VIRGIN CLOTHING
If you are still unaware that grey is the new brown, then Virgin’s
stylish clothing site is for you. The site revolves around an assistant,
who creates outfits for the user based on lifestyle statements submitted
- a truly handy application for the sartorially challenged. It also
allows users to send these outfits to their friends - perfect for
subtle, or not so subtle, hints.
However, like many other retailers in this sector, Virgin still hasn’t
overcome the problem of presenting its clothes online. They look dull
and untextured and colours are hard to distinguish - all due to the
limitation of graphics maximised for download times. This is a shame as
virtual quality cannot act as justification for the high prices of the
clothes themselves.
Furthermore, there is no sales operation on the site; when Virgin is
competing with Gap and Diesel, who do sell online, even a partnership
with Freemans, one of its stockists, would add value and utility to its
presence.
CLIENT: Virgin Clothing
BRIEF: Be part of the brand launch, develop a playful brand experience
online and create a platform for possible future e-commerce
CREATED BY: CHBI Razorfish
ADDRESS: www.virgin-clothes.com
FREESERVE
When Freeserve launched a few weeks ago, the Internet industry was
thrown into turmoil. The core proposition of free, unlimited internet
access for a mass audience, distributed in a high-street retailer,
combined with a dedicated site for users provided a compelling
proposition for the mass-market home PC user.
The Freeserve site is a let-down, however. While it is simple and
attractive, the content is severely lacking - commodity news from PA
supplemented by some site reviews - and utility provided by a choice of
Lycos and Scoot. To appeal to mass-market users, you need to handhold
and explain. The site doesn’t do this; it certainly isn’t a true
portal.
Let’s see in six months if Freeserve has created a stronger proposition
online.
CLIENT: Freeserve
BRIEF: Create a portal site which is easy to navigate and makes it easy
to do searches
CREATED BY: Rob Wilmot and Ajaz Ahmed at Freeserve
ADDRESS: www.freeserve.net
EGG
If anyone follows the excellent UK Net Marketing e-mail list (subscribe
at http://www.chinwag.com), you will be aware of the massive discussion
over Egg.com. It is a truly beautifully designed site and its content
does explain this new financial service offering in detail. What irks
me, though, is that the site requires some registration before entering,
and the only visible value the user gets for this is a personalised
welcome message. So as Egg compiles a user database from this which
provides a massive appeal for the marketers, it should be recognised
that the transaction between users and companies has to provide value
for both parties if long-term value is to be achieved.
To its credit, the Egg site is the only one reviewed here that launched
with a banner campaign. The distinctive (eggshell?) green banners were
spotted on MSN.co.uk. Full marks to the Egg team for understanding that
a site when launched needs visitors and therefore needs online
marketing.
CLIENT: Prudential
BRIEF: Reflect the idea of individualisation which runs throughout the
campaign on the net
CREATED BY: HHCL and NoHo Digital
ADDRESS: www.egg.com
BAXTERS
Oh dear. I thought that we had moved on from sites like this. In fact, I
had to check that this site hadn’t been online for three years and never
updated rather than newly launched before this review.
Although the design of the site is questionable, and the content poor,
my main criticism is that the strategy behind the site is shot to
pieces.
With millions of commercial websites now in operation, I question why
users would ever want to visit a soup site. If Baxters’ true ambition is
to conduct e-commerce with a range of hampers online, then it would be
much better off creating online promotions within high traffic sites; in
this case, I would imagine the ex-pat market would be highly
relevant.
So a plea to Baxters and all other fmcg brands - don’t wait for
consumers to come to you online - go to them.
CLIENT: Baxters
BRIEF: To increase the visibility of the visitors’ centre and add an
online element to the existing mail order hamper business
CREATED BY: Venus International
ADDRESS: www.baxters.com
SPECSAVERS
Dollond and Aitchison was first, providing users with PersonalEyes, a
feature that allows you to try different spectacles on a scanned image
of your face. Then came Vision Express with funky Shockwave-facilitated
online sales of sunglasses.
So what does Specsavers offer? Well, nothing in comparison to its two
competitors online. Information on eye care and a shop locator do not a
competitive offering make. If you launch a site months, if not years,
behind your competitors then you have to ensure that your offering has
parity, or at least some added value to distinguish it in the eyes of
the user.
Even the utility offered is poor -- entering my postcode into the shop
locator, ten matches appear, including matches of shops in Epsom, when
my nearest SpecSavers is five minutes down the road in Brixton. Overall,
little utility, no style and substance; competitors must be rubbing
their eyes in amazement.
CLIENT: Specsavers opticians
Brief: Provide a comprehensive reference point for anyone who wears
spectacles or contact lenses
CREATED BY: Fahrenheit 451
ADDRESS: www.specsavers.com.
