Do you think page layout (not the actual words or images) affects where a person may, or may not, click? Think again! Take this quick test and try to psych out the results … you’ll be amazed. My personal observations:

• People construct “form” in their minds when it isn’t actually presented to them. Make note of the number of people who click on corners, edges, middles, ends …€” and the connections between these points.
• LOTS of people think alike … even when told to think differently
• People prefer “top” rather than “bottom”
• People prefer “middles” and “edges” rather than “center-ish fringe”
• Words definitely have meaning and impact

I think there are “conventions” that can be taken from this and would LOVE to see a more formal study of this kind of psychology (a la the eye tracking studies conducted by Marketing Sherpa).

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Posted in Einstein-esque | No Comments »

I’m at a TOTAL loss to explain this Microsoft commercial for the new Zune MP3 player. Certainly, we advocate that companies be “bold” and “fearless” in their advertising and overall brand development. BUT, what we mean is to not be afraid of connecting with the target audience emotionally (as opposed to rambling on about products and services). This commercial, however, is simply bizarre and disturbing.

Consider Seth Godin’s comments about why upstart products have such a difficult time kicking the dominant player out of the top seat and you’ll understand the abysmal Christmas sales of the Zune. That fact then explains this … errr, “interesting” photo of an iPod display table at a Tukwila, WA Costco.

The point; If you’re going to try and unseat the dominant player in YOUR industry, you’ll need to do it with innovation, creativity, freshness and ideas from the edge … not “more of the same”, bland, poorly launched, bizarre branding. EVEN if you have a gajillion dollars, like the team in Redmond, it just doesn’t work that way.

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Posted in Turkeys | 3 Comments »