Perfected Pixels Blog

Twitter for Business

2009-09-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Twitter is successfully being used from pop culture icons, well known athletes, businesses to every day folks. But what is to say for twitters true usage rate? There are around 6 Million users that have signed up for twitter as of August of this year. This equates to 3.8 of all internet usage. So what does that mean for you?

Twitter is expected to at least double within a year to an estimated 12.1 Million users. For brands to understand this power and available accessibility, it is at the least, very powerful. This mean "brands", you have the opportunity to search a database of millions of users and find out if they are talking about your company, service, product. If customers have issue with your service, believe me, they will tell the world. Stop the fire before it catches on and show how responsive your company is to it's customers.

What about using twitter for business? A novel idea, perhaps. Out of 6 Million people, someone is interested in your product or service. Send DM's to your people on your twitter list and let me know how successful this is for you. We want to know what kind of success you are having with any tips we are planning to give weekly. Our blog is not a daily blog. We will report on the most important information relating to digital marketing, iPhone marketing and social media tips.

Let me know how this works for you.

PPMG Featured in Fuel Your Branding

2009-09-11T00:37:00.000-07:00

Fuel Your Branding is a great online magazine about branding and design. We were recently interviewed by them talking about using digital media to enhance your brand. Here's an excerpt:

"FYB: What about when the CEO wants to to see the numbers?
Jason: The problem with brand marketing on the web is that people want ROI. They want to see clicks that lead to conversions. It’s incredibly hard to quantify. Everyone wants a million hits on YouTube. Anything less is somehow not acceptable. They immediately want high traffic and what they often get is a slow curve of overall acceptance and awareness.

There is a choice every company makes; to be a direct marketing company or a branded company. If you want to be a branded company that does direct marketing you can. But you can’t be a direct marketing company that attempts branding. The brand has to come first."

Read the full article here: http://www.fuelyourbranding.com/brand-builder-perfect-pixels

On a related note, we also received a mention in Techvibes in regards to our new partnership with a great dev house, Appnovation.

Trusted Places : Social Media in Europe

2009-09-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

Trusted Places is a community website based in the United Kingdom. It is a forum for user-generated reviews of neighborhood pubs, services, and restaurants. Trusted Places came to Perfect Pixels Media Group because of our expertise in Social Media and Branding in order to help Trusted Places create a better user experience overall.

PPMG first spent time in a discovery phase where we came to understand Trusted Places’ audience, business goals, and the competitive space. From this we were able to work from an informed basis and we were able to effectively evaluate the registration process, create a refined information architecture, recommend A/B testing, and extend the brand.

We first engaged creating in a moodboard. This excellent tool allowed us to show Trusted Places a visual language that would articulate the brand going forward. Trusted Places readily bought into our vision because the Discovery phase allowed us to quickly show Trusted Places’ value through images, iconography and recommended messaging. From the moodboard, we were able to tweak the logo in a way that users would still relate to the old branding, but would emotionally connect with the new direction. This was also a basis for the design, value proposition, and message extensions.

PPMG is always cognizant of our clients’ budgets. In the spirit of offering the most value for the least amount of money to our customers, we suggested a short User Experience Definition phase. This high level study, through simple user flows, allowed us to confirm Trutsted Places core strategic user scenarios. These were based on existing pathways and the desired traffic flow per each business objective. PPMG helped Trusted Places create a larger, strategic view of their key user activities and we were able to propose enhanced user engagement. This exercise saved Trusted Places money because we had a solid base from which to work on the tactical user experience change requests. With a deeper understanding of the site and its users, we were able to make cogent, educated solution suggestions as we continued to work with the Trusted Places stakeholders. Changes during the design phase can be very costly; however, these sorts of targeted deep dives can provide rich information in a short period of time that can then be extended to the remaining phases of the project.

