The Brief:

AUTUMN TERM: GROUP MARKETING PROJECT (35%)

The brief will be delivered in detail during the Week 2 lecture on Tuesday 30 September.

Each group will present itself via a live website as an independent media company or digital arts agency/organisation. Whatever form it takes, each group must ‘sell’ its products or services by demonstrating its professionalism and excellence through superior web content and effective marketing, such that it will immediately attract and impress any potential client or visitor to the site. The information presented must be based as far as possible upon actuality, so that you are really demonstrating the combined skills of the members of your group.

You should research as many existing sites as possible, in order to find inspiration and guidance for your own site. You will be expected to reference these sources and any other books/journals/materials and incorporate them in a webography to accompany your site, with annotations explaining why you were drawn to these sites.

You should include the following elements on your website:

·         Original idea for company/agency/organisation

·         Description of same (mission statement)

·         Products/services offered

·         Profiles of individual members

·         Selection of best work (based on course projects) with annotation

·         Compelling images/sound/text

·         Content and form appropriate to such a company/agency/organisation

The Idea

The idea we have come up with for our ‘business’ is a media based company that helps upcoming and relatively unknown businesses get noticed by the masses. The company aims to do this by giving these businesses either a new identity or a brand name re design along with a corporate advertising video and custom web template to their own choosing, also we will provide the optional extra of corporate stationary sets which will include; business cards, compliment slips, letterheads, pens, pads etc…

Possible Company Names:

·         Insentive

·         Reflux

·         Aeon

·         Synergy

·         Niggle

·         Placebo

·         Symmetry

·         Ascention

·         Ameboae

·         Scion

·         Genetic

We had final decided on a name when we discovered that this name Genetic Media already existed as a company. After that we changed the name to Synetic Media, because it followed the same meaning that the other name provided for us and also the domain name was not already taken by a company.

 Research domain names and hosting space!

We went with 1and1.com for our domain name as this was the cheapest. I used my own hosting space with Bluehost.com. 

The Stationary

We researched many different companies for the best price for lot of different product. Although we went with Vista print, because a team member had previous experience using them. The order : 250 business cards with our logo uploaded on them for £8.00. 

Market Research

Things that we I considered when analysing competitor websites:

·         Name

·         Web address

·         Professionalism

·         Navigation

·         What the company does/ services they do?

·         Format of website

·         Layout / size on the browser

·         Colour pallet (eye catching)

·         Informative/ clear

·         Ways clients contact users?

1. Name: Media Solutions

Web address: http://www.mediasolutions.org.uk/web/index.php

At a glance the website looks similar to our own company but they do lack a few things that we are willing to offer our clients. The navigation of their site seems simple to navigate and information can be easily accessed. The services they offer are basic like web design, databases, training, it support and hosting however do not provide clients with other forms of media such as corporate videos, stationary and dedicated logo design.

The website is made from modern methods HTML, CSS, JavaScript. The colours pallet includes a neural blue and white colours, making the website feel clean and bright.

2. Name: 3G Media Solutions:

Web address: http://www.3gmediasolutions.com/contact_us.asp?page_id=35

3G Media Solutions have a nice modern website with some really good looking flash headers too, the use of a bright colour scheme is good to catch the eye of a potential customer but not necessarily make them stay on that web page. Also there is more than one spelling mistake in the website which is not letting customers see a great quality control and attention to detail; our company on the other hand will try our up most not to let this happen on our website. They do have an enquiry box on the contact page and maybe this is something that our website is lacking at the moment, we are going to discuss implementation of this kind of enquiry box on our own.

There type of layout it quite precise using tables to clearly show their companies website content.

3. Name: ADZMedia

Web address: http://www.adzmedia.co.uk/

The company advertises on the home page that it’s a successful advertising agency and offers a lot of services that clients would look to further to explore. These include a wide range of services from Corporate Literature, Corporate Branding, Advertising & PR, Direct Mail, Exhibitions, Logo creation, Brochures, illustrations, web design, content management, search engine optimisation, online marketing and email campaigns.

Their website has an professionalism about it that that attracts me to continue exploring the website as a result of the way they display informative to clients.

Thing learnt: That by having Media in the name, clients can see easily what the company purpose is. Our name should have “media” in the name to follow suit with competitors.

