www.Digital-Time-Capsule.com
OUR FINAL PROJECT:
www.digital-time-capsule.com
Ipod meets Starwars?
http://cias.rit.edu/~eab5500/dp_2007/final/04.jpg
http://cias.rit.edu/~eab5500/dp_2007/final/05.jpg
DP Design Doc, Project 3
Idea: Digital Time Capsule
DP Project 2
Final Concept:
Pie charts resize based on number of images in uploaded category.
Final Comp of Project 2.
Swf Link
http://cias.rit.edu/~eab5500/dp_2007/imageUploadLab/Attempt2/upload.swf
imageUpload ideas
DP Project 1 Final
DP Essay
Edward Baker
Dynamic Persuasion
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
The Future of Internet Marketing
With the availability becoming more and more widespread each year and over 1.114 billion people wired worldwide (Wikipedia), the Internet has been the driving force to globalize our economy. This new digital economy has proven to be extremely valuable to businesses that have been able to take advantage of online marketing campaigns. The use of Internet Marketing initially started in the form of text links, gradually progressing into banner ads, and when Macromedia (Now Adobe) introduced Flash, the Internet was set ablaze. Flash quickly dominated the Internet with amazing animations and the start of advanced interface designs. This eventually led to viral web campaigns such as Phillip’s ShaveEverywhere.com. Although Flash has dominated the web industry, in recent years a new type of website has emerged, often referred to as “web 2.0” or social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace. The question to be answered now is: What is next? The following is an analysis of what is to come.
Text links and banner ads have been the driving force for web marketing for a very long time. Google Adsense has revolutionized the popularity of pay-per-click advertising (PPC) making it available and easy to use for almost anyone who has a website. The main problem facing PPC advertisers is a majority of web users are becoming immune to banners and text advertising. Users know where web advertisements are placed and have learned to ignore everything but the desired content they seek. (Figure 1, Nielsen/Norman Group) Companies have started to switch over to viral marketing campaigns. Viral marketing has proved to be more successful as its emphasis is less on actual advertising and more on brand development. Viral marketing encompasses a “word-of-mouth” type of system as visitors to the website are given the option to send-to-a-friend.
With this being said there is only one avenue that companies can take right now and that is developing Flash or programming enriched web applications with viral, gaming, and social networking tendencies built in. A great example of this is Ganz’s Webkinz. Webkinz are stuffed animals that can be purchased in select stores, such as Hallmark Gift Shops or hobby shops. An initial response might be “Oh great, another stuffed animal.” Wrong. Webkinz are the hottest toy on the market for children ages 4-12. Even some adults have found entertainment in purchasing them. Each Webkinz comes with a unique activation code which can be entered on the Webkinz website where your stuffed animal comes to life. The website features an adoption system where you use your code to adopt and name your pet and then can partake in fun interactive games and activities with your pets and friends. Users log on to play games which in return award them with “kinzcash” an online currency used to buy almost anything imaginable for your pet. Build your pet a house with fully furnished rooms and invite over some friends to play. As a parent you might hesitate letting your child spend time online with child predators and inappropriate content lurking everywhere. Have no fear, Webkinz has a built in chat system that only lets user say predetermined chat lines such as “Hi” and “You are so much fun!”
(Screen Shot of Webkinz)
How fun can this whole thing possibly be? Fun enough that users spend several hours a day earning kinzcash, buying new things for their pets, and taking care of their pet’s high gene. I’m a 21 year old uncle, with two nieces who live for Webkinz. The last time my nieces visited Grandma bought each niece two new Webkniz animals. The shear excitement in their eyes would leave you to believe that there is nothing more fun then Webkinz, and truthfully I believe it. Remember one thing, you need to buy a new Webkinz at least once a year. Your account expires 365 days from your last pet adoption.
Another web-based marketing tool sweeping the world is Second Life. The name says it all. It literally is a second life to your current one. You can do anything imaginable within the game. Major companies have started to use Second Life to bring their products into the virtual world for branding and exposure.
(Screen Shot of Second Life)
Do I believe the future of Internet Marketing rests entirely in online gaming? Yes and No. Yes, meaning whatever is being creative is going to have to have the “fun” and “entertaining” aspect to it. It does not necessarily have to be a full-fledged game, but whatever it is will have to entice the user to continue interacting on the site. No, because there are plenty of other interesting concepts that have not been brought to the web just yet.
Overall the technologies that are developing and advancing are going to allow for richer web-based interactions to occur. With programming systems like Ajax, XML, PHP, and Actionscript, as well as back end database management systems, almost anything is possible. Websites are no longer going to be just for learning about companies. In fact, one day soon you might even be interacting with company representatives face to face via the Internet. Technical help through chat is already offered on many corporate websites, the next step is literally seeing, hearing, and interacting with the person. These multimedia rich applications are just the beginning.
Figure I.
Tracking study conducted in June of 2006 to analyze the behavior of eye-movement in regular web users. Nielsen/Norman Group (www.nngroup.com)
Some URL’s to visit:
Viral Sites
http://www.shaveeverywhere.com
Web 2.0 Sites (Social Networking)
What May Be the Future
Works Consulted
“Internet.” Wikipedia. 24 Mar. 2007 .
Kopytoff, Verne. “Click Fraud a Huge Problem.” San Fransisco Chronicle. 5 July 2006. 24 Mar. 2007 .
Lockne, Patrick. “Pay Per Click Advertising is Dying But Not From Click Fraud.” Patrick Lockne. 8 July 2006. 24 Mar. 2007 .
DP Project 1
DP Project 1.
Flash’s removeMovieClip() is a bastard and will be defeated.
So I am Trying to get flash to embed in WordPress for the first time.
It looks kind of bad there. So I am going to direct link it below:
Warning: gzuncompress() [function.gzuncompress]: data error in /home/eab5500/public_html/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/easyswf.php on line 255
Please let me know if the compression looks terrible. I can’t seem to fix it even at 100% JPEG.
Fixed Comp from Lab
Worked a little bit more on the comp in lab. Mostly worked on getting database going. When I get home I am going to try getting rid of some of the formality of the site.
Comp v.001
Initial comp design. Still debating over navigation system. I want it to be like a scratch off game. I need to go buy some scratch off tickets and see about scanning them in and making them fit. I am going for a clean and light design. Similar color scheme to NY Lotto site. Checked out multiple state’s lotto websites and all have the warm colors with white and blue. Name for project still up in air. Spent hours brainstorming for something catchy. I am trying to get something I can actually buy the domain name of and post to the WWW. I would like to make this go live. Be back with more soon.
Comp too big for Blog. Link for image.
Oh P.S. These lotto balls are sweet from Snook Design. Thinking about going 3d.
