announcing I’m quitting (I don’t smoke BTW) via the Boots tools and getting loads of positive encouragement from my peers.  The list is nearly endless of the amount of ways this content can and should be socially integrated. Hopefully Boots or the agency behind it will wake up and small the social Lemsip.

Welcome to Boots WebMD

Our brand new website combines years of Boots expertise with comprehensive health information from WebMD; one of the leading online healthcare resources; plus NHS Choices and the British Medical Journal. With content reviewed by doctors and Boots healthcare professionals, you’ll find reliable information to help you look after your health, available 24 hours a day.

virtual window shopping at Amazon

The saying is that everything comes full circle, eventually. Fitting then that Amazon, the company that effectively killed the idea of window shopping (or took it to the nth level depending on your viewpoint) have released a new beta site called Windowshop.

Use your arrow keys to pick a genre, and then space bar to zoom in and watch the video content. It’s fun, well made but ultimately just a gimmick. A nice add on might have been a hook up with your amazon account, add to wishlist, etc. Still time for these add-ons though as it is a beta, though one wonders if it will ever leave beta or is it just a nice little bit of PR?

This design would never work in print - so why should it work online?

It’s an odd thing – that the venerable Design Week should display catastrophic design as exampled by its own web site.

Yes, I know we should be used to ‘odd’ things. Like believing the design industry would come together with one voice and say ‘no’ to free pitching and/or having done so actually enact it. Or, expecting to win a Design Week Award when you’re not one of the judges – but I digress.

Design Week has for years paraded itself as a venerable voice piece for the creative industries – graphic designers, interior designers, product designers and alike – clearly this has not extended to web designers. Simply put, the Design Week layout is a cacophony of rubbish. Please somebody tell me where to look first.

Many years ago, there was an expression which in deed was a belief; ‘no white space’. It was an archaic doctrine carved out of an ethos that space was money – so fill it up! Mainly demonstrated with ads and of course before colour magazines and newspapers. Subsequently, the battle for visual hierarchy was designed around type size and layout and in an odd way, whilst busy, was at least readable. However, ‘no white space’ on DW web site means a jumble of differing text, boxes of confused information, masses of jarring colour, various moving objects and neon-type flashes.

Maybe I’ve missed the point? Is it an attempt at the perfect example of extremely bad web design? Ah! I see. Forgive me for being misguided.

Don’t believe me? Click onto Design Week, whenever you like – go on. It makes no difference when. It’s rubbish now and most likely will be later.

Come on Design Week, lead the way – design well not design weak.

—

Oops… no profile set up for Carl yet. So credit for this post goes here:
Thanks to Neoco’s Senior Brand Strategist Carl Sims (profile coming soon mate!)

If you’re short of a website, and have eight hours to spare, and $10 then apparently you too can join the online revolution. At least you can according to Vauhini Vara of the Wall Street Journal.

It’s easy to make a website, Ms. Vara explains. All you need is a homepage, an “About” page and a “Contact” page. To improve the design of your site all you need is some “HTML programming code”. You don’t even need any skills to do that! “All you need to know is that a block of HTML — essentially, a bunch of gobbledygook words and symbols — can add extra features to your site.” “Wow”, I can hear you say, “give me some of those features!”. Ms. Vara suggests simply grabbing some “handy HTML blocks” and popping them on your site, “as easily as copying and pasting text in Microsoft Word.

I always find these kind of articles fascinating. Is it only the field of IT that has this blind enthusiasm? I’ve never heard anyone suggesting that “you too could be a dentist”. Surely given a pair of pliers and a Dremel Multi drill I too could be a dentist?

I think the sooner people stop thinking they can make a website using Microsoft Word the better. But maybe I’m just being elitist.

duck and cover artwork from the old nuclear bomb warnings... yes, the Government advice was to Duck and Cover

Duck and Cover have recently re-focused their branding, which now has a modern and industrial focus. The website redesign will incorporate this within the look and feel, whilst also implementing a community focused concept that we have developed – building a community and lifestyle around the Duck and Cover brand. The site will be enhanced by a raft of ‘2.0′ functionality including a YouTube channel, Flickr book, Twitter feeds, social bookmarking and more.