Trusted Places came to PPMG with a myriad of requests. Through the above, PPMG was able to identify that many of the ancillary requests looped back to the registration process. PPMG reviewed this and we were able to recommend email improvements, a more user-friendly and efficient registration flow -- which included the gateways to the registration page, follow-up emails, and the confirmation pages on the site. Our recommendations drove people to register while creating a better experience while doing so. Upon implementation of our recommendations, Trusted Places’ registration numbers went up, and there was higher user engagement and retention. Our research and recommendations also created a roadmap for PPMG to solve the ancillary requests of Trusted Places more efficiently.

The groundwork had been laid for an efficient re-architecting and redesign of the Home Page, the My Trusted Places page, and the Place Page. We worked to up the conversion opportunities, clarify the value proposition while driving registration and user-engagement. We also created a virtual “black book” experience for the registered Member. Users became much more aware of existing features and our changes drove usage, engagement, and stickiness.

PPMG is known for its holistic approach in helping its clients solve their new-media issues. We work closely with all of our clients to ensure their best interests are at the forefront. The layman may not initially understand the value of high-level studies and deep dives, but they ultimately pay for themselves in cost savings. PPMG works to base all of our recommendations and designs on the client’s strategy, business goals, and user profiles. Making something pretty has no value if it is not driving the significance of the brand while presenting information in a consumable manner.

Earthly Inspiration

2009-08-27T00:09:00.000-07:00

We are regularly asked where we get inspired for creativity. For us, it can come from anything. A painting, an innovative design, architecture, or just a stunning view. A latest source of inspiration has come from some satellite photos we came across of the locations across the earth. They are magnificent pieces of art in their own right. The color combinations, textures and negative space are all elements to draw upon in design. You can view the entire set of photos here at Environmental Graffiti. Here are four favorites that represent their beauty from space of the terrain, as they are completely different perspective and experience from the ground eye view of those same locations. Feel free to click on them for hi-res versions.

Shifting Sand of the Terkezi Oasis, Chad
Kalahari Desert, Namibia
Under Water Ocean Sands, Bahamas

Farms in Garden City, Kansas, USA

Three Steps to marketing your iPhone app.

2009-08-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

You've heard the news, seen the commercials and now you are excited to get started creating an iPhone application for your brand. Now you find yourself asking how do I get started?

First: You must establish a direction for your "new creation", are you going with a brand driven application, or an application "brought to you by" your brand? There is a distinct difference and value for both.

Second: Pricing matters in the competitive iPhone market. 0.99cents is the most common, $1.99 is a growing starting point. Here are a couple of strategies used by iPhone Developers

Strategy "Lite Version": If you believe that your app has the legs to crawl out ontop, then you may want to consider creating two versions of your application, a "lite and full version". Offer the lite version for FREE and with the right app, your user base will climb. The extended full version needs to also be available at the same time. This way, you allow the user to play one level or two, get them excited to download the full version, all within the app.

Strategy "Price it and then Promote the drop": You price out your app at say $1.99 or $2.99 and then run a special promotion for a price drop after you believe your app has hit it's highest point of sales, promote it like crazy as a limited time offer. You will see this happen quite a bit in the app store. But make sure you price it right. Too high can yield low returns. The lite version is a proven method, as it stands today.

Third: Create a microsite, viral campaign, and special twitter promotional that will get your app recognized. Viral Marketing is power!

We would love to help you with your application next steps. If you are interested, please contact jake@perfectpixels.com for details and a marketing evaluation.

PPMG Introduces iPhone & Mobile Phone Development

2009-08-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

PPMG is pleased to announce the introduction of iPhone Application Development and Mobile Strategy as part of the company’s core competencies. Over one billion downloads demonstrates the value, ease of user accessibility and adoption, as well as the huge opportunity our clients have within the app store.

We understand that due to the growing number of applications available, fresh approaches to innovative marketing and product awareness are important. This is why we also offer microsite design and development services to promote each application. Microsites give each product promotional exposure outside of the confines of the app store.

Our team includes 2D and 3D animators and mobile-UI Designers. PPMG is always striving to differentiate our clients’ products with a unique combination of features, strategy, and execution.

We see the tremendous value this new product offering affords our clients and are thrilled to be a part of the growing mobile movement. PPMG exploits this new medium and its capabilities to provide excellence and innovation in all of our iPhone Application design and development.

