Internet Marketing Blog

Cyberhealth Search, M.D.

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Once upon a time, not too long ago, we visited the doctor to keep us from eternal woe. Your doctor could have been John or Jack Doe, for all we cared. In the new millennium, things are a little different. We have a national health care plan, although the possibilities of redemption will be told on a future date.  Healthcare consumers are going online to access information and services.  Insurers such as Aetna and Oxford have comprehensive statistics and resources for patients.  Couriers and freelancers have a long-running joke that WebMD takes their temperature.

These elements have forced consumers to become more empowered with personal health care.  Pharmaceuticals have acted accordingly, securing record profits with aggressive online campaigns and sharp website design with comprehensive facts.  According to a 2009 study by Harris Interactive, 78% of US Internet users searched online for health information.  Social media definitely integrates the personal health experience into a far more communicative, enlightened venture than its clandestine past.

It begs to ponder the value of search in our medical experiences.  We can access information from endless sources, but it’s difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff without a specialist.  In turn, the specialist loses value if he or she is inaccessible to citizens who need their routine services.  Specialists also lose value with informed patients, and must be willing to engage in critical discussions to ensure a healthy relationship.  The medical field, unlike others, has been slow to embrace mobile technology in supporting operations.  You may love the WebMD Sports Injury Reports on Fox, but if you’re covered, go see the doctor.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Flash, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Website Design, blog, online advertising | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, aetna insurance, Blueliner Marketing, harris interactive market research, healthcare, internet marketing nyc, new york social media agency, online advertising, oxford health care, pharmaceutical websites, web md

Little Words Mean A Lot

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The developers at Smashing Magazine are versed in all programs and the transient dynamics of code.  Nobody can keep up, and that’s just factual.  We all know, however, that two sides exist to every coin, even the Canadian ones.  As Niels Matthijs notes, developers can slip up and make errors.  He feels that naming conventions and constructing better HTML templates will translate into better websites.  I’ll highlight a sample of subtopics for the uninitiated.

The Bare Necessities Of Semantics

Nowadays with Google Caffeine, content must be recognizable to all kinds of crawlers and search engines for full SEO optimization.  The engine just debuted, so its effectiveness must be intensely tracked in order to make a proper assessment. If Google Caffeine hits, then surfing the internet will be a much greater experience and e-commerce stands to benefit.

Think Components, Not Pages

Websites should have common components that fit together than a jangled collection of pages. In order to achieve this feat, developers need to focus on a single component at a time.  When one needs to write the HTML code for a product, check each wireframe for product variations.  Then one can write a code that handle the existing variants.  This model will be solid and can be used anywhere.

For more information on semantics, click the photo.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Website Analytics, Website Design, blog, web development | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, coding semantics, html coding, niels matthijs, smashing magazine, web development, web programming

Threadless Weaves Marketing Dreams

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Threadless has gained praise nationwide for their masterful use of online communities to drive sales.  The Chicago-based company does not have professional designers nor online advertising agencies and other distributors to pirate income.  It took them some time for the open source movement to generate results, but they have commemorated it this year with a 10th anniversary campaign.  The Tour Kick-Off Sale ends July 2nd and includes various price points for men, women, and children that fit anyone’s budget.  They will be in a caravan that covers the nation while stopping at the Pitchfork Music Festival and other points in between to Washington D.C. in October.  Here are the dates.

The company’s tight relationship with its community allows for an amalgam of creative designs and products that allow for test marketing before the product is pushed to the website.  The website is also optimized for clean click navigation, search indexing, and a full board of social widgets.  I believe that the crispness of their website is key to their success.  One receives feedback immediately on their designs from the network while making income for their gifts.  It’s a relationship that benefits the consumer and merchant without a lot of database research or bureaucracy.

Threadless has begun to develop partnerships with Griffin Technologies and Havaianas Footwear to stretch their product portfolio into smartphone cases and flip-flops, amongst other things.  With a rich community of designers and a 10-year anniversary book to cement brand equity, Threadless is an emerging force. Heavyweight marketing executives have wondered for some time about the open source model, and now see it come to fruition.  They should be very afraid.  For more details on Threadless, read this interview from VP of Marketing, Cam Balzer.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Website Design, blog, green marketing, web 2.0, web development | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner Marketing, cam balzer, griffin technologies, haivaianas, Interactive Marketing, new york interactive marketing agency, pitchfork music festival, social media, threadless

AT&T Nets Augmented Reality

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Augmented reality is a form of online advertising that is gaining traction. The World Cup, which has seen record figures of advertising revenue, has also become a test board for many firms, including AT&T.  The communications giant created a banner with Zugara’s Augmented Reality motion capture technology called ZugMO.  The banner is an innovative form of Flash and other properties.  It has you heading crosses towards to goal straight from your webcam. The user gets five shots to score as many goals as possible. In the future, we’ll get more in depth about the creation of these banners and their effectiveness in segmentation.  But for now, begin to head for goals here!

