tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15738667901117238562024-03-05T11:12:17.960+00:00Digital Marketing: examples of good and bad practiceexamples of digital marketing in practice :
a personal view on some of the good, the bad and the ugly of Internet marketing.Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15981005873339556751noreply@blogger.comBlogger420125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-45325690753337970922021-03-19T08:44:00.002+00:002021-03-19T10:51:57.846+00:00Sales? What's that?<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;">The coffee maker I've had - and been happy with - for around 20 years is beginning to show its age, so I thought I'd get a new one. Sadly, the page on its maker's website made no effort to retain a loyal customer.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ7xyuenhcAdsLIynTg_BtFMYEBKKyf8Xfuh1JLuPtjKX-mvbFjeBxxNW04UWzdmznw4s9Nwku4k5B8PYfMUAcj8E5YSXk2VXGF0OgZrNTyFig_7ZDJq6COwuggnCr49NFDhZD5QhNbAA/s730/cafe+mattino1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="730" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ7xyuenhcAdsLIynTg_BtFMYEBKKyf8Xfuh1JLuPtjKX-mvbFjeBxxNW04UWzdmznw4s9Nwku4k5B8PYfMUAcj8E5YSXk2VXGF0OgZrNTyFig_7ZDJq6COwuggnCr49NFDhZD5QhNbAA/w400-h301/cafe+mattino1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Now, if a customer went into a shop and said to the assistant, '<i>I'm looking for a Cafe Mattino Coffee Machine</i>', the assistant would take it that the customer either had one of the devices, or it had been recommended to them. </span><span style="font-family: courier;">Online, someone putting the exact name into Google [as I had] and arriving on the product's web page is, effectively, saying the same. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;">In the shop, however, the salesperson would not just say '<i>it's obsolete</i>' and leave it at that. I'll go further and say that wouldn't use the term 'obsolete' [who does?] they would use a softer term, such as '<i>it's no longer made</i>', or '<i>it's no longer available</i>'. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;">But, <b>and here's the point of this posting</b>, the assistant would follow up - probably in the same sentence - with '<i>... but we do have its replacement</i>'. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Indeed, a <i>good </i>salesperson would be more likely to say something like, '<i>Oh they were great machines weren't they, very popular - but the technology they used was getting old, so Morphy Richards replaced it with an updated version which has all the old features plus some new ones, and it looks more modern too.</i>'</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;">So why doesn't the website say something similar, with a link to the new product? </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>I'm going to make the suggestion that it's because no one with a sales background was involved in the development of the website.</b></span></p>Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-75739140856491931572021-02-24T20:16:00.008+00:002021-03-19T10:52:52.780+00:00MINI? That's a BMW, right?When teaching, I encouraged students to bring in examples of good and bad
marketing to discuss as a class exercise. It seems old habits die hard – an
ex-student sent me this.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1KU7nph_gL7Ulmqslk5feI67UhGw96JNEtMm49IU-auTfwWj53bptbKT0Y5n0GtLLpCrVKgq1mebV_CFxucAIK2RZpznMCtil191yE-nOk3uUA3SJQttiYnaunWmVmY0IkqZqIAUxpKY/s500/MINI.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1KU7nph_gL7Ulmqslk5feI67UhGw96JNEtMm49IU-auTfwWj53bptbKT0Y5n0GtLLpCrVKgq1mebV_CFxucAIK2RZpznMCtil191yE-nOk3uUA3SJQttiYnaunWmVmY0IkqZqIAUxpKY/s320/MINI.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
The ad appeared on the home page of Microsoft Edge. What errors can you find?<br /><br />
Her answers – with which I agree – are shown below.<br /><br /><br />
<b>1 </b>The ad is for MINI … the nice shiny car in the picture isn’t a MINI.<br /><br />
<b>2 </b>Each word is capitalized, even the one-character indefinite article.
‘MINI official UK site – request a 48 hour test drive’ is better. I’ll accept
that beauty can be in the eye of the beholder in this case.<br /><br />
<b>3 </b>The message is rather formal – almost a command. ‘Request’ is also
vague – requests can be rejected. Why not something like; Book your 48-hour test
drive on MINI’s official UK website. Note, ‘site’ and ‘website’ are different
things, there’s plenty of space for the extra four characters. And yes, you may
think it picky, but ’48-hour’ is a compound adjective describing a noun, so it
should be hyphenated.<br /><br />
<b>4 </b>A domain name thing. As per the copy text, the brand is MINI [an issue
from when BMW bought mini] – so the presented domain name should be MINI.co.uk.
You all know domain names aren’t case sensitive don’t you? I’m also wary about
using capitals in directory and file names of a URL, but it’s not a deal breaker
in this example.<br /><br />
<b>5 </b>I’ve saved the best – that is, worst – ‘til last. There is no such web
page as https://www.mini.co.uk/New/Car – so the link doesn’t work … which means
the ad is a TOTAL* waste of time and resources. * uppercase for emphasis.
Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-47414750426627052082020-07-15T12:23:00.002+01:002020-07-15T12:24:08.571+01:00Marketing on TikTok?<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">I came across a promotion from a firm that acts as an agent
for advertising on TikTok using influencers.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">The sell …</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">‘We have seen some phenomenal results on the platform by
driving over 1M installs through TikTok Influencers and counting… ‘</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">Note: <i>installs</i>,
not purchases [CPI stands for cost per install - I had to look it up :-) ].</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">The guide to ‘Become a TikTok Influencer CPI Master’</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">Tip number one:</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">The more entertaining the content = The more views.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">Welllll … knock me down with a feather, I would never have
thought of that. Best get in touch with every media that has ever existed and
let them in to this secret.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">Tip number two:</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">Include a call to action. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">Again; a revelation! These influencer marketers are soooo innovative
and leading edge.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">Tip number three:</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">Select influencers carefully.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">Damn. I thought you just used a random selector app [I’m
sure there is an influencer who will recommend one to you].</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">Tip number three:</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">Track results. OK, I’ve given up with the sarcasm.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">I checked the customers – sorry, ‘the wonderful brands we’ve
had the opportunity of working with – of the ‘world’s largest network of TikTok
Influencers’ listed on the website and I’d heard of only one of the eight. No
real surprise there – I’m in the wrong target segment. However, all were apps
with a link to online ‘entertainment’. So – for example – a youngster watches TikTok
video of influencer doing ‘dance exercise’ and follows the influencer’s advice to download the free exercise app.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">So, yes, the
marketers have done their job … but if you’re selling anything other than apps
to teenagers – and that’s going to be 99.99999999% of all products, try some
proper marketing.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><font face="courier">* Note that throughout their website ‘influencer’ is
presented as a proper noun i.e. with a capital ‘I’. Why not try the same with your job to make you
seem more important?</font></p>Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-15126938467389812982020-04-12T20:40:00.000+01:002020-04-12T20:40:03.954+01:00AI or just plain dumb?<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I got an unsolicited email from hypedsports.com - if that's not bad enough, here's the <i>special offer</i> products shown in the email ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWckwt5QEKDq3eOpYY1tgfwcEXCLvMYpy01uZg6PAJrJUGusCj6SKk2zuAAEiEWehOkPLhmSMzkosafSRjo_zXd-mLvVs0gsZC7-DrfqN5S9b1TOq1s5YEewaD_5Mr8IEs0zYv_6D8Mrk/s1600/hypedsports.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWckwt5QEKDq3eOpYY1tgfwcEXCLvMYpy01uZg6PAJrJUGusCj6SKk2zuAAEiEWehOkPLhmSMzkosafSRjo_zXd-mLvVs0gsZC7-DrfqN5S9b1TOq1s5YEewaD_5Mr8IEs0zYv_6D8Mrk/s320/hypedsports.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">You don't need AI to know that Alan is a male name </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">... 'nuff said?</span>Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-65981963800209470362020-04-06T21:18:00.000+01:002020-04-06T21:18:22.730+01:00Do these folk preach what they practice?<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Let's ignore the fact that this was a spam email - I've looked at the syllabus for this <span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;">Digital Marketing Institute's courses ... and [obviously] it doesn't include email marketing. </span></span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I wonder if the rest of their training is based on their practice? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWgv4piHIz0Iw50oTR10Q1BfODf9gA7Eebl89VaLPIgL_NwXZsCDgSIku6MXWcLVJA_xCGbJVBJALnxqfGAR1bGtcMp9CxZd1pyD4aoauH3m2DFnuXrh_LsubWn4Iap_JTg6hkD3bdwOE/s1600/DMI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="1010" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWgv4piHIz0Iw50oTR10Q1BfODf9gA7Eebl89VaLPIgL_NwXZsCDgSIku6MXWcLVJA_xCGbJVBJALnxqfGAR1bGtcMp9CxZd1pyD4aoauH3m2DFnuXrh_LsubWn4Iap_JTg6hkD3bdwOE/s400/DMI.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-51326067536097494882020-04-01T18:02:00.003+01:002020-04-01T20:31:39.539+01:00Don't copy this awful practice<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">I was on the website of newchic.com and spotted a top I liked the look of that was reduced. So I put in the basket and went to checkout. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">
However, I had already noticed that there was nothing on the pages I had visited that mentioned the cost of shipping/delivery … so I was already a bit suspicions.
