Costa Coffee “dark blend”

Costa Coffee are my latest pet hate for Dark Patterns.

When you go to a Costa they do the same thing the country over… “Would you like Medio (Medium) or Massimo (Large)”… as if the “Primo” (small) doesn’t even exist as an option. Obviously good selling technique for them but to me it is irritating as most people don’t look on the board to see there is a smaller option, or don’t believe it exists as it wasn't offered. This combined with the incredibly small writing means that only the most diligent customers actually get to “choose” the smallest (cheapest) option. Good for Costa but bad for the customer.

Oh and then there is their Coffee Club… “The Costa Coffee Club is our way of showing some love to all you Costa coffee lovers out there. It's free to join and a great way to get something back - simply for enjoying the food and drink you love…” which should say after it “AS LONG AS YOU DON’T WANT A COFFEE AT A MOTORWAY SERVICES”… which for us rural folk is where we drink most of our coffee!

What is so “dark” to me is that all their staff are trained to be misleading. In times when honesty and integrity of some of the world’s leaders and leading brands (is there a difference anymore?) are being challenged it seems perverse that companies are training their staff to be less than completely honest.

So Costa Coffee – when I have a choice, I seek out honest independents… and when I don’t, I’ll have mine “Primo”…

AA FAIL? Immoral earnings?

If a company insists you go onto Direct Debit for your car breakdown cover (“to make sure you are always covered”), initially ordered over the internet, is it immoral for them to automatically renew your insurance at the NON internet rate,  15% higher.

Not sure? Ask the AA!

When we did they reduced our renewal premium to the internet rate. We have since cancelled the direct debit and now receive monthly calls and letters saying that we are putting ourselves at risk, and should resupply our bank details!

In marketing terms this would be defined as a “dark pattern” – one which undermines the very basis of what the brand stands for. These “own goals” seem almost acceptable to consumers these days, and perhaps our failure to change provider is symptomatic of this.

Next year we switch to the RAC.

We like Triodos Bank

Tim recently opened an account with this new ethical bank, Triodos, for his building company, Natural Path

The new cookie law – it will affect you...

What is it?

If you haven’t already heard of the EU cookie law and you have a website, then you really should read this article... in essence it’s a new European law that requires websites to tell people what cookies they use and their purpose when they visit. Sounds like a lot of hassle right? Well I’m afraid it probably is...

How does it affect me?!

The law has actually been in place since May 26th 2011, but most companies haven’t done anything yet as the powers that be have given a 12 months amnesty period in which to comply... but that amnesty period is due to end on May 25th 2012.

In the UK the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is responsible for enforcement of the cookie law... so those guys could well be chasing you if you don’t put something in place that gives web users more info about the cookies that will be stored in their browsers when they visit your website, and the ability to opt out/ in.

What will visitors to my website notice?

It all depends how the people that manage your website, go about informing visitors of the types of cookie and their purpose. Using a dialogue box, will disrupt users from browsing your website as they won’t be able to do anything until they have closed the box. A discreet status bar at the top/ bottom of a web page is likely to be more user-friendly.

So can I just ignore it?

You could, but there is no indication of just how strictly the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is going to be on enforcement... you could be letting yourself in for a world of pain, especially if your company’s website handles high volumes of traffic. The safest approach is to comply or you could be faced with a fine of up to £500,000.

Will my website analytics data still be accurate?

At present it is not yet clear, as the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) argue that you still need consent. This could bring into question that accuracy of Google Analytics as a tool to measure and analyse visitor trends to your website. But having said that, a solution could be found whereby web browsers are engineered to include a universal consent or opt out button.

To find out more and to discuss updating your website, please get in touch.

Contact: info@sketchanidea.co.uk

Tel: 01841 540 874.

Facebook fan pages now have timeline layout

Facebook recently announced their new timeline layout for Facebook fan pages, and so the way companies use Facebook to promote their brand and interact with their audience has changed as well. There are four things that if you haven’t done them already, then they are really worthwhile doing:

1. Upload a cover photo

Upload a cover photo that gives real visual impact. An image that interests your fans and expresses what your company has to offer.

2. Add a new profile picture

Add a new profile picture, ideally your company’s logo. The new profile picture dimensions are square at 124px x 124px, so its likely you will need a new graphic. This new  graphic will also be used to represent your company as a smaller thumbnail image across Facebook, so using your brand logo is preferrable.

3. Pin a post to the top of your timeline.

You can pin a post to the top of your timeline, and it will stay there for a week. It’s a great way to highlight an important piece of content, like a promotion or event, so it’s the first thing people will see when they visit your page. 

4. Reorganise your views and apps

Whilst apps are still relevant they currently play a less important role, and you can no longer drive ‘likes’ through a landing page app. The landing page apps remain, and are accessible through the panel tabs below your cover photos, but look out of place given the new layout. Views and apps are now displayed at the top of the page, below your cover photo. You can display only four at a time, and photos always come first. So if you have more than four views and apps, organise them so the most important four come first.