4. Name: Kronik Media

Web address: http://www.kronikmedia.co.uk/

At first notice the company has a clear slogan “Web design company with a difference!”. This was intriguing as it invited me to see what there services were. The company provided many professional web design and software development for small and large businesses. The web design included evidence of excellence for there Website Design, Ecommerce and Search engine marketing. There main message was that they provided affordable web design solutions for there customers.

Things learnt: A slogan would be useful on our company website.

5. Name: Pod1 – Creative Digital Agency

Web address http://www.pod1.com/

The website provide good and clear navigation titles Home, Who we are?, What we do?, Our work, News, Careers, About us. These titles are quite informal and create a relaxed feeling on the website. The layout of the website is full scale though free space is used appropriately to show that the website is not cluttered with information.

Things learnt: Our Company’s website will have clear navigation like Pod1, by having similar titles that mean the same and be slightly more professional and formal.

6. Name: Igor International

Web Address: http://www.igorinternational.com/

Igor International is a naming and branding company which has a simple but effective website. It uses up-to-date methods for its layout and style using CSS and JavaScript.

They provide a range of services and can be easily navigated through the hyperlinks in the right columns and in the roll over image map tabs at the top of the website. Their website has good consistency with navigation, which is a bonus as customers will find it easy to navigate themselves around and will not get lost and frustrated. All of these factors could result in them not following up an enquiry.

Things learnt: The navigation and consistency of the website throughout need to be easy so that customers do not become lost and frustrated. A sharp website that runs smoothly will give clients a reason to follow up with an enquiry.

7. Name: Core Brand 

Web Address: http://www.corebrand.com 

This company helps companies understand, build, express and measure their corporate brand. It provides a service that helps to build strong foundations for businesses to start making money. The website has made good use of columns to display information in a clear and easy way.

Things Learnt: The use of columns has been proven on this website to be useful in showing data clearly. The column is a good method of allowing customers to interpret written paragraphs clearly.

8. Name: Clifton-Media

Web Address: http://www.clifton-media.co.uk

The company is a diverse company who do lots of other things other than branding. Upon looking at the information on the website Clifton Media also displays its information in columns.  The colour pallet is minimalist with only small selection of colours, however creates an effective display that shows the information clearly.

9. Name: Julie & Co

Web Address: http://www.julieandcompany.com/ 

My first impression of this website is that it does not understand basic methods of displaying information successfully. The website did use columns however did not use them in a way that represented the information clearly.

This company seemed to provide services for a lot of the normal things brand companies offered after detailed exploring of the website. The navigation part, which was in the middle of the screen, was not completely suggestive that it was the way people should navigate this site. There was considerable inconsistency with the home and the rest of the pages when I navigated away from the main page.

Things Learnt: The navigation method should be clearly displayed and be obverses to the client that this how they navigate around the website.

10. Name: Forty Eight Branding

Web Address: http://www.online48.co.uk/

When I first opened this website I thought the website was a joke, there was no clear description to what the company did apart from the “Branding” keyword in the name. On the front of the home page was a white cup that had been photographed with red paint inside it, which made me immediately question its relevance to the website.

The company logo and name was dripping in red and was running down the page like a drip on the white background. The text above the cup was actual a navigation bar leading to other similarly disastrous pages that showed little information.

Things Learnt: Not to have irrelevant pictures or text on any of the website pages

11. Name: Kimia

Web Address: http://www.kimia.co.za/company.php

Very poor navigation on this website, no clear means to setting up enquiries for the company to meet with the clients. Uses some flash to illustrate the website dynamic professionalism however the information is really hard to interpret. The portfolio is simple, but shares little description of what work they have contracted in the pass.

12. Name: Jet Web

WebAddress: http://www.jet-web.co.uk/corporate-branding.htm

Jet web design has an interesting home page with good use of colour and style. They have a got a liquid layout, which is a site that expands to fill the entire available area on a browser window even when the user resizes the window. Typically this is done using CSS and can be quite useful for certain types of sites, but tend to be significantly more effort than fixed width layouts. Clearly on this website the type of layout is needed as there is so much information. The website has good use of column to split up the information in to categories, which has been seen on lots of other website trying to solve the effect of cluttering website with large bulky areas of text.

Thinks learnt: Liquid layout is harder to implement than Fixed layout, however can be useful when resizing the window as the text moves so that all the information can be displayed. However liquid layout can look messy and untidy.