On the checkout page still no mention of a shipping cost. So I clicked on the ‘pay by PayPal’ link and was taken to Paypal where I logged in and was presented with this page …
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh98-llV-2Yw87-Ni04uVL42aqJBeATa83qX0m-omT0SsLY2COb1o8AY7n1XaKrwYt3Vd5E4v9XLnlX7XdBFiemqpY45dM1BW6MOroKy5ebDBZ0g_bO1n9bHyxG9Gl49-i2C5V-6sKgoGE/s1600/newchic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="786" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh98-llV-2Yw87-Ni04uVL42aqJBeATa83qX0m-omT0SsLY2COb1o8AY7n1XaKrwYt3Vd5E4v9XLnlX7XdBFiemqpY45dM1BW6MOroKy5ebDBZ0g_bO1n9bHyxG9Gl49-i2C5V-6sKgoGE/s400/newchic1.jpg" width="353" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Hmmm, I thought, this is the amount of money that I’m agreeing to pay out of my PayPal account – must be free shipping. But when I clicked on ‘continue’ I got this page. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFY6DjrHZ9RbJoHsOAYAAOZwsOPUZv_WuqUMLrFFWhq9fYb79DpXC13EQMNDnsZT66I-x1DG4FFN1TE_8ktPMmuHMvsjMDBErtncgKpQW51sdgdnzP-8HwVJ2XfgwoTNNRhKG-5g7JGk/s1600/newchic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="1540" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFY6DjrHZ9RbJoHsOAYAAOZwsOPUZv_WuqUMLrFFWhq9fYb79DpXC13EQMNDnsZT66I-x1DG4FFN1TE_8ktPMmuHMvsjMDBErtncgKpQW51sdgdnzP-8HwVJ2XfgwoTNNRhKG-5g7JGk/s400/newchic2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Wellll … I can only assume they know more than me – but isn’t it illegal to increase a price after the customer has agreed [with his bank] on how much to pay the seller? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">It is certainly a case of bait ‘n switch. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">It is certainly an example of what NOT to do on an e-commerce site.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Even if I had liked the top more than I did, I would have cancelled the order. I say <i>cancelled</i>, but there wasn’t a ‘cancel order’ button. I just closed the page.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">I will keep my eye on my PayPal account to make sure that newchic.com doesn’t <i>steal </i>any of my money.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br />
Oh, and the cost of shipping was a bit steep for a top - though ironically had they been upfront about the total cost I might have been happy to pay nearly £20 for the item.</span></div>
Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-43134510876560798232019-11-03T07:52:00.000+00:002019-11-03T07:53:03.260+00:00Standard practice offline not repeated online<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">If a product is discontinued as a stock line at DIY supermarket B&Q its space on the shelves is taken by a new product or the facings of neighbouring products extended.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Not so online.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Why?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwytpSJogL4SO4kgA-8FkJ7SGY6sYiAk2eCX5axZ4znuKyrY5gJ33jjilVtwgYexOMr8dP3m6mOCWTWJgb2GCg2ImDPJKKleH71tYH037qFFxcJdxSZoAJzdTiLCVWhc31hf1QyqlfdI/s1600/bandq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="600" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwytpSJogL4SO4kgA-8FkJ7SGY6sYiAk2eCX5axZ4znuKyrY5gJ33jjilVtwgYexOMr8dP3m6mOCWTWJgb2GCg2ImDPJKKleH71tYH037qFFxcJdxSZoAJzdTiLCVWhc31hf1QyqlfdI/s400/bandq.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">But it gets worse.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Elsewhere on the site a smaller size of the product was available.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Sigh.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-15642783874036716712019-10-26T13:22:00.003+01:002019-10-26T13:22:46.762+01:00SunLife hanging on<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I can't even remember doing anything that would warrant SunLife sending me an email, so it could have been spam. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Any hoo ... when I clicked on the 'unsubscribe' link, instead of the usual one-click to unsubscribe, I had to fill in a form.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Not illegal, but very poor practice likely to upset folk more than the 'spam' email.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHfhK4jzGR9pqjgnmIJhEoBF_iylG0BM3woz8kbfmKsKjpuhwyaDekrvqzkWNun2E3atm5HcBLmAH_BUyhTAN4Fc9CLq-UfGVVV8Gnw2LN5XYI17CkokPiAz9I24y-A03tGqZlBePzxbE/s1600/sunlife.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="757" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHfhK4jzGR9pqjgnmIJhEoBF_iylG0BM3woz8kbfmKsKjpuhwyaDekrvqzkWNun2E3atm5HcBLmAH_BUyhTAN4Fc9CLq-UfGVVV8Gnw2LN5XYI17CkokPiAz9I24y-A03tGqZlBePzxbE/s400/sunlife.png" width="337" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-20646947912238378332019-09-02T16:14:00.002+01:002019-09-02T16:14:33.677+01:00Do as we teach ... not as we do<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'm a big fan of Google's Digital Garage initiative ... but in this example they got it wrong.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUj6ZdZByn7-QKrnmgGdkv0MfKnIXjB95mw3WOcPEt05Vq3SGjmemGtFdgkO7zcaGlKuubOuxbZibAHM2QJ__kNChc_K7YiJQVfUt-PjupTQwKabIpSHW4y6pgQoKQKhqahwr_FZMnAow/s1600/googlegarage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="960" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUj6ZdZByn7-QKrnmgGdkv0MfKnIXjB95mw3WOcPEt05Vq3SGjmemGtFdgkO7zcaGlKuubOuxbZibAHM2QJ__kNChc_K7YiJQVfUt-PjupTQwKabIpSHW4y6pgQoKQKhqahwr_FZMnAow/s640/googlegarage.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Yep, on a page about courses for building a website a chunk of the text is over-writing itself.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Now, I'll bet the designers would say that it is because I'm using Firefox [the page does work properly on Google-owned Chrome :-) ] but that's being company centric <i>not </i>customer centric.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Sadly, this is not the first time I've had problems with the Digital Garage ... </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://getoutsidethebottle.blogspot.com/2018/03/email-still-third-class-citizen.html">https://getoutsidethebottle.blogspot.com/2018/03/email-still-third-class-citizen.html</a>Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-78383481534503711212019-08-23T20:18:00.002+01:002019-08-23T20:20:44.414+01:00Not so good at showing what you're good at<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The University of Sunderland was justly proud of its QS Stars award.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Shame it wasn't too bothered about the web page that trumpeted that award ... otherwise the images on it wouldn't have been broken.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Do'h.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMcxZSZBNX9lVzU-NZvB1FPt6vEEDpEfzi3BLYVViR02xWZedomcN7jQyUwhvA8BRucSyTGkXcW9Hw3uiIwCTxoqnWaixjQCqWg89Y0nUEe5aF6ghNHHdr0Y3gPaG48RcAYYaYUURG3o/s1600/uni+qs+rating.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1106" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMcxZSZBNX9lVzU-NZvB1FPt6vEEDpEfzi3BLYVViR02xWZedomcN7jQyUwhvA8BRucSyTGkXcW9Hw3uiIwCTxoqnWaixjQCqWg89Y0nUEe5aF6ghNHHdr0Y3gPaG48RcAYYaYUURG3o/s640/uni+qs+rating.png" width="441" /></a></div>
