The Volkswagen Twitter Zoom

A great example of a live and interactive Twitter campaign from Volkswagen in February this year, to promote their sponsorship of the Planeta Terra Festival. They hid tickets to the festival all over the city, and shared the location with users via a map. The trick was however, that the map (using Google Maps) would only zoom in to reveal the locations based on how many people shared the hashtag #foxatplanetaterra on Twitter :

The campaign was a huge success for Volkswagen, as within 2 hours the hashtag was a trending topic in Brazil – not an easy feat. This campaign also worked because it was incredibly targeted to the right audience. They wanted to promote the festival to local people, and this was achieved by integrating the online element with the real-world treasure hunt. The great thing about this campaign is that it’s a relatively simple mechanic, just done really really well. There was no investment in an expensive app, just a creative an engaging campaign that got people hunting all over the city and engaging with the Volkswagen brand.

Ben and Jerrys Fair Tweets

An excellent , live campaign from Ben and Jerry’s that was recently launched to raise awareness of World Fair Trade Day. The application is run via a microsite that puts all your unused Twitter characters to good use, by filling them out with messages that promote the cause :

The site is incredibly easy to use. You simply type out your tweet as you normally would, and Ben & Jerry’s do the rest for you, populating your tweet with their messages, which decrease the more you write. The good thing about this campaign is that it requires very little from the user. Often you see campaigns that require you to connect with an app, perform a task and then auto-tweet it to promote a good cause, but this is simply fun, quick and quirky and a great way to spread awareness. The concept also resonates with Twitter users because it has such careful consideration of the platform as well. If you’re not going to use the characters yourself, why not virtually donate them to a good cause?

Radioshacks Promoted Tweets

A brilliant example here of a company using Twitter’s new Promoted Tweets product to create an engaging and personalised Twitter experience for people. Radioshack ran their sponsored tweet, asking people to upload a picture of themselves with their hand stretched out, accompanied by the hashtag #ifihadsuperpowers , for the chance to win a prize. At the time of the promotion, users weren’t really aware of why they were doing this, but given the chance to win a prize, people will surely give it a go! What came next was a surprise, as the team behind Radioshack spent the day transforming the photos to individually add a mask and a cape, and tweet the new photo back to the user :

The combination of an interactive campaign and the Promoted Tweets product clearly works for Radioshack, as it’s not the first time they’ve experimented with this. At a conference to discuss their previous Twitter ad campaign, CMO Lee Applbaum claims that the ROI was ‘stratospheric’, with a sponsored tweet receiving 65 million impressions within 24 hours. Though of course a tweet from Lance Armstrong helped as well.

Nestle Live Tweet Ads

A brave campaign from Nestle here, coming as an early example of a brand integrating Twitter into their ad campaign. In 2009, Nestle launched an innovative ad format that served up realtime tweets all across the web. They launched the ad units on different sites, and asked questions related to parenting such as ‘How do you stimulate your child’s mind?’. Users that were logged into Twitter could then fill out these ads directly with their answer. The comments then appeared in the online ads, as well as going into Nestle’s Twitter feed. All the comments were premoderated by Nestle, a fairly crucial part in the success of this campaign. This is one of the only Twitter examples I’ve seen of this kind, with a brand putting it’s ad messaging firmly into the hands of the user. It’s a great example of a company relinquishing control of their brand and deciding to let the their community do the talking. This was also a good example of a fully integrated social media campaign, as users who clicked on the ads instead of populating them with a tweet, were taken to a Youtube channel containing promotional videos, tips and advice on parenting courtesy of Nestle. They can get it right sometimes!

The Jeep Puzzle

An adventurous campaign from Jeep here, courtesy of Leo Burnett Iberia, to promote their latest model. They created the online puzzle using new Twitter profiles, which users had to follow in order to unlock clues. Each Twitter profile was following a further 12 Twitter profiles, that contained a picture clue. Each profile picture was a piece in the puzzle. This was brought back strongly to the Jeep brand, as the images were pictures of scenery only accessible with a Jeep. It might sound a little complex, so check it out in action below :

Now for some this might seem like quite a convoluted campaign, but what I like about this is that it shows a real understanding of the Twitter platform, taking an aspect we would all be familiar with (the layout of profile pictures of who you’re following) and bringing it to life in a new way. As with other examples as well, it shows what’s possible when you get creative and use the Twitter platform functions available to you, in a completely new way to entice your users into engaging with your brand.

Source: Lauren Fisher http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/05/15/successful-twitter-campaigns/

The goal of any web development agency is to deliver a website that not only looks attractive but is also manageable. It seems there are new contenders vying to be the top content management system (CMS) every day. Making it easy to add products, articles and just about anything else is a mandatory development skill today. Inevitably, the question always arises: “Do we download something free and open source, or do we buy a solution?”