Review a case study of one of our latest iPhone projects.

iPhone Application Development / Mobile Strategy
. Entertainment and Utility Application Development
. 3D and 2D Animation
. Storyboarding
. Script writing

Features:
. Accelerometer
. Dash-code and X-code
. GPS Maps API
. Streaming Video and Audio
. In Game Voice Use

Jewish Family Service Website Launches

2009-07-24T01:44:00.001-07:00

Jewish Family Service (JFS) of Seattle has deep roots in the Puget Sound area with over 117 years of commitment to the community in the North West. JFS has grown from an agency that provided support to Jewish immigrants to a non-profit organization that services many diverse populations in the Seattle area.

JFS’ website was not adequately presenting the mission, scope, and strategy of JFS. Many of their users couldn’t effectively find the information and support they needed with the old design. JFS came to PPMG with these concerns and we worked very closely with them to solve for their complex situation.

PPMG embarked on two parallel tracks to meet the needs of JFS and its constituents. We entered into a Mood Board process to define the visual language of the site, as well as an Information Architecture phase where we defined the site structure and document taxonomy.

For the Mood Board, PPMG chose images and colors that would represent the various populations that JFS serves, as well as photographs of the founding mothers and shots of the Seattle area. This did several things. It gave JFS the opportunity to discuss and define the high level value of JFS and choose a library of images that would evoke appropriate emotional responses from their users. PPMG worked with JFS to create a visual language that would provoke a feeling trust, community, safety, and show concern. Our goal was to connect viscerally to the needs of the site user.

View the Mood Board here >

The IA phase was challenging because of the complexity of JFS’ offerings. We concluded that the best way to meet all site-interaction scenarios was to have navigation by both persona and by service. This created a difficult puzzle to solve, but we were able to effectively create a structure and navigational system that provided easy, intuitive access to all of JFS’s services in a manner that was easy to use and understand. JFS had ample content per page, so PPMG was able to easily flow the existing information into the new design.

The Mood Board and IA phases worked together to create a cost-efficient design process because all of the elements had been defined at a higher level. Repeated touches to the pages during the design phase was not necessary because consensus had been achieved before that phase started.

Through our collaborative efforts, JFS’s understanding of their audience, and PPMG’s expertise, within the first month of the newly designed site launch:
• Average user time spent on the site increased 81%
• The bounce rate decreased 22%
• Page views increased 54%

JFS had a limited budget, complex needs, and a short time frame. PPMG worked closely with the stakeholders through work sessions and presentations to provide a robust website, as well as a meaningful experience for both the JFS staff and the community that they serve.

View the live site here >

New Advert for Bluephone.com

2009-06-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

BluePhone is a subscription service that provides online and phone support for consumers with computer and device problems. Perfectpixels was hired to create an advert spot to appear as a pre-roll for network webcasts. The objective was looking to create a fun take on their brand while representing the main issues BluePhone customers look to solve.

Our solution was to create a campy, fun and tongue-in-cheek set of characters accompanied with a voice over of an over-the-top announcer. The characters and scenes chosen were based on the personas of typical customers. Part of the advert was to create associated banners you can view here.

The Most Cynical Website So Far

2009-03-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

Skittles.com takes its website with a far more realistic look at itself as an online entity than most other self-promotional product websites; inconsequential. The Skittles website is not really a site, but merely a portal to finding Skittles on other sites. The homepage and product pages are Wikipedia pages. The photos is a Flickr page, the videos section is a YouTube page, the Friends page is a Facebook group page, and the Chat page is a Twitter page.

Skittles is experimenting with the idea that an offline brand exists online elsewhere on other websites and not within its own branded confines. Its profound in a way with either a cynical look at itself, or a clever way to promote Skittles directly to where users may actually be talking about their product- not on skittles.com. Brilliant.

Best iPhone Apps

2009-02-18T23:33:00.000-08:00

The iPhone has thousands of apps and hundreds added every week. The iPhone is unique in not just its breadth, but also the variety in which a user interacts with the device. The API allows you to use standard controls or create custom controls including its ability to detect movement and position. This has created unprecedented freedom for a mobile device developer. Here is a list of the must-haves for any iPhone user.