The site will re-launch with its new Neoco design in Sept ’08, to coincide with the launch of their autumn/winter range ‘08. We will be sure to keep you posted when it’s live so you can take a look! And keep checking back because this is one site that is really going to evolve.

duck and cover logo - the current one

The pitch win means Neoco will be working with Duck and Cover on seasonal campaigns for the remainder of 2008 and throughout 2009, including the evolution and launch of their Flagship retail store in the next 12 months, delivered by Me, Him & Her. Future projects will include a B2B customer site with stock re-ordering functionality and a B2C viral campaign, so watch this space for more info on these…

Whilst looking for somewhere to live in London (that offers more than one bedroom for less than £1 million pounds and therefore is affordable on the income of someone who doesn’t own an Arab state’s oil reserves) I recently stumbled upon probably the best property website – Nestoria.

Nestoria is a website along the same lines as rightmove.com and FindaProperty.com – lots of properties brought together by one website. Where it differs is in the implementation of this idea. In my mind, Nestoria is how you would build a website to search for property if you really sat down and thought about it.

Borrowing heavily from Google, Nestoria has a number of features that make it stand out from the crowd:

• Uncluttered entry point
  Using the classic Google-style search page, Nestoria keeps the homepage simple. Everything is focussed on the one job at hand – identifying what you’re looking for.
• Intuitive functionality
  Start typing and a list of possible towns and areas appear. Sliders to pick minimum and maximum price as well as number of bedrooms. The whole site is filled with small features like this that make it very easy to use.
• API
  Again, taking the lead from Google, Nestoria offer an API to allow other developers to use the core engine. This feature in itself could well be the key to success – just look at the success of the Google maps API, used widely on the Internet (and on this site!)
• Cutting edge
  Nestoria provide not only an RSS feed of properties but also a geographically-focussed KML feed. The look and feel of the site is slick and technology is well used to improve the user experience. There’s even a Facebook app (although I’m not 100% convinced it has any purpose!)

It is interesting to see just how focussed the site is on the single job of finding property. There are no real details of any of the properties (pictures, floor plans etc..), it simply links off to other websites for these details.

The website is all about locating a property in an area, and finding out about that area. This is where Nestoria excels, providing information on census, local government, fire, health, parking, schools, shops, tax, transport and even photos of the area – everything you could need to know to get a feel for an area.

If there are any downsides it is perhaps that you can’t look at any photos of the houses (usually the one quick thing that gives me a thumbs up or thumbs down). And maybe the name “Nestoria”!

Overall a well executed property search engine… and I’m off to find a house!

Friday means Fish & Chips. A great British lunch if ever there was one (it’s no doubt one of the few). We enjoy our team lunches at neoco. Some of us eat faster and more than others, which has lead to several conversations about an eating content… I think the unofficial record is set at 10 McDonalds cheese burgers. Is it immature or wasteful to eat like this? Maybe. Or we could stuff a load of food, then undertake physical activity until we puke, and then make an online TV show/ website about it… is that more immature and wasteful?

You should have already seen the last few years of Coke’s activity; from an explosion of colour and images flowing from the iconic bottle silhouette to the Grand Theft Auto inspired advert, where the ‘bad’ guy goes around town doing good things (check out the images and movie below). These are all part of Coca Cola’s most recent strategic direction called ‘Coke side of life’. The idea being that anything can happen in the Coke side of life. Not a million miles from Dr Pepper’s ‘What’s the worst that can happen’ but as you shall see from reading on, the implementation is indeed a million miles ahead of Dr Pepper’s proposition.

Coke side of life press adverts

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wt5FiZQrgM]

Coke ‘Grand Theft Auto’ inspired advert

Jonathan assured us that the ‘Coke side of life’ campaign had been very successful but was just the beginning as Coke looked to transform their creative thinking and advertising/ marketing with the evolution of ‘Trans-media Storytelling’. Oh dear, another marketing approach to learn, but thankfully this one is actually quite easy and only has three parts:

1. Trans-media Storytelling is about extending an ad or entertainment property across multiple touchpoints.
2. Trans-media Storytelling is narrative driven, so in that respect, the idea/ solution never ages.
3. Trans-media Storytelling requires significant initial investment but generates real money

The astute reader at this point will notice some striking similarities with Branded Entertainment but trust me, there is a difference. And whilst Jonathan himself was quick to point out that Coke are fully on the Trans-media Storytelling side, I think I’ll use examples from Coke to illustrate both points.