<br />Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-13975851571387636852019-08-11T13:05:00.002+01:002019-08-11T13:05:37.652+01:00Don't you want any customers?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'm not even going to promote this website by telling you the business's name. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This is what you get if you don't give them your email address when you arrive on the site.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Ho hum.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu34zfbHxUuFc3srcPBmvmKLGTr61CBqVWD4L251QydSaW3XlVs4zoaYym5yUgPOHOBpZAe3283lK1tmzPZdpTdPKe6iP3QyG9ogG5nfuo5UBkC9i0wCIULXjxbyboMBsIIuaNm2u__EI/s1600/cookies.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="500" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu34zfbHxUuFc3srcPBmvmKLGTr61CBqVWD4L251QydSaW3XlVs4zoaYym5yUgPOHOBpZAe3283lK1tmzPZdpTdPKe6iP3QyG9ogG5nfuo5UBkC9i0wCIULXjxbyboMBsIIuaNm2u__EI/s400/cookies.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-85289505632150713162019-05-01T21:07:00.001+01:002019-05-01T21:08:38.044+01:00Not just access to my data ...<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I bought something on Argos.co.uk - and on the 'purchase complete' page, I saw this ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="129" data-original-width="927" height="55" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DLD6TOp09HNiHxPzwv83gu0cxyOJ5gio1izWcelAOM74mP2IH16V7mFhZzePI8wq7Dc6fpioQzRNjp_CCfuXp_Ou7KaPt49z-mbbkvJtq8C3biIvMZXd1vUHB2ZEikoNlpej3srrq2s/s400/piggy01.png" width="400" /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I have to admit that I didn't realise it was an ad - I assumed it was a promotion from Argos - but when I clicked on the banner I got this message, which made it obvious that it was from a third party.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlo6kML69VNgmdCSfeWwA-UQkFak8tioeht2hL-hnQX3-qMrtA3yrgTKPABbSaE8H0wfc5YWyjpeBX7D8cbOGC0WW0VKXQ-cqdZdrS5SH0j6y5OZwQcICBLeYgDb1QuKeWAFy2b58k-PQ/s1600/piggy02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="1141" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlo6kML69VNgmdCSfeWwA-UQkFak8tioeht2hL-hnQX3-qMrtA3yrgTKPABbSaE8H0wfc5YWyjpeBX7D8cbOGC0WW0VKXQ-cqdZdrS5SH0j6y5OZwQcICBLeYgDb1QuKeWAFy2b58k-PQ/s400/piggy02.png" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">As I use Chrome, it seemed like a good deal, so I clicked on 'activate coupons', and got this ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiT1Qg6lPFNYqUb1f8E5lIXeqtNP8Yr3JrOhsmifXiBYx-UmfqBxo9MZ6kNC-Scm0d_lKEL7eqHHCy4xyLetCGtMqn8Xp8pfTQdTLsXXlBwHS4OEdBYgF-5Nr0iTwraDAl1QdyBjcVASQ/s1600/piggy03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1460" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiT1Qg6lPFNYqUb1f8E5lIXeqtNP8Yr3JrOhsmifXiBYx-UmfqBxo9MZ6kNC-Scm0d_lKEL7eqHHCy4xyLetCGtMqn8Xp8pfTQdTLsXXlBwHS4OEdBYgF-5Nr0iTwraDAl1QdyBjcVASQ/s400/piggy03.png" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">So I then clicked on the 'add to Chrome' link and got this</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3MmXugBvIzciQnPwFBS9ObRhPMSTATvY3_1S70wZU5lFn3DNJXm7g2g9WIld5OXomZ_0IjtbbdFTgOwY9AssX5_ea-ivROhk49nQiJGh3NOGGwJAfWBP2dWARQEygssD5Q9E3tTD0cx4/s1600/piggy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="570" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3MmXugBvIzciQnPwFBS9ObRhPMSTATvY3_1S70wZU5lFn3DNJXm7g2g9WIld5OXomZ_0IjtbbdFTgOwY9AssX5_ea-ivROhk49nQiJGh3NOGGwJAfWBP2dWARQEygssD5Q9E3tTD0cx4/s400/piggy.png" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Really? Allow 'Piggy' to read and change all of my data on every website I might visit in the future? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Change it to what? For what purpose? The mind boggles. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Need I add that I hit 'cancel'.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-39470598591438683552019-04-14T10:23:00.001+01:002019-04-14T10:23:28.860+01:00to visit Bloomberg.com you must agree to ... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyAEGRaLhhGA0vuISAtb4KNeuXfmcg0dnSCsltOk9ZYG7P8fEBgZet1daQfLPuOmczy5lBwP6PEh3_h2m_YCNu767LwM3V_Y2bGXK7TBvXaShXzmcy1f8k81HSM4noyEOjejQ2U_Ts5c/s1600/bloomberg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyAEGRaLhhGA0vuISAtb4KNeuXfmcg0dnSCsltOk9ZYG7P8fEBgZet1daQfLPuOmczy5lBwP6PEh3_h2m_YCNu767LwM3V_Y2bGXK7TBvXaShXzmcy1f8k81HSM4noyEOjejQ2U_Ts5c/s1600/bloomberg.png" /></a></div>
<br />Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-42266154005429352022019-04-14T08:49:00.000+01:002019-04-14T08:49:29.996+01:00if you want 'expert' advice ... ask someone who knows what they're talking about<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Like a number of other similar companies, domain name seller and other online services provider GoDaddy has been doing a lot of TV advertising. And like a lot of similar companies, the 'expert' advice in the ad is ... how should I put this ... shite. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrlAZmBgmlNmzTuYKfg0G7Do2LL_8o3gKzbs6uYcPJAVnv5G1Y5Kn61bxpziXYrAhCtJCrL03-q5HgAdpckFs9Cp8l45u3a2zRfl1i5PfyeHy_NoE5kHJyaONBpdixOFYN2ZCtjKF3ZVM/s1600/rolypoly1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="750" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrlAZmBgmlNmzTuYKfg0G7Do2LL_8o3gKzbs6uYcPJAVnv5G1Y5Kn61bxpziXYrAhCtJCrL03-q5HgAdpckFs9Cp8l45u3a2zRfl1i5PfyeHy_NoE5kHJyaONBpdixOFYN2ZCtjKF3ZVM/s400/rolypoly1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">GoDaddy have come up with an ad using that cheeky cock-er-nee chappy and jungle survivor Harry Rednapp. It's not a bad ad - and a homeless charity is benefiting - but that's not the point of this posting. The point is the advice given to the ex-football manager.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">His foundling business is called 'Harry's Roly Polys'. And the domain name presented by GoDaddy is harrysrolypolys.co.uk - as presented on the side of his van in the TV advert.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BoqzVLILRy-1NN06orXqlEqUCxr4ybDSOCOnK-FjbM9HFTqRCY0cRqrjjUfXtqkkU7ujbAyJ9_QORnhaSgnRBzjehNZv6Yc_SMvGndIcRCV9R1OCKsfd6ajATWiu2GzPQA-rg9zHJmI/s1600/rolypoly4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="750" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BoqzVLILRy-1NN06orXqlEqUCxr4ybDSOCOnK-FjbM9HFTqRCY0cRqrjjUfXtqkkU7ujbAyJ9_QORnhaSgnRBzjehNZv6Yc_SMvGndIcRCV9R1OCKsfd6ajATWiu2GzPQA-rg9zHJmI/s400/rolypoly4.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So I fired up the interweb and put the URL into a browser, and got this ...</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQWB8qw5xN53wdlJtUXFZLvc5UdaNRXUVqibUERY-Efu6LGMC7sVGXnbouOUseLGo41M8ONAFKzqQmckYsmPnwne2yIuUJAOK1qu-RyVvBLn32jCMSVD3X4dK79EMiUbYR1n9-LZsCSRg/s1600/rolypoly.