Vlingo
The best app you can possibly have for the iPhone and is astounding this did not ship standard with the iPhone. You can use voice command for twitter updates, web searches, phone calls and mapping. The importance of an app of this nature since it is converting voice to text is the flexibility to allow the user to make corrections, which this allows you to do by editing the text.

Keynote Remote
One of the great capabilities of the iPhone is its seamlessness to the Mac. This is a must have for any presenter using Keynote as you have control of not only moving the slides, but you can look at slide notes or preview what the following slide will be. I happen to be a wanderer when I present, so an app like this is a life saver.

iTunes Remote
Another Apple provided app that seems almost ridiculous that it doesn't ship with your iPhone. This one allows you to commandeer your computer's iTunes, including volume control.

New York Times
The secret for reading on a handheld device is readability. The New York Times is probably the best paper in the country and having it available and legible while on the go in your hand is worth putting up with the quirks that still need to be worked out with it.

Pandora
As long as you have the 3G version, this is a great utility for music listening. It behaves just like the web app, just a little simpler. The draw back like most iPhone apps is that you cannot have this run in the background.

Classics
Great classics with chapter jumping, bookmarking where you left off, original illustrations and a nifty page turning animation. The cream with brown text makes it easy on your eyes to continue reading on a flight or train ride for long periods of time. They also continue to add to the 18-book library with its free updates.

Yelp
Tell it to locate you and what kind of food you are looking for it will give you all the functionality of the website with a hook into your dialer and the map finder.

i.TV
This app is quite easy to use, especially considering how comprehensive it is. You can view not only what the television schedule is for your particular cable or dish network, but you can also find out movie listings for your area. Using the same panel slide metaphor as the Mac Finder, you can easily select by a genre, location or specific movie to find listings - including booking through the app itself for participating theaters. You can also view previews, view reviews and Tivo shows.

iDicto Recorder
Record notes to yourself and mark them. You can also append to a audio note. The only thing you wish it could do is convert into a text note, but sometimes a dictation tool is just handy enough. The UI has a big fat button to start and stop making it nice and easy.

Wunder Radio
I haven't lived in LA for seven years but aside from friends and sunshine, I miss most KCRW. I can grab it while attached to my computer but having it now available through my iPhone means I can plug into it as well as hundreds of other stations while in my car or on the train. The 3G network is dodgy, so its not reliable to hear for long periods of time while moving, but at least with this app, I can catch Metropolis while driving home. Another great feature it has is a recommender for similar stations.

Easy Writer
For us fat fingered folks, the fact that you can only have a landscape keyboard when in the browser but not in email is maddening. Easy Writer fixes this obvious oversight, but only for new messages rather then also for replies. But at least I can type faster and more reliable when I have the opportunity to start a message screen using this app.

Around Me
The Swiss Army knife of what's around me. Pretty good to have handy when needing a quick idea where to park or the closest pharmacy.

Easy Wi-Fi
Get hooked for free to the wi-fi the next time you are at a Starbucks. Not sure how it does it without the payment normally required, but no UI knowledge necessary. You open it, and it lets you know when you are on.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T03:42:00.001-08:00

We've made a Valentine greeting to boost your spirits up!
http://www.perfectpixels.com/samples/greeting/ppmg_greeting-card.html

PPMG Announces Strategic Partnership with Usability Service

2009-01-26T13:18:00.001-08:00

Perfect Pixels Media Group (PPMG), a web design agency that focuses on branded user experience on the web, and Psychster, Inc., a social psychology and usability consultancy, are pleased to announce a strategic partnership that will offer their clients a holistic solution to user experience that ensures user stickiness and acceptance.

When building websites and online applications, success is dependent upon user acceptance and adoption. When the user can intuitively interact with the site he or she will have a pleasant experience, get the information needed in a non-stressful way, and not only stay on the site, but return.

There is no lack of websites on the internet. Differentiation is key. PPMG and Psychster offer the keys to making a website stand out. We work hand-in-hand to create the most effective user interface that matches up with the strategic goals of the company. From start to finish these two companies offer expertise founded not only on years of experience but also on solid data and user information.