13. Name: G2

Web Address: http://www.g2.com/

This site is predominately made in Flash 9. It has a clear navigation on the left side of the website window. When the client offers over the navigation clickable link they indicate that they are being selected which giving helpful confirmation to the client.  The colours uses are quite greyscale with the only colour that is emphasised being orange. This is used on the logo and on some of the transition animations on roll over images. The website has a Fixed layout as the HTML only has a embedded flash SWF that has a set size.

Thinks learnt: By having roll over images on the navigation helps clients confirm that they are about to change pages and should be done on our company’s website to allow the user to know where they are on the website.

14. Name: Jordon Design Studio

Web Address:

 http://homepage.mac.com/byjordandesign/jordandesign_content.html

On first look the website has an exploding use of colour; the colour is a little blind at first. The page has a fixed layout as it is predominately made from an embedded flash movie. The elements of navigation are good, using rollover images and music on the home page to attract clients to explore the website more. The information displayed is relevant, however has been displayed quite small on the flash, therefore information is a hard to read. The word “Studio” has been used in the title of the company giving clients an immediate idea of what kind of work the company does.

Things learnt: Music material maybe useful to attract clients into areas of the website and would be used on material such as corporate videos, movies, documentaries that may be embedded on the website. Make text an appropriate size that allows users to read text easily and clearly. The use of the word studio tells the client immediately what the website is about.

15. Name: Logo Launcher

Web Address: http://www.logolauncher.com/

This website has a liquid layout and looks boring, even though it has potential. The website follows basic website design techniques however employees them on the site poorly. The colour scheme is uninteresting and gives me a sense that the website was built by an amateur design. These first impressions of the company do not fill me with confidence with there abilities to offer me a worthwhile service. On the content of the website alone I would avoid enquiring further.

Things learnt: First impressions of a website are the most important; the website should show the same standard of quality to that of professional websites it may create with clients. If their website is rubbish how do clients know that the media company offers a good service?

Summary

• First impressions of a website are the most important; the website should show the same standard of quality to that of professional websites it may create with clients. If their website is rubbish how do clients know that the media company offers a good service?

• That by having Media in the name, clients can see easily what the company purpose is. Our name should have “media” in the name to follow suit with competitors.

• A slogan would be useful on our company’s website.         

• Our Company’s website will have clear navigation like Pod1, by having similar titles that mean the same and be slightly more professional and formal.

• The navigation and consistency of the website throughout need to be easy so that customers do not become lost and frustrated. A sharp website that runs smoothly will give clients a reason to follow up with an enquiry.

• The use of columns has been proven on this website to be useful in showing data clearly. The column is a good method of allowing customers to interpret written paragraphs clearly.

• The navigation method should be clearly displayed and be obverses to the client that this how they navigate around the website.

• Not to have irrelevant pictures or text on any of the website pages

• Liquid layout is harder to implement than Fixed layout, however can be useful when resizing the window as the text moves so that all the information can be displayed. However liquid layout can look messy and untidy.

• By having roll over images on the navigation helps clients confirm that they are about to change pages and should be done on our company’s website to allow the user to know where they are on the website.

• Music material maybe useful to attract clients into areas of the website and would be used on material such as corporate videos, movies, documentaries that may be embedded on the website. Make text an appropriate size that allows users to read text easily and clearly. The use of the word studio tells the client immediately what the website is about.

Our Website

This market research of our competitors websites has provided us with a list of essentials we should try to implement into our website. 

To make your own website there are two parts you need to consider; the domain name and the hosting space. The domain name points at an online server (Host space) that stores all the website files. When users type in the browser address bar the address it brings up the first page of the websites file directory, index.html is always labelled as the website’s homepage.

The domain name

The domain name can be almost anything you like as long as it has not been registered by somebody else. There is some controversy with that no one actually owns the Wide World Web, therefore you are only able to rent Domains off companies that have a licence to allow registrations.

I researched several sites that sold Domains and Hosting space and chose the cheapest. When researching you can get an understanding of how easy it will be to set up your domain name and point it to you server space.

Some sites sell both the domain names and the hosting space so users with little experience can have the website setup all in one place. However more experienced users can buy domains on a website and buy Hosting space on a different website in order to get the best deal.

I brought our domain from 1and1.com as it was the cheapest and it was compatible with my Hosting space Bluehost.com. My hosting space is professional Hosting space that allows you to do a lot of cool stuff.

The Stationary Research

I compared several companies that sold stationary products:

The company we went with was the cheapest and quickest of VistaPrint, which is a company one of the team had previous experience in using. We ordered 250 businesses cards with our own uploaded logo for £8.00!