RE: UKNM: Re: Amazon.com

[Vincent O'Keeffe]

 > Plllleaaasssseee....it's no good getting the brand values 

 > right if no one 

 > can use it.  In my experience there are an awful lot of 

 > people on the tech 

 > side who claim to know what they are doing but not nearly 

 > enough of them 

 > actually do!  Unfortunately the "brand value" folk often have 

 > to take what 

 > the techies give them at face value because there is no way 

 > to double check 

 > it.

 > 


To re-cycle a post I made to a discussion group on this issue...


I keep coming across this situation with branding - usually from earnest

marketing types (intended offence to anyone here fitting that bill - you

need to wake up). How we need to 'maintain the integrity of the brand' on

the web site. This usually translates to the request/command 'We want to

bring our branding across in the design.' And this is where they make a huge

erroneous leap of logic. 


They believe that by prominently displaying their logo and colours all over

the place, and adopting the same "We're committed to delivering quality

customer care solutions..." drivel that they have on their brochure, that

they are, indeed, maintaining the integrity of the brand. 


On the web, the experience your user has, is the brand. For most users, it's

the only interaction they have with your company and therefore the only

medium through which they perceive your brand - the collection of values,

emotions and promises that you stand for. 


In this instance, distinctive design or 'branding' really is over-rated. I

*don't care* that you look like someone else. I *don't care* if you're

completely focused on serving the needs of our customers'. What I do care

about is the overall experience I have on your site. Is it useful to me. Is

it easy-to-use? Do I trust you? Do you return my e-mails promptly? Do I want

to continue giving you my attention?


I've never talked to anyone from Amazon.com. I've never stood in their plush

foyer, or listened to the polished tones of their receptionist or lusted

after the flash cars of their attractive sales people. But I like what their

website communicates to me about them. 


Yahoo, in particular, is an interesting case. One of the most horribly bland

sites on the Net. I have no feeling whatsoever about what Yahoo 'means' to

me but, as Yoshi Sodeoka - Art Director of ultra-hip Word.com - said

recently, Yahoo takes him to whatever he wants within 10 seconds. Incredibly

effective. 


As an aside, read, http://www.word.com/yhome/artdirector11500.html for a

letter from Yoshi examining the role of the designer in today's web and

explaining why he was changing Word's cutting-edge design to mimic Yahoo's.

Astonishing stuff.


Your site - functionality, ease of use, tone of content, design, and, above

all, the value you've put in place to make me choose to interact with you at

all, are your brand. 


If your content talks to me like I'm Ozzie and Harriet, simply because you

were too lazy to re-write your brochure for the web, I'll associate your

brand with arrogance and laziness. 


If your site design is slow, difficult to interact with and of no real value

to me, then that's what I'm going to think of your brand. 


One of the coolest things about doing usability testing, is watching user

after user scroll past reams of marketing fluff on the way to the

information that they actually want. It cracks me up. Some users, you could

put up a huge flashing graphic saying "Read this or your head will explode!"

and they'll completely ignore it on the way to the link that they're looking

for. All of that lovely 'branding' ends up on the digital cutting room

floor.


It's a Darwinian struggle out there, and if these companies want to sire

lame, blind runts of sites, let them. They'll learn soon enough that there

are 11 million other sites out there fighting for their customers'

attention.


Cheers,

Vincent O' Keeffe 



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