Psychster provides usability studies through a very cost effective, web-based interface. Usability studies give the opportunity to collect deep, individual interview data. The interviews that we conduct will uncover issues, whereas the surveys will show you how common those issues are. A team of PhD level psychologists conducts the usability studies. This gives an added value of looking at user reactions on cognitive, processing, and social levels. This information is then integrated into all levels of the website build, from branding to information architecture to design, to implementation by the senior level team at PPMG. PPMG is all about user experience – both the client’s and the end-user’s. We have a savvy team of experts who have offered integrated solutions for fortune 100 companies, as well as start-ups.

Both companies are agile, work closely with each other and the client, and have a long track record of client satisfaction. Please contact Kate O’Neil at 800.834.9309 x702 for more information.

Pictures from Hurricane Ike

2008-10-02T04:34:00.000-07:00

You can donate here.

6 Sites Proving Color Is Not Dead

2008-09-21T23:59:00.001-07:00

Color usage on the web is commonly compromised and subdued. Using vibrancy and high-contrast in a site design are usually difficult for many clients to be willing to take as risks. Here are six sites which stand out as exceptional examples of the chromatic making a bold and strong statement about their brands.

Radu Ceuca

Refresh the Triangle

WebbliWorld

Breeze
Alisa MTV Russia

Matt Mullenweg

PPMG Announces New UK Design Service

2008-09-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

Perfect Pixels Media Group announced today that they are opening a design and production service focused specifically on businesses in the United Kingdom that are looking to cut costs while not compromising quality. Taking advantage of the weak US dollar, UK companies can now partner with an overseas high-end design studio that is still culturally British in style and tone. Mark Knight of Broadgate PR in London put it this way, "Its like champagne quality at beer prices".

We save costs by utilizing overseas resources in the US making it essentially half-priced. Though based across the pond, our founders are from the London design scene, so we are able to create a branded, user-centered design experience bespoken to the style, sensibilities and substance that is uniquely British. PPMG experience includes top UK brands such as Virgin, Alexander McQueen, BetFair, The National Lottery and Landor.

With the success of our pilot programme providing Information Architecture, Branding and Interface Design for Trusted Places, we are now ready to roll it out to the public. The new Trusted Places design is set to launch later this fall.

A new site and call number are now available for our UK clients:
www.perfectpixels.co.uk
020 7193 1921

For inquiries, you can reach us at knockknock@perfectpixels.co.uk

Working in a Virtual Team (Part Two: Remote Resource Management)

2008-09-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Designers makes for happy clients and even happier PMs. When working in a remote studio situation it is important that the Designer’s personality is taken into consideration just as much as his style and skill set when assigning projects. It is also imperative that the Project Manager knows the capabilities, speed, and expertise of each of her reports. Appropriate designer assignment should have input from the Art Director, but the PM must make sure that the job gets done on time so assigning deliverables based on style can’t be the only consideration. The PM’s job becomes easier the longer she works with designers because she knows what to expect in terms of quality and timeliness. She can then meet their needs while managing the other aspects of the project. Her available pool of designers may also become smaller if designers aren’t up to delivering in a virtual studio environment. A PM can’t afford to have designers on her crew who do not deliver quality work in a timely fashion. A lot of trust is involved when you can’t just walk over to someone’s machine and see what they’re working on. Talent isn’t the only critical element in choosing a virtual staff. Many designers thrive in the virtual studio paradigm but some just aren’t cut out for it. The PM will quickly learn who is a fit and who is not.

It’s important to be clear about the PM’s expectations, the project scope, and to open a dialogue with the designer. Regular check-ins, input, and follow-ups are a good idea. It’s also helpful to have your designers on IM when they are on their machines just in case there are some quick questions or an emergency. Regularly scheduled phone or Skype calls are also helpful. Complex projects may require calls to the designer several times a day. If the designer is in a different time zone, it may be required that the designer and/or the PM shift their workday for a while until the difficult portion of the project is complete. It’s important to tailor the method and frequency of the contact to meet the needs of both the project and the designer. The PM must not only stay in touch with the designers as needed for the project but also to keep the designer informed and feeling like he is meeting the correct expectations.