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Flash, Interactive Marketing, Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, AT&T augmented reality banner, augmented reality, banner campaign, BBDO, Blueliner Marketing, digital campaigns, Flash, online advertising, online banners, zugara augmented reality

A Cleaner, Fitter, Jack Georges Website

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Jack Georges founded his business in 1987, bringing a fine collection of leather business cases and accessories for the working male or female professional.  Jack Georges’ manufacturers go to painstaking lengths to ensure that each individual piece has a unique style and quality of its own, standing the test of time.  Mr. Georges solicited Blueliner to develop an e-commerce campaign with the motivation to introduce his collection to new customers.

Our first step in this campaign was upgrading the website design. Previously, the page felt cluttered and lacked energy.  It was also difficult to navigate their extensive inventory.  I would click through on a product link and it would take me to another portal, where I had to click again for more product information.  The drop-down menus are a nice upgrade, and they flow freely.

I also like the pop-up social media tags on the Success Blog, which is filled with tips on business acumen and dress standards from Lance Armstrong amongst others. It is a good resource for topics to discuss in management and human resource trainings.  Success for any firm is a journey filled with successful habits that lead to a destination.

The Twitter feed updates regularly with pictures of inventory, using Flickr for easy connection with your personal account.  Those interested in exclusive news can sign up for an e-mail newsletter on the bottom left corner. Keywords were optimized by the staff to stimulate traffic for brand aficionados. Below are a couple photos of the old and new websites to show the improvement:

Old Website:

New Website, by Blueliner:

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Marketing, Website Design, eCommerce | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner Marketing, business briefcases, ecommerce agency, jack georges briefcase, jack georges laptop bags, jack georges success blog, lance armstrong, newyork website design agency, online marketing

Damjan Speaks at The iFRONT Conference

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Our colleague, Damjan Arsovski, spoke last week at the Second Annual iFront Conference in Belgrade, Serbia. The iFront collective is aligned with Front, a design and brand agency from Belgrade that provides business services to clients for their events and conferences.

The conference was just one day, located at The Bitef Theatre, and emceed by Jasna Maltic, the Serbian Minister of Information Society.  It discussed the implementation of internet services to business operations, divided into four areas such as mobile software, web marketing, digital public relations, and the web as a new business platform.  Damjan presented during the web marketing section. His presentation talked about the trends in the digital economy, how they changed the world for the present time, and the importance of users. He felt the audience was engaged overall. Here’s a slideshow of the presentation.

Along with those, I’ve dropped a few pictures from the event below.  Enjoy.  

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Website Design, web development | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, Damjan Arsovski, FRONT serbia, iFRONT 2010 Belgrade, The Bitef Theatre, web business development

Stupid Is Following The Conscious and Unconscious

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Back in 2004, I interned with the Press Department of Diesel U.S.A.  My experience was very unique, as I became acquainted with the inner workings of an apparel giant whose influence at the time remained strong with the dynamic and creative.  Despite the high price tag of their denim, sales flourished due to their innovative marketing strategies.  Nowadays, the brand has lengthened their portfolio to the higher end of the spectrum, with a flagship store on Fifth Avenue and the collection Diesel Black Gold.

The decade moved along, with Diesel reaching its thirties. Suddenly, the brand is in competition with an endless labels selling similar apparel.  Recently, Founder Renzo Rosso and his management team decided to recoup market share with a new interactive campaign called Be Stupid.  The message is pretty straightforward, aiming to cultivate those who are not familiar with the brand and its roots in denim.

The website is a tour de force of Flash design.  A streaming video of slogans flow with “Honeytrap” from British dance rock group We Have Band.  After that, we have an application mimicking Upwords, where you can put together various words into your own sentences and share them through social media sites. Here’s my poem.  

That is simply the first part of the campaign.  Once you move on to the video catalog, you get a dance performance with models wearing the spring/summer 2010 collection. If you pause and click on the head of each model, you get a quick bio along with links to their personal social media pages.  You also can click on the clothing to get more depth on where to purchase those pieces, either online or your local store.  The video continues playing “A Hundred Lovers” by Spanish group Josep when you move the arrow off the photo.  It’s a comprehensive use of Flash, and well done.

The website lastly has a contest where you can upload your stupid images and win chances at trips to South Africa, Las Vegas, and other places.  We’ll see the effects of this interactive rush in the future, but Diesel clearly is fueling the consciousness, seen and unseen.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Flash, Website Design, World | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, diesel spA, diesel usa, eCommerce, Flash, Interactive Marketing

The Basics of Email Marketing

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Email Marketing is an internet marketing tool used to communicate information about a company’s products or services to its customers and prospects through email. The main purpose of email marketing is to acquire new business and also to enhance relationships with existing customers.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project surveys from 2000–2009 show that about 55% of all American adults use the internet daily and about 45% of all either send or read email.