Branded Entertainment essentially piggybacks an entertainment property or story to marry the audience to it’s own mythology. In the US, Coke is very prominent in the American Idol series. This is very much branded entertainment, marrying one of the most iconic American brands with the (currently) most iconic American dream. Coke presents special ‘behind the scenes’ footage, Coke cup contests and much more besides. This is all very successful for Coca Cola and looks like a partnership set to continue. But this is branded entertainment. There is nothing particular that Coke are doing here that would be out of place with a number of other American superbrands. One irony I love is that Simon Cowell probably has the whitest teeth in the world and is promoting a drink that can dissolve an immersed tooth overnight – if you believe the urban legend!

The American Idol judges – with their Coke cups

Relaxing with Ryan on the ever subtle Coke couch

Trans-media Storytelling is different. Trans-media Storytelling builds a brand mythology without piggybacking an existing entertainment property or story. In Trans-media Storytelling there is no difference between the story and the brand. They are so richly entwined that they cannot be viewed separately. Coke’s latest campaign is a fantastic example of this, and one which you should of already seen in some form or another…

Happiness Factory is an advert about what happens inside a vending machine when you purchase a Coke. The premise started on the ‘Coke side of life’ before evolving in to the magical ‘story’ it is today. But there is so much more to come. If you have not seen the advert for Happiness Factory then check out the video below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1NnyE6DDnQ]

Original Happiness Factory advert

The great thing about this property is that Jonathan and the team did not stop there. They applied the properties of Trans-media Storytelling to take this story to the next level as a major piece of consumer entertainment. First, let’s look at what those Trans-media Storytelling properties are:

• An immersive world – with a past, present and future
• Involving characters
• Compelling story arc
• Timeless theme
• Multiple access points
• Loyal fanbase

Second, let’s think about what major consumer entertainment project would help them realise the full potential of this story. That’s right… Coke are making a movie! They have set out their vision over the next 5-10 years and looked at how they can really deliver a unique Trans-media Storytelling experience to their audience – potential and existing. The story is about what happens when the vending machine runs out of Coke. A tale of one worker, chosen from the masses, who must face the odds and find the source of the ‘Coke from the sky’. Of course, he will save the day and along the way meet some wonderful characters. This story was packaged as a second advert but there is a trailer version also for the forthcoming move. Check out the advert below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAP0RHyUFH0]

Second Happiness Factory advert

So what are the thoughts on Trans-media Storytelling? My feeling is that it is a great new direction for creative in advertising and marketing but the sheer size of projects mean that it will remain something for the elite few who can bankroll such grand designs. Based on the stats that Jonathan was throwing my way there is no doubt that it has proved extremely successful for Coke already – and it sounds like there are still 10 years to run on this thing! When done right (as appears to be the case in Happiness Factory) it also opens up a wealth of touch points to reach new consumers – as in merchandising, music and much more.

You can go to the Happiness Factory website and immerse yourself in the story and a rich experience – but be warned that content varies across different territories and even on a good broadband connection you are going to spend way too much time looking at loading screens.

My only concern for the whole thing, and this is directed at this specific story and brand, is that Happiness Factory is extremely child friendly and something cynical inside me can’t help but feel this is a resourceful way to get around the whole ‘marketing high sugar/ fat products to children’ issue. Though that is a discussion for another day. For now let’s enjoy the wonderful story, production values and wonder who on Earth picked that ugly guy for the second advert!

The new website will see a whole bunch of new features from day one but a program of development ensures that there will be some cool stuff being added each month. Don’t worry, the blog will remain – well, we couldn’t lose our little soapbox could we?

The case studies section has gone through a major overhaul and now has client quotes and pulled out stats. We have API’s, social bookmarking and more besides.

The most important thing for us though is the new visual design that it will bring with it. It’s different. Very different. But very ‘us’.

Check out the very small sneaky peek image and then go to our existing homepage and watch the seconds (minutes, hours, days) count down.

This article was flagged up by Jim Sterne’s twitter: http://www.wdfm.com/marketing-tips/jim-sterne.php

It’s a really nice and simple ‘top 10′ list of things that you must measure on your website.

The key advice from the article is that investing more in your website without measuring how well it’s working is simply gambling’. You should ‘Set goals. Make changes. Track results. Repeat. Those are the instructions for a bigger, better, faster, stronger website’.

Why not do a health check yourself?