Team meetings are a wonderful tool when running a project and there are collaboration tools that help facilitate this (such as Campfire). Project-based team meetings make sense in the virtual paradigm but status meetings don’t. It is more cost efficient to do one-on-one’s or meet with the multiple designers assigned to a project (thus encouraging their interaction and idea sharing as well as getting everyone on the same page) rather than having the entire virtual staff sitting around listening to different project reports. In-person meetings are very valuable for team building, but the virtual work environment is not conducive to creating a company-wide team of designers.

Again virtual project management tools such as Basecamp are very helpful for collecting hours and monitoring budget and scope. It’s important to be very clear about the maximum number of hours designers can spend on a project before they start. Encourage them to stay in touch especially if they see a problem with meeting that time constraint. Communication on all levels is important. The PM must be flexible, pay attention, and hone the amount of touch and review to meet the projects’ needs and keep her designers in their comfort zone.

Working in a Virtual Team (Part One: Remote Client Management)

2008-07-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

Increasingly we have been working with remote clients and talent. Because we are international with studios in multiple locations in the United States and Europe, remote project management is a necessity. Virtual project, resource, and client management is a new paradigm that has challenges and requires a new awareness not found when working in the same location together.

Human communication is difficult face-to-face with someone you know well. Communicating via electronic means is more of a challenge. Syntax, tone, frequency, and method of communication play a larger role in the success of the project when using electronic means as your management tools. We find that we must tailor every project not only to the deliverables but also to the client and the resources involved.

A certain amount of psychology is involved:
• You must pay attention to your clients’ needs and comfort levels.
• You must know the strengths and weaknesses of your resources and assign them appropriately.
• You must recognize how often or infrequently to touch the client and in what way.
• It’s important to keep your project management feelers out and pay attention to the voice in your head/feeling in our gut that lets you know how things are going.

In fact, your emotional reactions become your biggest asset when managing virtually. The more removed the client, the more you must rely on your human instincts.

Some clients require more attention than others. Weekly reports and/or phone calls may help keep everyone on the same page. Other clients might do better with the update email and calls only when there are deliverables presented. You can’t have a one-size-fits all approach to remote project management. You must be agile, responsive, and pro-active.

There are certain tools that we use to help keep our communication efficient. Here is a short list of some that we recommend using:
• Conference phone lines
  Budget Conferencing
• Collaboration
  Concept Share
• Project management
  Base Camp
• Screen sharing
  Yuuguu.com
• Video conferencing & int’l calls
  Skype

Even with the advent of these online tools, we try to customize the client experience based on the client need and not just rely on them as a crutch. In summary, keep in mind the following when managing virtually a project:
• Change with the project as it changes to the benefit and with the buy-in of the client.
• Keep the clients’ best interests at the forefront of your interactions, recommendations, and deliverables.
• The ultimate success of the project – serving the financial, business, emotional, and strategic needs of the client – should be the motivating force.

This is not altruism but good business.

Brands live within us as well

2008-07-18T02:15:00.000-07:00

The study done by Duke University found subjects that were flashed subliminally a logo had a different visceral reaction in later tests. When they were asked to do tasks later after being subliminally flashed a logo, their answers were more creative when flashed the Apple logo versus the IBM logo.

This is a fascinating look into the psyche of what we look to achieve with a strong brand. This is because the brand persona does not live within a company, but lives within its customers and those that interact with that brand.

That is why Volvo would never do it because they are a car company, if they ever sold a Volvo car seat, you don't even need to think about it- you know it would be safe. Because that is what they are all about and we as a consumer, viscerally identify with that message.

Photos from BizJam Conference

2008-07-18T01:56:00.001-07:00

VIEW PHOTO ALBUM >

Target Begins Mutualist Message

2008-07-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

Target has begun a new campaign focusing on how it gives back to the community. They are now contributing 5% of their income (averages US $3 million a week) to various causes. They apparently learned their lesson from the debacle in 2004 of banning the Salvation Army from their stores; not-so-ironically one of the non-profits they are now in partnership donating to. The press they received was very destructive and I am sure this metamorphosis of giving back to communities is part of that response.