Ask developers and they’ll probably explain they have favorites from both realms. However, most marketing execs and decision makers aren’t as familiar with CMSs, let alone quick to name drop their most preferred. Feel overwhelmed or torn by CMS choices? Let’s discuss the pros and cons of developing within both open and closed source systems. And for further direction, let’s scope out the top open and closed source ways to manage content for both ecommerce and general content sites.

Open Source vs. Closed Source

Open source means there are a lot of people working on the software. Plenty of individuals are making sure the code is solid and that the software is easy to use. Documentation is usually easy to find, and there are plenty of people out there writing “how-tos,” which make design and development easier and even fun. You can count on regular updates that are continually improving the product. Open source systems let you see what makes the software tick, and you can often change it to suit your needs. Use this to your advantage when it comes to differentiating yourself from the rest of the pack.

However, because of the popularity of open source systems, many people are familiar with open source code, which creates a higher risk for hacking. If you choose to design in an open source system, your development team is going to need to put time and work into preventing third-party tampering. This difficulty will scale based on many factors such as how many people need to have access to sensitive areas of the site (like the admin panel).

Closed source software usually equates to better security and support. For an ecommerce site, it isn’t necessarily more secure to go with a closed source system, but unlike open source systems, developers don’t have to spend as much time securing code. If a developer runs into any issues in a closed source software, providers are more than happy to offer you support. This is a convenience, because it cuts down on the development time and cost.

Unfortunately with closed source, the barrier to entry is a lot higher. A smaller community means less experience and collective knowledge. This usually equates with much higher costs across the board. You often have to pay for the software or service, and if your support package doesn’t include it, you end up having to pay someone else for their expertise.

Top Open Source CMSs for Product Management

Three of the top open source CMSs for successfully managing ecommerce sites are: Magento, osCommerce and Zen Cart. All three of these CMSs provide well-structured source code, which allows for easier collaboration between developers and designers and an overall smoother workflow. It’s important that developers have access to a rich architecture that makes plugin and extension development a snap, while designers have access to a powerful, templating system.

Top Open Source General Purpose CMSs

It seems that there are hundreds of these out there. With its humble start as a simple blogging platform, WordPress has grown into a full-blown content management system. The community supporting this gem has made it into a powerhouse capable of handling just about anyone’s needs. Some big names are using this CMS: The Wall Street Journal, CNN and Ford, to name a few. Although WordPress has achieved notoriety, both Joomla and Drupal are also big names in the open source general purpose realm. Some of the biggest sites online are built with Joomla (Living Well Magazine) and Drupal (The White House, The Economist). Developers and designers have a number of possibilities when creating websites in WordPress, Joomla or Drupal.

Top Closed Source CMSs for Product Management

If taking the closed source route, it’s usually best to make sure the service offers good, customizable aesthetics. Shopify, Volusion and AspDotNetStorefront are all fully functional and secure storefronts to help developers and designers with creating successful ecommerce sites. Though you can’t peek at the code running your store, you do have access to the powerful templating systems such as “Liquid” (if using Shopify), which allows your imagination to run wild while designing. When using any of these three closed source CMSs, it’s a snap to include custom HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Top Closed Source General Purpose CMSs

Where to begin? Many of the closed source content management systems offer different prices for different needs. There are services out there such as CushyCMS for individuals or small companies with mostly static content, and there are the big kids on the block such as Telerik and Sharepoint that operate on Microsoft’s .NET Framework.

CushyCMS is a designer’s dream as there is no development involved — just standards like HTML, CSS and JavaScript are used. In the case of Telerik and Sharepoint, the .NET Framework and the powerful editor Visual Studio can make developing and designing much easier.

In the end, it all boils down to the abilities of your in-house tech staff and your budget. Many enterprise companies design with open source because they have qualified developers. If you don’t feel that your team is ready to take on extra challenges, then closed source (and its built-in support) may be the best route. Although closed source companies will offer support, they may not always offer you programming support. For instance, they may outsource a job for you. The very best design work is created with confidence, so be sure you’re working with a CMS that you feel secure in.

Source: http://mashable.com/2011/04/05/best-cms-for-business/

The new design brings far more copy than the page used to house in a clear attempt to win more users over. It’s possible that their departure from a low-copy frontpage corresponds with a plateau or drop in usage — minimalist homepages that don’t make much of an attempt to convert the user are generally a sign of confidence in a service’s popularity.

Also interesting is that despite longer copy, there’s absolutely no mention of video, suggesting Flickr has conceded defeat to services like YouTube and Vimeo.