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="733" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQWB8qw5xN53wdlJtUXFZLvc5UdaNRXUVqibUERY-Efu6LGMC7sVGXnbouOUseLGo41M8ONAFKzqQmckYsmPnwne2yIuUJAOK1qu-RyVvBLn32jCMSVD3X4dK79EMiUbYR1n9-LZsCSRg/s400/rolypoly.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Yep, my security software was blocking the site. The usual reason for this message is that the domain is forwarding the user to a website on a different domain - you know, in the same way an online fraudster might.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So I tried it on another device - and sure enough, I was directed to the got the same site as in the ad [see the first image above].</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">A bit of searching on Google turned up this page, presumably developed for the ad campaign [the business doesn't actually exist] ... which sits on harrysrolypoly.uk. </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7EzmuBg6aOpwYMfDYsSZVmluvj6kSf9NSFgQIB6NTp76CqeF2DxBxs4m4g1vITj0hgN2qVEzuK5W3d2xyGQ9UTvTVm3r0KnSgNERMb5n981tLFq8OHUz2BGB4mw47jfzsav6wcCwDz4/s1600/rolypoly3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="750" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7EzmuBg6aOpwYMfDYsSZVmluvj6kSf9NSFgQIB6NTp76CqeF2DxBxs4m4g1vITj0hgN2qVEzuK5W3d2xyGQ9UTvTVm3r0KnSgNERMb5n981tLFq8OHUz2BGB4mw47jfzsav6wcCwDz4/s400/rolypoly3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Now ... this got me thinking. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">If they had asked me - or someone like me - about the domain name I would have used I would have taken a couple of steps back and had a think [note: in much the same way as I've been doing since 1996 - some three years before godaddy.com was even registered].</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">To start with, there's the company's <i>proposed </i> name. It uses the possessive apostrophe - which cannot be used in a domain name - so I'd have asked if it was necessary. In this case [study] that the business is Harry's is essential to the plot of the advert - and so too, the fictional business - so it stays put.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The next is how do you spell the words/term to be used in the domain name.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Well ... as it is an adjective - and in this case, compound - the proper spelling is roly-poly. I have to wonder if anyone at the company actually knew this or even bothered to look it up? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So I would have gone with the brand name being <i>Harry's Roly-Poly</i> and the domain name harrysroly-poly.co.uk - or maybe harrys-roly-poly.co.uk. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I checked, and as of the date of this post, these are available. Even with <i>Harry's Roly Poly</i> being the brand name, I would advise GoDaddy to register them - if only to prevent someone from registering them - then putting them at the top of any searches [for anything like the term] for nefarious reasons. This would be a basic aspect of domain name security for any organization. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Then there's the suffix. GoDaddy have hosted their <i>faux </i>business on .uk rather than .co.uk. The latter is preferable as it is better recognized by users. I wonder if the company advises all of its UK customers to go for .uk? The skeptic in me wonders if they make more money from a .uk sale than a .co.uk? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">[PS: I'm not even going to bother with the issue that the plural of poly should be polies, not polys - GoDaddy have gone with the American version.]</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So ... does all of this matter? Some folk - obviously GoDaddy - would say not. I say it does. But my biggest problem is that the evidence suggests that GoDaddy did not even consider 'my' alternative option. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I might even suggest to </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">GoDaddy</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> that they could have had an 'advice' page which took time out to explain all of the above to potential customers. I would call that good customer service by helping them in <a href="https://www.alancharlesworth.com/domain-names/choosing-the-right-domain-name.html" target="_blank">choosing the <i>right </i>domain name</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">And finally ... maybe all of GoDaddy's staff have been so busy 'advising', or making TV ads, for the last three and a half months that they haven't had time to change the year on their copyright notice.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYL9-57-urCZRNS4k5lUJwDo9hIZbIabD-nfl4Ds-BCYyEC4nqh3r5-KLOJt67KUOSWa8Q5g92DmXvkPMz6c2_3swPUbsDjk_sNMDjdi6Uc7Yb7uERrxpskNnWRfviYKtLN0oxnN7hbVo/s1600/rolypoly5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="750" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYL9-57-urCZRNS4k5lUJwDo9hIZbIabD-nfl4Ds-BCYyEC4nqh3r5-KLOJt67KUOSWa8Q5g92DmXvkPMz6c2_3swPUbsDjk_sNMDjdi6Uc7Yb7uERrxpskNnWRfviYKtLN0oxnN7hbVo/s400/rolypoly5.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-33092710445930352372019-03-08T08:39:00.003+00:002019-03-08T08:46:53.945+00:00uppercase nonsense<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Yet another example of an online form being rejected because I used lowercase instead of uppercase, this time from footmanjames.co.uk.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicoqro2T4-W7NeQV7hcu-4BDPWBPyMJ8JNGDhovFOK_5ZrUqMiJe-BlHi3XzxOnmAOVwFRHEiLN-YhVS2ruahU-IqXVmuBO9NoyfEFt2xLpuZJTl-IrJGrYl02koKLpXDDRM3GS74eT04/s1600/footmanjames.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="624" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicoqro2T4-W7NeQV7hcu-4BDPWBPyMJ8JNGDhovFOK_5ZrUqMiJe-BlHi3XzxOnmAOVwFRHEiLN-YhVS2ruahU-IqXVmuBO9NoyfEFt2xLpuZJTl-IrJGrYl02koKLpXDDRM3GS74eT04/s400/footmanjames.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">In 'digital' parlance it is referred to as UX - usability experience. In good old fashioned sales parlance - that goes back to when Ugg sold his first bit of surplus dinosaur meat - it is about not putting up <u>any</u> barrier that the customer has to go through to make a purchase.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Just tell the techies to set up the form field so that it accepts both upper- and lowercase for all characters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">footnote: it got worse - I had to put a space between the two numbers in my postcode. I despair.</span></div>
Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-80715907766771326942019-02-24T12:04:00.001+00:002019-03-07T19:49:09.605+00:00I'm still waiting ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Note the date of this post: February 24th ... </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_DyIZJ1aUx6MYOdundmMSS4H4vkOoDxf_lwwi_G_z_iujfonerhkJAhNzGf6FLEQrm_lqTkC1bq0rsBwXboavTGmAfbgdZaNkNOykNU5tNQsf9Zt_uwnLlXgiFz2GorFskK3lTi5lWI/s1600/flying+blue.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="600" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_DyIZJ1aUx6MYOdundmMSS4H4vkOoDxf_lwwi_G_z_iujfonerhkJAhNzGf6FLEQrm_lqTkC1bq0rsBwXboavTGmAfbgdZaNkNOykNU5tNQsf9Zt_uwnLlXgiFz2GorFskK3lTi5lWI/s400/flying+blue.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">UPDATE: March 7th. Well ... it's taken them 45 DAYS, but KLM have replied saying the system is working now. There's a relief.</span>Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-14706101360496328352019-02-23T09:02:00.000+00:002019-02-23T09:02:00.617+00:00Christmas is coming ... or has it just gone?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Obviously, as spring is almost upon us, like everyone else I'm looking to get my garden in order for the summer [yeah, right 😜] ... anyway I came across the website of a local garden centre - which seemed to have been trapped in a time warp.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUTU7ZOwObW1nxAvYAy-C3QROF8Rl44YtI2Dm_31YF3YQpAQvJtE8e4kIU1OUzG6EV8rNOTP0fVsPuGmvS0g_hGuUlajsEJCDXP3WrFiW-J-CXnYbr76hkqN286F-tAxAS-lNrKYUJfQ/s1600/richardsons01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="700" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUTU7ZOwObW1nxAvYAy-C3QROF8Rl44YtI2Dm_31YF3YQpAQvJtE8e4kIU1OUzG6EV8rNOTP0fVsPuGmvS0g_hGuUlajsEJCDXP3WrFiW-J-CXnYbr76hkqN286F-tAxAS-lNrKYUJfQ/s400/richardsons01.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp65WZTrAe4MzHtMXujXPtJzplu7RtABYScebV8TcPm64Y-NHDf5u19TZWAWsL9u3RnOhvZmxYe_KH_HvOwr6-wdeX0SA3kF1k8K0Bul6u5L-Px4JZnc9gIbOWyn_13EXq8POS5JPrNcY/s1600/richardsons02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="700" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp65WZTrAe4MzHtMXujXPtJzplu7RtABYScebV8TcPm64Y-NHDf5u19TZWAWsL9u3RnOhvZmxYe_KH_HvOwr6-wdeX0SA3kF1k8K0Bul6u5L-Px4JZnc9gIbOWyn_13EXq8POS5JPrNcY/s400/richardsons02.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWhUdW2X0PRfrmEXK4lRsj0tw_WNE_x9aolTsuNNnHekTQYBlYK217GxaI9LF70ArwGWK2BCkrSzUEMzza5lKdoXvHSsRCKdXhlLCqdDgeDREkxZboBZXSQbKKBWUkL-pJN4fbE-RsiA/s1600/richardsons03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="700" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWhUdW2X0PRfrmEXK4lRsj0tw_WNE_x9aolTsuNNnHekTQYBlYK217GxaI9LF70ArwGWK2BCkrSzUEMzza5lKdoXvHSsRCKdXhlLCqdDgeDREkxZboBZXSQbKKBWUkL-pJN4fbE-RsiA/s400/richardsons03.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYINZsOiOAx-19xo5MZHlZA-WCwcLtkupr2P4fgStLfzFuWmJRl2e7R6OrKiSM9BwXsC8Wx3m2QmcZeAehTUm5nJOjmIdE6o5QnTjRZleZ4q9lG6SP3DdpitKg0ltOa3YWxqXzaUVoRo/s1600/richardsons04.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="500" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYINZsOiOAx-19xo5MZHlZA-WCwcLtkupr2P4fgStLfzFuWmJRl2e7R6OrKiSM9BwXsC8Wx3m2QmcZeAehTUm5nJOjmIdE6o5QnTjRZleZ4q9lG6SP3DdpitKg0ltOa3YWxqXzaUVoRo/s400/richardsons04.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">But here's the kicker - and it's why I get frustrated with organization's attitudes towards the web ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have shopped at this garden centre for years. It is very good. The folk that work there know their stuff. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">But if someone who had never been there found this on their website they might actually wonder if it is still trading. Furthermore, it's a bit out of the way - would a potential customer decide to make the journey based on this website?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'm absolutely certain that if a sign outside, or on, the premises blew down or got damaged it would be replaced as soon as possible. That would be the sign seen only by passers-by and customers who were already there. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Yet the website - seen by an untold number of <i>potential </i>customers - is ignored for months.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Worse still is that I've been saying this for more than 20 years.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Ho hum.</span></div>
<br />
<br />Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-60706609591659315772019-02-21T20:13:00.000+00:002019-02-21T20:13:56.827+00:00Booting up a deal<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I normally rail against pop-up appeals to join some scheme or other that impose themselves when you arrive at a site's home page - but at least this one offers 10% discount on your first order.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Given the price of their boots, that's an acceptable <i>bribe </i>from Doc Martins. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCDJXvFe0KdULiKRCikNDcPKhAzTeldkBvA5onTJ4GH3GHFZDjgVDYt6TloURUdweYFRr0Xkxz-r3dDjMzKw2Wtb3WrTORT9WOdJzfRxW2SusnM6nXviadDBKHbgyKwlDrYh36SHz8_3c/s1600/docmartin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="600" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCDJXvFe0KdULiKRCikNDcPKhAzTeldkBvA5onTJ4GH3GHFZDjgVDYt6TloURUdweYFRr0Xkxz-r3dDjMzKw2Wtb3WrTORT9WOdJzfRxW2SusnM6nXviadDBKHbgyKwlDrYh36SHz8_3c/s400/docmartin.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-2514661372046354512019-02-21T19:50:00.001+00:002019-02-21T20:15:30.968+00:00Roamers get it right<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Purveyors of desert boots, Roamers, have put some thought into their e-commerce site.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Here's a couple of things that I liked.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">First there's a nice sales 'trick' - though I mean that in a positive way. Like most clothing, there is always the issue of size - is their size 10 really a 9? To address that issue - in sales we'd call it a barrier - for just a pound you can buy a returns label. On a 30-odd pounds product, that sounds like excellent <i>insurance</i>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtGhX7p3_Lgy11NtSxV3xiJSfjnGmodo_GomVrCONgFuvm6F7nJAS1d_5ksVZFAu2qGDoe5pDXGCuAM2UAVrk6O7gu4tG0uGO9COd64S-6U7k1KM2R8BYI2YWaNB8LN58xv4YdoIRsi0/s1600/roamers1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtGhX7p3_Lgy11NtSxV3xiJSfjnGmodo_GomVrCONgFuvm6F7nJAS1d_5ksVZFAu2qGDoe5pDXGCuAM2UAVrk6O7gu4tG0uGO9COd64S-6U7k1KM2R8BYI2YWaNB8LN58xv4YdoIRsi0/s400/roamers1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The second thing I liked was the out-of-stock message. It didn't end with the message, it offered to email me when they were in stock. The double whammy for Roamers with this is not only am I pleased at the service - they get my email address: that is ... the email address of someone who is actually interested in their products.