They also are focusing on creating green construction with energy efficiency, water conservation and recycling materials. They just started their campaign demonstrating their mutualist message and it is getting very positive press as well as providing a differentiation from their competitor Wal-Mart who is seen as an anathema in many communities.

Brand Presentation Part Two at BizJam

2008-07-11T02:10:00.000-07:00

| View

Brand Presentation Part One at BizJam

2008-07-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

| View | Upload your own

You can also download the podcast!
Download the podcast of the presentation here.

The Two Biggest Pitfalls of Startups

2008-06-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

We seem to find that our start-up clients are made up of two sorts. One where the business’ genesis was from a passion for a concept and a clear idea of what the product will be. The other is made up of those that find a hole in the marketplace or a window of opportunity but no real sense of the business itself. Either approach has advantages and disadvantages for creating a web-based business.

Startup Type One: Driven by a passion
Companies founded on passion and clear concept have most of their strategy laid out as a factor of the thought they have already put into the product and how deeply they understand their audience. The problem being is that those that have the passion, but possibly not the business acumen have trouble finding ways to monetize their business.

We have found that many of these businesses will have a great concept with a clear decision process but end up retooling when the customer growth doesn’t come. Another issue that they face is that they are too close to the concept and see themselves as the customer, sometimes missing important opportunities.

Startup Type Two: Driven by dollars
On the other hand, those who have a get-rich idea usually have the income side figured out but not necessarily a viable product. A website alone -- no matter how great the idea is -- will not make a difference to your bottom line unless it is created based on a thought-through product strategy and a significant brand promise (with supporting elements) to which customers can react.

We find that these kinds of startups can spend months moving boxes around without the intuition for which are the best ways forward, since they have no real sense of what the desired user interaction by the target audience actually is.

Getting the best of both worlds
The answer is to meld both. If you are missing a subject matter expert, hire one and make them consult throughout the branding and product development exercises. If you are missing the business acumen, hire someone that can find opportunities to monetize and grow your market. No matter the amount of fiddling, you can’t get there without both.

Ensure you have a solid base to which you can refer when there are business decisions to be made. Companies who have skipped this step always come back to it (if there is any money left) because making decisions on the basis of “that sounds like a good idea” or “people will like that” (without testing) invariably cost a lot of money to develop. This is because multiple iterations are needed to get it right or the mark is missed entirely with one big, expensive push. When there is no core strategy or focus upon which decisions are made, money is burned.

It is imperative that a start-up develop appropriate strategies that involve understanding who the target audience is and what they are all about, as well as how the company is differentiated in the competitive space. This will fuel the Brand strategy and enable the company to present the right face to the customer from the start. The brand can then be fleshed out and a visual language can be created that speaks viscerally to the customer. From the brand identity, messaging can be created to communicate the product benefit, the company ethos, and to connect deeply with the customer. The best money-making idea in the world won’t be worth a dime if your site doesn’t speak to your user. She must know what it’s about, how to use it, and want to come back.

An example of these pitfalls (but made it through the other side) was a recent client of ours, HomeSavvi. When we began working with them, they saw an opportunity to create a market for advertisers who wanted access to people looking to remodel. They had a vague sense of the tools the user would need, but not the actual decision points for what a user would require in order to use their service. The original result before they came to us was a site called Alphabet Lane with a muddled navigation and a disconnected user experience.

We worked with them to help them find the core value of their brand and to create a feature-rich user experience that could grow with their user base. The painful part was that the process to get there because they had to rename, rebrand, rearchitect, and rebuild from scratch- throwing away a very large majority of their original product. To see examples of the process HomeSavvi undertook, you can view it here:

Using Moodboards to define a brand system

2008-06-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

When exploring a brand PPMG recommends the use of a Moodboard which will articulate the brand's visual language, how it's presented, and how it connects with the audience. It is a high-level, over-arching view, exploration and representation of the visceral impact of the brand concept. The Moodboard evokes the emotional, visceral, and user-benefit communication and brand perception elements and delivers it in a way that can be easily digested, extrapolated, and applied in real-world designs.

