Making sense and success out of internet marketing Grandma’s Treats Making sense and success out of internet marketing Today I am going to present the results of Internet marketing research in which I compare the marketing strategies of three companies, point out the good and not so good aspects of their strategies, and what strategies we can apply to the new Grandma’s Treats website to ensure it’s success.

The Office Depot Strategy Push offers to the viewer using “pop-ups” Special deals just below the top of the page Lot’s of motion to attract the viewer’s attention Links to departments at the top Mouse over departments displays products in middle of page (just like Office Max) Small search bar in upper left Office Depot uses “pop-ups” to grab view attention to special promotions. The trouble with “pop-ups” is that they are disruptive and regarded as annoying in most cases. I found that I would just cancel out of them rather than read the content. The special deals are place just below the top of the page in a prime area to grab viewer attention. This area is very animated with large, bold letters and bright colors that spell out the current deals of the day – very effective. The links to departments at the top are easy to miss and I found them by accidentally “mousing over” the department names. Also, the very small search bar in the upper left seems to convey that you can search “if you really have to” rather than providing a tool for the viewer that works with confidence.

The Office Max Strategy Special deals just below the top of the page Lot’s of motion to attract the viewer’s attention Effective use of pictures in place of words Links to departments across the top Mouse over departments displays list of products in middle of page Small search bar in upper right Office Max seems to copy Office Depot in most respects. Other than their use of pictures to replace word labels (which I found to be very effective and easy to browse), Office Max chooses to use the same components in almost the same position as Office Depot. Their strategy is reminiscent of those companies that clone other companies in order to pull customers to their store and away from the competitor by mistake rather than by choice.

The Staples Strategy Special deals just below the top of the page Lot’s of motion to attract the viewer’s attention Effective use of pictures in place of words Guy screams “Great Deal!” when web site opens Menu of departments on the left Mouse over reveals products in that department in middle of page Large search bar at top of page Staples web site is focused on being different than the other two stores by using gimmicks that fit in with their advertisement campaign off of the Internet. They use many of the same components as their competitors such as the large, animated, special deal area just below the top of the page, however it this case the special deal area includes a person that walks into view, shouts “Wow, that’s a great deal!” and then walks out, and does this repeatedly. This same person can be seen in their television ads. Staples has also elected to place a more extensive department menu list to the left of the page. When the viewer “mouses over” the menu items the details are displayed over the top of the special deal area. The menu invites interaction by it’s placement on the page and it’s different color scheme. In addition, the large search bar at the top invites the viewer to browse on their terms without being confined to only using the department menus (so the search function must be effective or it will be more of an annoyance than a convenience).

How are they similar? Departments list Mouse over displays detailed list of products Special deals and coupons displayed just above the middle of the page toward the top All have a search bar As mentioned earlier, it appears that Office Max is trying to copy Office Depot. Both have the same components and almost exactly the same placement with the exception of “pop-ups” in use by Office Depot and pictures/icons that replace word labels on the Office Max site. Staples also uses the same components including a search bar, the special deal area toward the top of the page, moving the cursor over the department menu to view details (very interactive) and a departments list.

How are they different? Staples differs from the other two in several areas: Guy running around shouting about “Great deals” then repeats Search bar four times the size of the others More departments listed Department list on the left instead of the top Frequent use of pictures as labels instead of words Search bar is much larger than that of Office Depot or Office Max Office Depot differs from the other two in the following: The use of “Pop ups” to grab viewer attention to special deals Office Max does not differ significantly from the others Office Depot uses “pop-ups” to grab viewer attention to their promotions. Office Max uses pictures/icons in place of word labels more frequently for easier browsing. However, the biggest difference is with Staples. They have a search bar that is four time bigger in size than either competitor. The have enhanced the special deal area to include a person that walk’s in and addresses the view directly, and in a loud voice (attracts attention). Staples lists more departments, positioned to the left and vertical and also tends to use pictures/icons frequently more than words.

The big question….what works? Sound can grab and keep view attention The use of pictures/icons in place of word labels make the site easier to view (less reading, more universal) A large search bar Special deals promoted in prime space with lots of motion Department list on the left? So what works? Sound, if it appropriately matches what is being sold, can draw in the viewer to the page. Staples does this (although I found the guy that walks into the page to be somewhat annoying and turned off the sound). The use of pictures/icons in place of words makes browsing faster and easier in my opinion. However, care must be taken to make sure the pictures in use are universal and mean the same thing to the vast majority of viewers. A large search bar just make it easy to find the search bar although it also invites the user to type more words into the search area. As long as the user can find it I am not so sure the larger search bar is worth the additional space it consumes. Special deals displayed in the middle, just below the top of the page, with lots of color and animation, seems to be very effective as does the placement of menu items on the left. However, the vertical left menu item list may not be universal to all cultures (some read right to left) so knowing the customer (viewer) helps in deciding just how effective this type of placement will be.

The bigger question…what will work for Grandma’s Treats? Sound, such as music or a pleasant voice, will get the viewer’s attention without being annoying The use of pictures/icons in place of word labels makes for easy viewing and can reinforce a common theme A large search bar inviting the viewer to browse the site Special deals in prime space with lots of motion will attract viewer attention, can be entertaining, and sell merchandise by pushing low prices For Grandma’s Treats I would recommend the use of sound, but use pleasant music instead or perhaps a person that walks in and talks about the special deals instead of shouting about them. Using pictures/icons in place of word labels should be used where it makes sense (such as the shopping cart). Since the inventory is relatively small compared to an office warehouse, a large search bar should be included as the space consumed will probably not be needed by menu items. Using the visual aspect of the web site effectively, pictures should also be used extensively to display the product in a way that is pleasing and looks delicious. Office warehouses compete mainly on price whereas Grandma’s Treats is in business because their products and sugar free and yet taste very good - so bring out the best of Grandma’s Treats frequently in the web site in order for the site to be effective.