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghBp31xZEPQfVgyytOTr0RhXM4oMzyDlsg3iOPw8x82AdF8SMltONhgmWWOXSCBnJV0KMvQP86JEcbYc2TfjipL0WtHTfyQ18PlUQ6Fqyz5O4subNTAfEMrwclSL6Zaj8h4iOuNQQvrto/s1600/roamers2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="600" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghBp31xZEPQfVgyytOTr0RhXM4oMzyDlsg3iOPw8x82AdF8SMltONhgmWWOXSCBnJV0KMvQP86JEcbYc2TfjipL0WtHTfyQ18PlUQ6Fqyz5O4subNTAfEMrwclSL6Zaj8h4iOuNQQvrto/s400/roamers2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-278115621231360132019-02-21T10:40:00.003+00:002019-02-21T20:16:09.696+00:00Why adidas is going uphill - in more ways than one<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">OK, so I've been a fan of adidas for, well ... longer than most folk reading this have been on the planet [I got my first pair of sambas in 1971, I didn't dare tell my mum how much I paid for them].</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">But, that has no influence when I see good or bad practice - and this is excellent.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I came across a marketing <a href="https://www.marketingweek.com/2019/02/21/adidas-hiking-marketing/" target="_blank">article</a> about how the sports and leisure wear company was entering a new marketing - hiking - and, at the same time, changing hiking's 'stale' image ... so introducing the pastime [sport?] to a younger, trendier audience. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Win-win all round; adidas sell more product; people get fit, adidas tick the box for doing their bit for the heath of everyone on the planet.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Having read the story, I thought I'd take a look at the product in question - Free Hiker Shoes [I'm assuming 'shoes' will sell more, they look like boots to me?].</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And sure enough, there is an online [only?] campaign to launch the shoes, which, as it happens, is tonight [full marks to adidas' PR folk for ensuring the marketing story was published today].</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And here's the relevant web page on adidas.co.uk ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibIYFlmTqTv9pGTPY-tPnp_dJrOAIm54__KXWKhood1rsQy_MvEEueV_eq9-GA-ZSql_zgsiUCTuQoG-E0sUTHNsWZ4fEcuwON8i0icbilGjUBd7XLfXLddRlYvIt_YPuKhOxogvw7FI/s1600/adidas.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="600" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibIYFlmTqTv9pGTPY-tPnp_dJrOAIm54__KXWKhood1rsQy_MvEEueV_eq9-GA-ZSql_zgsiUCTuQoG-E0sUTHNsWZ4fEcuwON8i0icbilGjUBd7XLfXLddRlYvIt_YPuKhOxogvw7FI/s400/adidas.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Nice <i>clean</i> page design. All the necessary info is there. <i>And </i>there's a countdown clock to add a sense of urgency [always good to encourage sales]. If was into hiking I would want a pair. Heck, I walk a lot, I <i>do </i>want a pair.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">PS If you're thinking 'that page has no price' - the price was on the link that took me to this page. And that price? Nigh on 170 of our English pounds. Pricey? Yes. But not for the target segment adidas is aiming them at.</span></div>
<br />Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-61961920321012131512019-02-21T09:44:00.005+00:002019-02-21T20:16:30.813+00:00Why M&S is going downhill, an example ...<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So I was surf-shopping on the Interweb for a jacket.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Amongst the opinions presented to me by a Google shopping search was one at Marks and Spencer. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This means someone at M&S had made the effort to ensure their product appeared as a result of this search. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">However, sizes are a funny thing, and I wanted the jacket for when I travel abroad for work, so it needed to be 'roomy' to be comfortable on flights. Which meant I wanted to try on several sizes, essentially to buy one that is - by size - too big for me.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So I clicked on the 'find in a UK store' link, where I put in my postcode - and got this:</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNCTeRswPcFJuqIWXX2Il36MEWvXMry6w1BKCGoPMpu4ls6Q4CkqwCMRuIvnRdnYNiVUyX2SpuH4fU-HzaeWQfXXJ9RQ6jJFf22a0PilVm-QGRaopLMcik4Qjq0-w6CjJOgoAswfCDe4/s1600/mand+s.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1507" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNCTeRswPcFJuqIWXX2Il36MEWvXMry6w1BKCGoPMpu4ls6Q4CkqwCMRuIvnRdnYNiVUyX2SpuH4fU-HzaeWQfXXJ9RQ6jJFf22a0PilVm-QGRaopLMcik4Qjq0-w6CjJOgoAswfCDe4/s400/mand+s.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; text-align: center;">That's it. One store. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Yes, it is the one closest to me, but they [the digital marketing team at M&S] obviously think I am incapable and/or unwilling to travel to any one of the numerous stores they have in my area. Perhaps I do only want to shop in Sunderland, but they could try and tempt me to another by telling me where the jacket is in stock. Indeed, one of their biggest stores in the country is at Gateshead's Metro Centre, which is just down the road. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="text-align: center;">And here's the kicker - and it relates to my </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-center;"><a href="https://www.alancharlesworth.com/non-marketers-in-digital-marketing.html" target="_blank">non-marketers in digital marketing rants</a> - if I was in a store and they didn't have my size, any decent sales person would ask 'shall I see if they have one in another branch?' and then ask where I would be willing to travel to.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And if decent sales folk were involved in the development of e-commerce sites they would tell the techies to make that happen online. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It ain't rocket science, it's just good old fashioned customer service. Or is that </span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-center;">good old fashioned sales?</span></span></div>
Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-43125441155673115542019-02-21T08:56:00.002+00:002019-02-21T20:16:57.240+00:00This data-driven marketing really works ...<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">.<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">.. errr, think again.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Check out this message I got in an email this morning.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNB_z3V0N0pmbKR1f9q87yAWZTIss_y4LYkLyBkjYzzJyGGNfIMOMqh4ySVlLFnumFkQN-WgyTA6VIzhyDQ2VmcSLeP2QR5fdc6eeM9knvQH04_WznFxbTRXab3ltk8WhRFlyDXX0m5uk/s1600/Assembly+Hall+Theatre.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="499" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNB_z3V0N0pmbKR1f9q87yAWZTIss_y4LYkLyBkjYzzJyGGNfIMOMqh4ySVlLFnumFkQN-WgyTA6VIzhyDQ2VmcSLeP2QR5fdc6eeM9knvQH04_WznFxbTRXab3ltk8WhRFlyDXX0m5uk/s400/Assembly+Hall+Theatre.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 150%;">It's for a theatre I've never been to in a town I've never visited. Which is bad enough in itself, but it is in Tunbridge Wells, which Google Maps tells me is </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">309 miles and a journey