As you’d expect the page still makes use of large photographs, but there’s a clean and modern layout using grey lines and sans-serif text selling users on the site’s main functions — upload, discover and share. There’s also more of a focus on single sign-on through Google and Facebook.

The new release brings a slew of interesting features, including a new theme, a facelift for the Admin UI, new fullscreen composing modes and more.

Also new for WordPress 3.2, Internet Explorer 6 will no longer be supported.
The beta promises speed and performance fixes “like you wouldn’t believe,”

like you wouldn’t believe

a more useful admin bar, and notifications about browser updates. The “distraction-free writing” mode gives users fullscreen composing capabilities for both HTML and visual modes.
The new default theme for WordPress 3.2 is Twenty Eleven. It features rotating header images and post format support, among other goodies.

The Site Speed report tracks the loading time for each page of your site as various visitors access it. Loading time tracking needs to be enabled before Google will start to collect the numbers, but this will prove very useful to those trying to identify and solve performance problems with their site or server.

Google has prepared a custom report that takes advantage of Site Speed statistics. If you click on this link, that report will be set up for the currently active site in your Analytics account.

Automattic, parent company of WordPress.com, just flipped the switch on a new feature that transforms WordPress.com blogs into app-like destinations optimized for tablets. The company says it worked closely with NYC-based startup Onswipe to to create a whole new blog consumption experience for the iPad. Onswipe provides publishers with simple tools to create tablet-optimized websites.

“Our iPad-optimized view is app-like in its functionality, but pure HTML5 goodness on the backend,” said WordPress’s Nick Momrik in a blog post announcing the new feature. “It supports touch interactions, swiping, rotation and many other features of the iPad.”

The iPad-optimized blogs have a module interface, making it easy for publishers to switch up the look and feel of their websites. The WordPress.com Dashboard now includes options to change fonts, create personalized covers and change skins. The iPad optimization feature is also available as a WordPress plugin for anybody who runs a self-hosted WordPress.org blog.

“The iPad provides a ton of new opportunities for readers to experience the web and focus in on what matters: the content itself, while making use of what’s possible now with swipe gestures,” Onswipe CEO Jason Baptiste told Mashable. “Automattic powers over 18 million sites and believes in the open web, so it was a great place to start showing the benefit of the web over native apps.”

What do you think of the new iPad-optimized websites? Do you intend to create a tablet version of your WordPress blog? Let us know in the comments.

Source: http://mashable.com/2011/03/23/18-million-wordpress-websites-now-available-in-ipad-format/

Remarkable designs are very creative and push towards the extreme limits of conventional (e.g. safe) designs. They’re distinguished, and they make memorable positive impressions on the people that see them.

But how much is too much?

Keeping your visual design simple yet memorable is a challenge, but a challenge that you must be able to negotiate when it comes to creating usable designs.

The graphics you use should be able to illustrate, inform and aid the readers.

To improve the aesthetics of your interface, use white space to visually organize the page. Grouping related design elements and separating distinct elements can aid users in quickly finding the set of information they’re interested in.

The graphics you use should be able to illustrate, inform and aid the readers. Visual clutter should be avoided, and every visual element on your interface should serve a purpose.

In the following example, you can see how Bigo & Twigetti arranges visual elements by spacing them out and making them purposeful as visual cues as to what the website is about.

2. Dynamic feedback

Do you ever get bored of the standard static site feedback (the ones that appear after you’ve filled out your web form, for example)? I do.

Today’s web interfaces are evolving in such a way that you don’t know what to expect when you get to a website. I like the experience where my actions provide a unique response. Appropriate and dynamic feedback gives users an immersive and interesting user experience.

Over at Sergey Tyukanvo’s online gallery, feedback is based on the real world. Users will be more likely to relate to your website if physical analogies and cultural standards are utilized.

3. Information architecture

If a user can’t find what he/she wants in as few clicks as possible, they’ll leave. Use metaphors that are easy to identify with. Navigation should come naturally to the user. Controls should be highly visible.

It should be obvious to the user what his/her actions should be on your website, making retrieving information a smooth process. Check out the Coca-Cola site: it’s arranged in a manner that makes it easy to find the information you likely want to know.

4. Constraints

By definition, constraints mean restricting possible actions that can be performed. Another way of looking at it is giving users more control over possible actions that can be performed; a classic half-empty versus half-full glass scenario. That way, they feel like they’ve achieved something.

John Ruppel’s portfolio is a unique example. The options menu allows users to filter between interface styles, backgrounds and categories in a totally efficient manner. Users are, thus, motivated to learn more about these various options they have control over.

Source: http://sixrevisions.com/usabilityaccessibility/four-aspects-of-a-usable-modern-web-interface/