I took the Dell and Newegg mobile iPad apps out for a spin this week. Among the sites we track, Dell and Newegg seem to be the only two companies that have jumped into the ecommerce end of the iPad app pool (update! CDW just launched its app). Since Dell and Newegg are the first, it’s time to see if they are the best. Read More→
Author Archive for Marty Gruhn
By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Tuesday,
January
24th,
2012
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By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Monday,
October
17th,
2011
So much for conventional wisdom.
For the most part, I’d rather have a root canal than use most support Websites.
Search for information and you end up with a list of a bazillion documents with truncated descriptions that read like Sanskrit.
Want to take a different path? Try ferreting your product out of a laundry list of every product the company ever made.
Or try the “follow our logical links” scenario—where you end up drilling to China.
At the end of all of this wonderfulness is the real insult. Support content that either requires an engineering degree to understand—or a wad of general purpose instructions that dance around the problem and miss the issue by a country mile. Read More→
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Categories : POV (point of view), Support
By Marty Gruhn · Comments (1)
Wednesday,
June
8th,
2011
In this Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother we take IBM.com’s new mega-menu for a spin (or two).
Fair warning, this post is long!
IBM.com has launched revised home and solutions pages that feature the next major piece in its evolution: a new take on mega-menus. Not surprisingly, IBM.com has put its own spin on what is fast becoming an industry norm. In this Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother we weigh in on the pros and cons of IBM.com’s latest design. Read More→
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By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Wednesday,
May
25th,
2011
In this Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother we tackle HP.com’s new home page launch—and the waterfall effects on this mega site.
Kenna Dian | Don’t Bother
I have been watching the latest HP.com home page launch for the last three weeks with great interest—waiting to see how the new home page design would shake out. But after all this time, I am left wondering what on earth HP.com thinks it’s doing.
A short history. The cycle started about three weeks ago with a new home page, which suddenly disappeared the next day. Next, it appeared again in a rotation with the old home page. Within a week, there were 3 versions of the home page—then 4—and now we’re up to at least 5. Add two animated versions that show the visitor how to use the home page’s feature panels and navigation—and you have the whole picture.
I don’t know if HP.com will eventually settle on something—or will continue playing Russian roulette with its home page. But I do know that I’ve learned four things watching this…um…unique launch. Read More→
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By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Monday,
April
25th,
2011
Kenna posted four new case studies last week – all around IBM.com’s Smarter Planet zone and the new “cult of personality” we see on this site. If you haven’t spent some quality time on this piece of IBM.com real estate, it’s time to dust your dancing shoes off and go for a spin.
Each of the case studies focuses on a different design or content best practice—but for my money, the “cult of personality” discussion is a compelling moment of brilliance. It looks like the IBM Smarter Planet team has actually cracked the code on how to marry social media behaviors with the company’s core business propositions. Here’s a thirty second summary of Kenna’s POV.
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By Marty Gruhn · Comments (20)
Friday,
November
12th,
2010
The devil is in the details
Last month Cisco released the latest evolution of Cisco.com, and the results are nothing short of amazing. Visitors taking a quick spin around top levels of the site will notice obvious improvements. The introduction of a more vibrant color palette. Updated page layouts. A new toolbar at the bottom of the page. And, some tweaks to its best-in-class mega-menu. But these enhancements, while nice, aren’t what make this redesign a step above the rest. The things that make the difference are far more subtle. Read More→
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By Marty Gruhn · Comments (2)
Tuesday,
September
28th,
2010
A circa 2008 site that missed the memos on Web 2.0, 3.0 and social media
I was surprised at the IBM Software Group zone’s performance in our latest siteIQ evaluations. Once upon a time, this site ranked first among all enterprise software comers by virtue of its huge portfolio of content & features, and competitive usability scores.
Fade out two years later and the story is much different. This site dropped to third among the 5 enterprise software sites we study and stands in 11th place on the siteIQ eBusiness Index. (You can download a free IBM Software Group scoring summary here).
Today, CA.com and Oracle.com are the sites to watch. Between the two, I vote for CA.com. Read More→
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By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Monday,
August
30th,
2010
Most companies need to rethink their online price & lead generation strategies. Ignoring the sales force is the first step.
I can’t quite figure out why so many companies avoid putting prices on their Website. Actually, I do know. The company’s sales force wants to embargo product prices to force Web visitors to fill out that pesky contact form or engage in an online sales chat. This, they say, allows them to sell the product’s value and benefits, and work around the product’s price.
This is a big mistake. Here’s three reasons why.
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Too many dotcom Web teams are borgs and butterflies. They need to be problem solvers.
I faithfully read Seth Goden’s blog every morning. One reason is that it’s blissfully short [memo to self]. The other reason is the golden marketing nuggets he brings to the table.
This morning is such a moment – and one that speaks to why so many LOB execs and stakeholders constantly push back on dotcom Web teams pitching new designs or the latest industry trends.
They don’t think they have a problem.
Face it. From most stakeholders’ perspective, dotcom teams come in two flavors: the “borg” [you will be assimilated] and the “butterfly” [this is the latest trend and we need to capitalize on it]. Neither are focused on a problem from the stakeholder’s point of view.
But what if a dotcom team saw its stakeholders as customers? Like any good salesperson, the team would help stakeholders identify a problem and explore its cost or impact on the LOB.
In other words, dotcom teams should sell the problem.
Until stakeholders agree that they have a problem, the solution doesn’t count. That’s why so many projects end up in chaos. In pushback, deliberate inertia, and stakeholders who spend their time deliberately coloring outside of the lines.
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Categories : POV (point of view), Social Media & Social Networks, Strategy, Web 2.0, Website Launches
By Marty Gruhn · Comments (1)
Thursday,
August
19th,
2010
Companies eying new markets should avoid “Marie Antoinette” and “Frankenstein” support strategies. Here’s why.
You can tell a lot about a company’s prime customers by its Website—and even more by how customers fresh from acquisitions and market gambits get lost in the shuffle.
Examine companies like Dell, that has moved from its consumer roots into enterprise markets. Or, IBM’s, CA’s and Cisco’s endeavors to translate historical successes in the enterprise realm into SMB markets. And then there is Oracle’s attempt to execute simultaneous vertical and horizontal market strategies by lashing together its software applications with Sun’s hardware and storage products. There are plenty of examples.
If you think the “tell” of these (and other) companies’ successes or failures are found in their online marketing content, you would be looking in the wrong direction. In reality, the “tell” is found in their support and training zones.
Before support and training Web teams even entertain the hope for a successful market move, they must take these two approaches off the table: Read More→
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Marty Gruhn on Twitter
- New case study on the way: The IBM SWG Website team is executing its cult of personality strategy to perfection. http://t.co/YuBBODwr about 14 hours ago from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
- Smart moves. IBM uses "Connect" tab 2 drive visitors 2 high value social media venues & LinkedIn groups to start conversations with IBMers 05:20:29 PM January 13, 2012 from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
Follow Kenna Dian on Twitter
- Online communities your thing? The Online Communities Index report is hot off the presses for Library subscribers! http://t.co/EAAgG7bi about 13 hours ago from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
- RT @SageNAmerica: Great quote from Larry Ritter RT @LCoates1: "If you don't like change, you'll really dislike being irrelevant." @ACTby ... about 13 hours ago from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
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