of five and a half hours away.</span></span></div>
Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-58469390229294159152019-01-31T11:06:00.001+00:002019-02-21T20:18:22.656+00:00Would you buy a used car from this company? What about a website?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">I get a lot of these emails, but this one is particularly bad.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVtuGPB-FgG0x-LarEfO-YWfF_ktSKx-fv-C3Wc3PCmtRoCtA818Rsp6H4B28oUaV1RRxc8zLC6xJAYNIjnekWZZNWXpDD6_RbMxR3SKGOWE5XLAvMKkrV1fUr2DeZsu8SdBgucF9Q3Q/s1600/akriga.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="902" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVtuGPB-FgG0x-LarEfO-YWfF_ktSKx-fv-C3Wc3PCmtRoCtA818Rsp6H4B28oUaV1RRxc8zLC6xJAYNIjnekWZZNWXpDD6_RbMxR3SKGOWE5XLAvMKkrV1fUr2DeZsu8SdBgucF9Q3Q/s400/akriga.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">T</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">o start with; it
is illegal to send unsolicited emails. This one is unsolicited, ergo; illegal.
Strike 1.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">The subject line
is not grammatically correct. I’ll go further, it doesn’t make sense – I originally
thought it was from someone for whom English wasn’t their first language.
Strike 2.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">The sender uses a
gmail address. For a business email. From a business that has its own domain
name? Strike 3, and I haven’t even read the message [in baseball, you’re out
after 3 strikes]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">In marketing
terms the message <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is not personalised e.g.
the sender has obviously not read the content of the website. Strike 4.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Let’s take a look
at the key points raised by the sender:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: blue;">Are you looking to redesign your website with new modern and as
per the latest industry standard look and feel?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span>
</span><span style="color: #222222;">There is no ‘latest industry standard look and feel’. </span></span>Strike
5.<span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">5 important reasons to redesign your website:-<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">1. Your content management system or website
technology is out of date. So is my car – it’s 33 years old but last summer it
took me 4000 miles around Italy.</span><span style="color: #222222;"> Old does not necessarily mean not fit for
purpose. </span>Strike <span style="color: #222222;">6.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">2. Your website design looks old and outdated.</span><span style="color: #222222;"> That would be a
matter of opinion – see (1) above. </span>Strike <span style="color: #222222;">7.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">3. Your website is not mobile – friendly.</span><span style="color: #222222;"> Google says it is.</span> Strike
<span style="color: #222222;">8.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">4. You are not getting the results you want. </span><span style="color: #222222;">And
what results would they be? </span>Strike <span style="color: #222222;">9.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: blue;">5. Your business focus changes. </span><span style="color: #222222;">Well … it’s not a
commercial website, so it has no business focus. </span>Strike <span style="color: #222222;">10.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Note that the name of the seller is not included in the message.
Reminder: the subject line included reference to brand. Strike 11.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">At the bottom was
this legally required message [part of the mailchimp package]<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="157" data-original-width="644" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRm1yeAK7XYRkQIXTPv2Eiwjild-SMtrBD83vFFc-o13PJEXPNpMWyfCtUOGRaJD7_f26LmQz6cAjm1dFv_tDI6S_1edBI0WuKcoN-DkFvnpZDXg-VqsdFIKa4oudtYpkjGUd18Jtycs/s320/akriga02.png" width="320" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Well, I thought,
although I’m very careful maybe I have signed up for something [e.g. a digital
marketing newsletter] where the small print said that my email address might be
passed to organizations who sell services in that industry … so I clicked on
the ‘why did I get this’ link – which should tell me who has passed on my email
address. I got this … <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4C3ucNbrpF6o_cKRaujSaKhPXue8hzI06nKZ509xCijELLBnxE5PLLcA9fpxEBeUlotWo8OTW_3MpSS00wfG1e2gHnvYZtIsEyvahxlidoiOwH206x106y9GUsh3LNi45Uif0Yy1AUo/s1600/akriga03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="769" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4C3ucNbrpF6o_cKRaujSaKhPXue8hzI06nKZ509xCijELLBnxE5PLLcA9fpxEBeUlotWo8OTW_3MpSS00wfG1e2gHnvYZtIsEyvahxlidoiOwH206x106y9GUsh3LNi45Uif0Yy1AUo/s320/akriga03.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Y</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">ep ... after the 'you were subscribed because:' message, it should [legally, I think] tell me why I was subscribed. Strike <span style="color: #222222;">12.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">So I had a look
at the website of the anonymous seller – I got the URL from the message above.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">I simply cannot
be bothered to comment on the whole website – and I’m running out of strikes to
give out. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">However, that it timed out while I was surfing [a WordPress issue?] deserves strike number
13.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgav8eSz_1yOXDiaju5V1g99bnSogRsz1ujXYgnPLoWX74ItXA0C8Dj92zoY9Egjr5fzOuyoU2GzSPxH6ESf-qBk6zlFIr5EqU5taSeL-gtKhW3cT-HMmaxUGsWMh9v4a46zgr3Tbz900o/s1600/akriga04.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="419" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgav8eSz_1yOXDiaju5V1g99bnSogRsz1ujXYgnPLoWX74ItXA0C8Dj92zoY9Egjr5fzOuyoU2GzSPxH6ESf-qBk6zlFIr5EqU5taSeL-gtKhW3cT-HMmaxUGsWMh9v4a46zgr3Tbz900o/s200/akriga04.png" width="196" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">And no, I checked, nothing to do with my Internet connection. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">However, I did
