Gulity: Content Neglect

Okay, I am the first to admit, I've been a bit lazy. It's not my fault, the demands of agency life, deadlines, constant emails, client presentations and pitches just don't seem to stop. Some things have to suffer, my Blog being one of the victims. But I am not alone in this criminal act of content neglect, global big shots to gossip blogs are all sinners.

From large global brands and their blogs, to Facebook fan pages, it's a waste land, a garbage dump of content begging to be salvaged, resurrected from it's original intent of grandeur to entice and inform the users that engage with it.

Today as digital platforms evolve, morph and multiply across social networks, websites, email and blogs, it is essential that brands keep a close grip on content relevancy and accuracy. I've seen what happens when a large organization fails to keep pace with their content - it isn't pretty.

Luckily there are some key ways to address this problem; the smartest brands know that it is crucial to conduct content audits across the spectrum in the digital medium, both with internal and external platforms to keep it fresh and savvy.

I've seen brands that will spend their life savings on making a site functionally appealing but completely ignore the content, content placement or even ask themselves does existing content still make sense, is it relevant to the user, does it sell the brand, the product?

The answer: Brand Content Management. What is Brand Content Management? It's a strategic approach to your brands content, an audit of the words that express your brand essence and tone across all channels. From websites to blogs, to forums and emails. Ever searched your favorite brand and stumble across an old microsite or blog that's been slowly digging it's grave, begging for some fresh words of kindness?

It's easy to fall into the trap of not ensuring content is updated, relevant and up to the minute, but it can make the world of a difference to your users and the value they receive from their experience and brand perception.

It does take effort, and I am guilty as ever, but I vow to keep to this Blog alive, fresh, relevant and engaging and avoid future episodes of content neglect.

HSBC Direct + Distruption

So how do you stand out from the crowd? How you do you capture the hearts, minds and wallets of your target consumers? Simple really, you need to be smarter and more daring then the rest of the pack in your category to break through the clutter and get noticed. More on that soon and how HSBC Direct here in Canada is doing just that.

Ikea - Engaging The Shopper

Ikea is the latest brand to move into the space of flashy online brand experiences. The result?

It's beautiful visually, tonality, and in message, however I felt it lacks in carrying through to the store once you click on an item though, which is a shame since the initial experience is instantly engaging but hampered by the weak ending in the experience when the user leaves this site. Consistency is key to any visually engaging user experience and therefore they must really follow through in their ability to stay engaging at all levels of the online sales funnel.

However, the sites ability to speak to the various shoppers allows this experience to stay relevant and provides key insights to each "persona" group and their needs and wants in relation to shopping at Ikea.


http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/rooms_ideas/tcb/index.html

Be sure to click within the video to see different angles which is one in a series of artistic Ikea microsites including this one: http://www.bebravenotbeige.com/

Google joins the social scene.

Google quietly announced Google Profiles, which provide a way for users of various Google products like Google Maps and Google Reader to offer information about themselves to other users.

A Google Profile will initially include basic points, like a user's name, photo and location, and can include other information, like a person's profession. Anyone can see a user's profile, the site noted, and if a user includes his full name in a profile, it may be returned in Google search results for that name.

"You control what goes into your Google Profile, sharing as much (or as little) as you'd like," Google noted on a Web page with a brief description about Google Profiles. "Use multiple Google products? Soon your Google Profile will link up with these as well."

The new Google Profiles are already available in Google Maps and Google Reader and will be added to other Web applications.

This move, combined with last week's announcement that Google Reader has been linked to the Google Talk chat feature in Gmail to help users better share content with friends, shows that Google is moving closer to building a social network that will truly take Google to the next level.