There are several reasons why email marketing is popular among most companies. First, digital marketers can reach any number of customers and prospects who have opted-in to receive information about the product or service of their interest at the same time, through email marketing. It is also one of the most cost-effective digital marketing tactics and has proven to be of high worth when executed properly and tracked at every stage of the campaign to find the exact ROI.

It is important for marketers to provide valuable and informative content in order to get the most out of their email marketing campaigns. The message should be short and to the point when describing the products and services offered by the company. Adding company URLs and links to your offerings in the email can direct readers to particulars section of your site if they are interested in finding more information. These are a few points that need to be kept in mind when preparing an email marketing campaign. If the campaign is automated and uses tracking features, it helps to refine based on results that include deliverability, delivery rates, open rates, CTR, response rates, Opt-in/Opt-out and unsubscribes.

Email ad spending is projected to grow from $338M in 2006 to $616M in 2011 – a six year increase of 82%. Comparatively, total internet ad spending will grow twice as fast during the same period. Source – eMarketer, September 2007.

Blueliner Marketing offers Internet Marketing services to clients and helps build their businesses to achieve higher profits. Blueliner Marketing manages robust email marketing campaigns for clients around the globe who are seeking to build their client bases and businesses.

Posted by Mohamed Mohideen
Posted in 7 Pillars of Internet Marketing, Blog Marketing, CRM, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Agencies, Mobile Marketing, Website Design, World, online advertising | No Comments »
Tags: arman rousta, blueliner india, Blueliner Marketing, Business Reputation, Content Marketing, digital marketing, Email Marketing, eMarketing, Marketing, Mohamed Mohideen

Pac-man Starts Life At 30

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One particular football player won’t grow up because he’s a Toys ‘R Us kid, and other unmentionable things. But his father ages gracefully.  Today, Pac-man celebrates his 30th birthday after years of chasing pellets, big and small, to get the affection of his female cohort.  Google commemorates the celebration with this kitschy website design where you enter a coin and can play with Mr. and Mrs. Pac-man at the same time.  It’s an ingenious blend of marketing and synergy of the iconic, beloved arcade game.  It remains one of the most recognizable brands in the world, and its influence on postmodern society along with the digital age remains strong to this day. I remember playing at the barber shop on Saturdays in between cuts as a boy, and I could never get to the same level on subsequent trips.  I would climb several levels in one visit, then get nowhere the next time.  It is a game dependent on memory, hand-eye coordination, and perception. These skills can be applied to any medium in life, beyond video games. I think this explains its durability in an era of Grand Theft Auto, Wii, and Xbox. Pac-man has endless brand equity.  Before you start playing, flex your fingers because they will get a workout from pounding the arrow keys.  Click on the retro illustration to the right and get started.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Flash, Graphic Design, Website Design, online advertising | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner Marketing, brand equity, google pacman, Graphic Design, Marketing, pac-man 30th anniversary, pac-man news, Website Design

How Dr. Martens Gets His Sole Back

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Purveyors of drugs, Cocoa Puffs, sex, and punk had a pair in their closet.  They last forever because the industrial revolution of England demanded that durability. I speak of Dr. Martens, the seminal British footwear label.  I bought a pair of Doc Moccasins in London years ago, and they remained one of my favorite pieces of footwear to this day. After escaping bankruptcy in 2002, the brand is using a spirited online advertising campaign to commemorate their 50th anniversary and attract a new generation.  New bands on the scene are playing classic tunes from The Buzzcocks, The Human League, The Pogues, and The Stone Roses.  The roster is diverse with London rockers like The Duke Spirit and master synthesizer DaM-Funk.  Throughout the year, other artists will record covers while wearing the original boots.

I perused the website and found its design color consistent. The video page with antiquated televisions is also a nice touch.  Overall, the web page is very reliant on the featured musicians.  They have a presence on every section except for the e-commerce store, which has a site for the US separate from the UK. You could say that Dr. Martens is trying a little too hard to recapture its youthful ethos when its reality is one of an aging relic.  You could also say that Dr. Martens’ symbolism as a working class statement transcends the space and time of its environment, like the Chuck Taylor All-Star. I would like more still images of the footwear’s historical spectrum, be it as an industrial piece or revolutionary on the old Madchester rave scene. These days nobody is fighting the machine or the system.  We love the systems that produce them, and have stopped worrying about their actions. Perhaps the reemergence of Dr. Martens will get us stomping around again with Johnny Rotten. In the meantime, here’s a promotional clip:

Dr. Martens 50th Anniversary from exposureUSA on Vimeo.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Flash, Marketing, Website Design | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner Marketing, dr. martens 50th anniversary, dr. martens originals, eCommerce, ecommerce agency, Interactive Marketing, online campaigns, Website Design