The Moodboard is a far more cost effective way to discover the brand's visual language than through the design process. Multiple iterations are easily implemented during Moodboard creation and finalization. True creative exploration can occur without costing thousands and thousands of dollars. The deliverable is then a baseline that is available for all subsequent design phases. It is the first step in engendering a communication system with meaning to which the user will become connected.

Moodboards follow the strategic goals of the company and provide a visual base for the identity, design, and the user experience going forward which includes:
* Hooking in the user emotionally
* Presenting the Brand value
* Presenting the message
* Creating the visual language of the company

The realized Moodboard direction can be applied to the entire suite of company communications.

Case in point:
For Alpha Graphics PPMG proposed a brand-forward approach to their website redesign. We put the emphasis on the high-touch customer relationship Alpha Graphics is known for. We extended the brand to be more customer-centric and we created a sub-brand element, Customer Alpha, that married their brand position with their name. We used the Greek alpha symbol to emphasize the direction. "Alpha" means first, so “customer alpha” means “customer first” which is Alphagraphics overarching brand position and promise. We chose this path to convey a powerful message that would distinguish AlphaGraphics as a premier printing service with unparalleled attention to its customers.

This treatment distinguishes AlphaGraphics from its competitors while reinforcing its relationship with its customers. It also speaks directly to AlphaGraphics' audience: Creative Directors, Art Directors, Marketing Directors, and major decision makers. The simplified, strong branding gets the point across that AlphaGraphics understands its audience and knows how to deliver top-quality service and printing products.

View Samples Here:
Moodboard pdf

Homepage Comp

Using an Online Experience to Simplify the Offline One

2008-06-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

Pathable is a new startup that helps to organize and create networking opportunities for conferences and social events. The idea is that a conference or network event organizer uses Pathable for attendees to register.

The attendees can then find people with similar interests by information that appears on the person’s badge as well as browsing on the website and receiving updates on their phone while attending the event. Another feature they are now introducing is to allow organizers to post the event agenda allowing attendees to select which talks to join.

So they came to us with an interesting issue. How do you make an online experience ease the offline one? The answer is to mimic as much as possible how the offline experience works.

As research, I took pictures while attending a conference and what the current experience is. What I noticed was that it’s a very lonely experience. People naturally wanted to find people they already know to network with. They also have a crumpled piece of paper with checkmarks on it for the talks they intended to attend, normally leaving part-way through to see if they were missing something better. When you introduce yourself to someone, they immediately stare at your badge trying to assess and size you up on who you might be and what benefit you may provide.

Pathable can definitely ease these pain points, but the key being that the offline experience overlapped the online one. First, we tried to make the attendee user profile page match the style, colors and layout of the actual badge that one wears at the event. We made mini color-coded versions that were used when listing attendees on other pages to make the color system be uniform through the user experience.

The other key solution was to simplify the process of selecting which talks to attend. Conferences have them organized in different taxonomy structures- by location (room number), by subject matter (Design, Development, Marketing, etc.) or by chronological order (day and time).

It also needs to provide a significant amount of information regarding each talk aside from just the topic and room number- the bio of the speaker, who is attending, the tags associated with the specific talk as well as the subject matter category.

Our solution was to have the summary of information be available at the top level with the room number called out for easier reference when glancing at where to go next with everything else available via rollover. When you click anywhere on a listing, it will mark it for you as attended in a bold red so you can quickly see which ones you flagged. You can also filter your list to eliminate subjects that don’t apply to your interests, making the list more digestible.

The design system then had an additional hurdle- generic but identifiable branding. Sounds strange, I know. The idea was that Pathable wanted the user experience to be branded but can be white labeled for any event without conflicting with the events brand. The solution was to have the style be light on design cues (buttons, boxes, color treatments) but have a stylization that could be recognizable and ownable as Pathable’s.

Check out the comps here