If you want to find out more about the new Facebook timeline layout, and how it can be harnessed to promote your company and engage with your customers, please get in touch.

Setting up a LinkedIn profile?

When setting up your LinkedIn profile, you may ask the question, what are the dimensions of my Linked In profile picture? As the time of writing this article they are 450px x 450px!

Paul Eddleston Google Profile

Adverts mean a lower search ranking on Google.

Google very recently changed the way they rank websites in organic listings, penalising web pages that are littered with fixed adverts and have no content in the top half. Surprisingly, pop-up and overlay adverts are not affected by this change.

The top half of a web page is always the first part that you see upon arrival. If it lacks content and has lots of adverts, then it’s not going to rank highly on Google’s organic listings. It seems like a worthwhile change on Google’s part as it rewards web pages that keep their content clear and prominent, because this is in the best interests of the readers of that content. Join our blog or ‘like’ us on Facebook to keep up to date on all things web.

Before and after TDB

Hard to believe the first poster below was done by a company who claim to do “design”…  here are the before and after shots. Happy to say the client saw the value in our work.

 

The low down on HTML 5…

HTML 5 is the next leap forward in web development; it is more search engine friendly, great for mobile browsing and does not require third party plug-ins for audio/ video support. It’s been around for a while, but has really started to come into its own as web browsers like Google Chrome and FireFox have started to embrace it. We recently launched a HTML 5 website for financial planners Hansford Bell in Tavistock.

So you are probably thinking what’s new and why should I care? If you imagine a web page has a beginning, middle and an end, which has to be indexed by search engine crawlers in order to show up in search listings. Well, until now those search engine crawlers have been unable to identify what’s the beginning, the middle and the end, as every web developer gave each part their code a different name. HTML 5 gets around this by employing generic code which is more easily read by search engine crawlers like Google’s very own ‘Google bot’, and is therefore more easily indexed. Thus search engine’s like Google can provide you with more accurate search results, depending on your search query of course.

As far as browsing the web on your smart phone goes, HTML 5 is pretty awesome for that too, allowing smart phone users to render graphics and animations much faster and more effectively than with typical flash software. In fact it’s so good, that Adobe (makers of Flash player) have just officially announced that they are killing Flash Player for Android and the BlackBerry Playbook, arguing that HTML 5 is the "best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms”. The good news is Adobe will continue to support Flash for the PC, which is not surprising as it remains the delivery conduit used for popular players like YouTube.

One of the most advantageous aspects of HTML5 is that it does not require third party plugins for audio and video, making it much easier to embed videos on your site should you wish to do so! This is pretty cool as plugins can often cause your browser to slowdown or crash and its pretty inconvenient when you are trying to watch or listen to something and you are prompted to download and install a newer version of the plugin before you can do so!

So... why wouldn’t you want HTML 5? There’s less hassle involved with plugins, its quicker, search-engine friendly and great for the internet on your smartphone.

How could Twitter benefit your business?

The great thing about social media platforms is that they are free. The only cost involved is the time spent running them, and twitter is no different! Twitter is most useful for discovering what is going on ‘right now’, and it’s great for many businesses too as it provides a way to keep their customers updated and informed. A tweet could provide followers with links to a promotional offer or news story, or a status update running through what they are up to. Each tweet is limited to 140 characters in length so you won’t find yourself burning the midnight oil writing long articles to keep your followers entertained!

As with other social media outlets, twitter is a quick and easy way for customers to see what is going on without having to actually visit the website or blog of a company. For example, @MarksandSpencer, currently sell a vegan range that I would not have otherwise known about had I not been following them on twitter. So there’s no doubt it’s a great way of reaching out to your target audience.

Although twitter is free, at a cost, you can take a step further in reaching your audience by using twitter’s ‘Promoted Accounts’ feature. By signing up to this feature, twitter will position your twitter account in front of users who might be interested in following your company using the ‘who to follow’ widget. It is well worth while if you have a small following online and are looking to build your brand. ‘Promoted tweets’ may also be of interest if you are running a promotion or launching a new product, for example, and are looking to extend the reach of your message. Promoted Tweets also make good use of your brand advocates, encouraging sales and interest through retweets and recommendations.

We have briefly covered just how useful twitter is for many businesses to reach new and existing customers. Here at The Drawing Board, we provide social media consultancy, management and copywriting services. To find out more please call us on 01841 540 874 or email info@sketchanidea.co.uk.

Just a thought about how website design is progressing

So a design shift has begun... After visiting one of my favourite Australian surf websites and seeing that they are about to launch their redesigned website, I started to realise how far reaching the Windows 8 interface has been. It seems funny that OS design is influencing web design, but if the general consensus is that this is the new benchmark for high value design, then it won’t be long until everyone’s doing it.