take a look for the marketing manager who sent me the email, and got this …</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKy6Ub89E8O3McGk0XEtHiFzdWBdiuc3sTlvRxGfunl7M0U-cRhQXKXkaBqK6CL727EzrG_AhZMxa6_dqwW6Ma8JxjYXwMX-URUxQ72v7u_XtAmBAx9qFlfh-E6cSi425_dXVg47ovjkc/s1600/akriga05.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="432" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKy6Ub89E8O3McGk0XEtHiFzdWBdiuc3sTlvRxGfunl7M0U-cRhQXKXkaBqK6CL727EzrG_AhZMxa6_dqwW6Ma8JxjYXwMX-URUxQ72v7u_XtAmBAx9qFlfh-E6cSi425_dXVg47ovjkc/s200/akriga05.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">So, as they
provide an address in a public forum, I thought I’d take a look at the location
of akriga.com.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrA-QAAeGIX_RjtSkxZ_2axKKrrqfP_A3SfdEc2YiSiKzM1QdZ15C8YURFNFOtSR-qKWOjWJnSbxjlqU8eSkyy32WFhpDna63GUC-tKjK7_nLrXmBrofr2kDUw7ZK9dv3VaHY4BbBwEEU/s1600/akriga06.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="569" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrA-QAAeGIX_RjtSkxZ_2axKKrrqfP_A3SfdEc2YiSiKzM1QdZ15C8YURFNFOtSR-qKWOjWJnSbxjlqU8eSkyy32WFhpDna63GUC-tKjK7_nLrXmBrofr2kDUw7ZK9dv3VaHY4BbBwEEU/s400/akriga06.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">… and it is a
private house. In itself this is not necessarily a problem. A lot of ‘mom and
pop’ type setups operate successfully from a home. But I’m afraid for a web
services company, it’s strike 14. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Talking of
operating from home – it is perfectly valid for, say, a vintage wedding car
hire company. Which is exactly what the 'Quaint and Quirky Motor Company' shown on the map
is. And full marks to the owners of that business for making sure it’s on
Google’s small business lifting and so appears on any Google map. Note however,
that the company offering digital marketing services [for a fee] isn’t. Strike
15.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">I gave up at this
point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Footnote: one of
the services listed on the Akriga site is s<span style="background: white;">ocial media monitoring</span>. <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">So when you read this Ade, Ian or Jenifer: Hello … and your
copyright notice still says ‘2018’.</span></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-16557808401828629582018-12-30T18:14:00.001+00:002019-01-31T11:32:35.814+00:00Plain does not mean bad<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For all those who feel that I'm wrong in my opinion that 'plain' websites are more often than not best in achieving the site's key objective, take a look at one of the most visited web pages on the Internet ... the home page of Google Chrome.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp_AX7TGa2x-5eQ6TrptRp2zwqobNRHjcB66b9kEwLgo7icRaOoT0uV6quW6_IeWbZIk09r7SSmk1moy0cyf2MJyJAB4XQEq7iPACe-xr8pp1eutUaX16GnFLscn4yG2r1Zu2BcJUeanw/s1600/google+chrome+01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="500" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp_AX7TGa2x-5eQ6TrptRp2zwqobNRHjcB66b9kEwLgo7icRaOoT0uV6quW6_IeWbZIk09r7SSmk1moy0cyf2MJyJAB4XQEq7iPACe-xr8pp1eutUaX16GnFLscn4yG2r1Zu2BcJUeanw/s320/google+chrome+01.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Notice how it leads with the brand name followed closely by the search box. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It then offers the user a list of the websites they [in this case, me] use most often.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">However, this posting has two purposes. The second is with regard to the use of icons/symbols instead of text. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In the image below I've removed the words. I'm guessing that you will recognize some [Google, ebay] but what about the others? </span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jQ9cKT39bdGDKRcngjZe6BST6HHjABinKcyK-tZ0lj2L-pjfGY5Y5ltX_9N9BcLiLDsa9y1DZ0RcmVPYBv_RFXW9D1EyiWvCFK59hMdxCCYrtvoGMgGHZ1wFm3T4o_0KWBqsOdNoNd8/s1600/google+chrome+02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="500" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jQ9cKT39bdGDKRcngjZe6BST6HHjABinKcyK-tZ0lj2L-pjfGY5Y5ltX_9N9BcLiLDsa9y1DZ0RcmVPYBv_RFXW9D1EyiWvCFK59hMdxCCYrtvoGMgGHZ1wFm3T4o_0KWBqsOdNoNd8/s320/google+chrome+02.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Obviously, I know what they are as they represent websites that I often visit. But what about the red tree icon? It's the badge of Nottingham Forest ... but which website does each represent? I would be guessing, with a 50% chance of getting it wrong.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Below is the same page with text only.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjK4s7DHjPaRR_QQSbgV3UmA9c0fIiZ9Dpjm6baamtLRFUCJGDnHzYnA441iAwMtmg92493Xjs93xY0FuCPiDSddAD7GNXizq2SJ1FDy_2ULmaxn8loifM-6bfYlIQlBtWsW5A1ThwQM/s1600/google+chrome+03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="500" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjK4s7DHjPaRR_QQSbgV3UmA9c0fIiZ9Dpjm6baamtLRFUCJGDnHzYnA441iAwMtmg92493Xjs93xY0FuCPiDSddAD7GNXizq2SJ1FDy_2ULmaxn8loifM-6bfYlIQlBtWsW5A1ThwQM/s320/google+chrome+03.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It might not look as pretty ... but there is no confusion as to where each link will take the user.</span>Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573866790111723856.post-89950564343353364742018-11-23T14:47:00.002+00:002018-11-26T11:37:51.620+00:00Online chat services don't work ...<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">... particularly when they're not open.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxWmpIzR5IOzO2NzdvVj5fgL7_vPT8O0ZiO6K-HfnLpZEbNauLjsPg_hmWR_7Q7aHk6MF0ySoHZ2GDSP72nOsylKvMYo-6oP75ZnqIZnjhCmyvez3nm5RQ5b8dNKCWK8WW-Dor2uNjQQ/s1600/bt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="1600" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxWmpIzR5IOzO2NzdvVj5fgL7_vPT8O0ZiO6K-HfnLpZEbNauLjsPg_hmWR_7Q7aHk6MF0ySoHZ2GDSP72nOsylKvMYo-6oP75ZnqIZnjhCmyvez3nm5RQ5b8dNKCWK8WW-Dor2uNjQQ/s400/bt.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">BT would never shut down its service telephone lines in the middle of the afternoon - so why is it OK to shut down an online service? [answer: it isn't].</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">UPDATE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I did manage to access the chat facility via another route. Sadly, before I got an answer to my query, the chatline closed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2BPRkheZh1O3q8HTrQuPvQQkw-UhIQwiMp-8NBqn3U7ECjXerAAtYf8sjF0aXjW7icw55OCnR4fhQcXYYsAXS0_q4yRoWnXZZcjCIaz9m0eiqpdgeUkld_7yLO3LaCEl4D2brzrxGHU/s1600/bt2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1572" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2BPRkheZh1O3q8HTrQuPvQQkw-UhIQwiMp-8NBqn3U7ECjXerAAtYf8sjF0aXjW7icw55OCnR4fhQcXYYsAXS0_q4yRoWnXZZcjCIaz9m0eiqpdgeUkld_7yLO3LaCEl4D2brzrxGHU/s400/bt2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So, BT have a record of an unresolved query. They know who I am and how to contact me ... I wonder if they do. Watch this space.</span></div>
Alan Charlesworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03722560742473801103noreply@blogger.com0