I recently had a go on the developer version, and it doesnt take a genius to figure out that Windows 8 has been influenced by so-called “post pc” devices like tablets and smart phones. A couple of things I would say... its a real break from the norm, and is gonna be a struggle for workaholics or folks scared of learning something new at first at least anyway! I'm hoping that the finished product is not over-simplified to the point of being thrown in the bin (we’ll see!). I mean there were things about Windows 7 that were stupid proof, and when I say that I mean over-simplified to the point that they stopped me from being able to do things the way I wanted to do them, and I’m concerned that Windows 8 will go a step further down this path.

Mac and PC early days

Biographer describes the early days of Steve Jobs, the Macintosh and the development of its user interface. Fascinating stuff.
Check it out here

Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook... This is war

Just read a great article about the big four, and how they are all now competing with one another in various markets as they each branch out. I think this quote says it all
"There was a time, not long ago, when you could sum up each company quite neatly:
Apple made consumer electronics, Google ran a search engine, Amazon was a web store, and Facebook was a social network. How quaint that assessment seems today."

Check it out here http://bit.ly/qppGbk

BBC iplayer goes international

The BBC is now offering its popular iplayer services to 11 European countries. Disappointly for them its only available through an app for the ipad. But still its pretty exciting to see them expand beyond the UK to deliver some great TV to fans in Europe, and I've no doubt other parts of the world will follow...

What happens when you turn a stairs into a piano...

Well, this happens...

Worlds longest sea bridge

Just saw this pic of what is now the world's longest sea bridge. It was built in Eastern China and at 26 miles long, it could stretch across the English Channel (so much for the channel tunnel lol). Impressive...

Quality counts

The other day my wife triumphantly announced she had found a trampoline selling for 1/4 of the price they normally do. This was terrific as we wanted it for our daughter whose favourite word is “bounce”…

Having spent most of a Sunday trying to put it together using the Pictionary standard destructions it was finally finished… and then we noticed that the frame leg on one side was cracked… not too bad only have to unbolt 4 nuts and put a new frame leg support on. Then we noticed a tear in the trampoline itself… that means taking all the upper part to bits and the biggest pain, rethreading the net. At least she could us it, and bounce she did… big smiles all-round.

And then the zip broke on the safety net… The thought of taking the whole thing to bits, to send it back, to putting up another one and finding similar problems is exhausting in itself. I guess the moral of this story is cheap is cheap for a reason!

Just a test

I’m just playing around with the Tweet Meme button. Mission accomplished- it works!

Technorati Tags: social media,social networking,twitter

Diaspora

Diaspora (pronounced die-ass-pora) is the project of four New York geeks that I came across just recently. Their vision of a social network without the problems of giving away your personal data to big corporations, is something we should all really aspire to. But the only thing now is that Facebook is so huge now (over 400 million users and counting) that it might be difficult to encourage users to switch. But if it does stimulate a mass following, then it should bring change to an industry that really needs to take social networking privacy controls seriously.

Google Instant Search – A to Z

The somewhat anticipated launch of Google’s latest enhancement has gone live today.  Google Instant Search is basically a progression on from the keyword suggestions which have been shown for some time to users as they type into the Google search box.  Instant Search takes this a  significant step further and actually updates the search results themselves as the user types.  Google say that this should reduce the average time taken to perform a search by between 2-5 seconds and thereby save Google/The World more than 3.5 billion seconds every day!

There have already been inevitable criticisms of this by those who decry the additional bandwidth this service requires (miniscule when compared with watching a Youtube rant on the same subject) and those who find the whole idea of change just too bewildering – how long before Time moans about it tomorrow?  For me, this is a very interesting development and makes the deep understanding of a particular target audience even more important in terms of optimising a website for search.

If you haven’t seen it already you should head over to Google to try it out or read a more detailed description (and watch a video) direct from the horse’s mouth.

Oh, and the A to Z?  Well an interesting exercise in vanity/brand awareness is looking at which websites are shown for each single letter of the alphabet.  I’ve seen a USA version but for your interest here is how it breaks down for the UK (for me at least, today).

A is for	Argos		N is for	Next
B is for	BBC		O is for	O2
C is for	Currys		P is for	PayPal
D is for	Debenhams		Q is for	QVC
E is for	eBay		R is for	Rightmove
F is for	Facebook		S is for	Sky
G is for	Google Maps		T is for	Tesco
H is for	Live.com (Hotmail)		U is for	Youtube
I is for	ITV		V is for	Virgin Atlantic
J is for	John Lewis		W is for	BBC Weather
K is for	KLM		X is for	Xbox
L is for	National Lottery		Y is for	Youtube
M is for	MSN		Z is for	Zara

Jacob Old's Google Profile