Marie Performs A Day After Son’s Funeral!
Mar 10th
Vowing that singing would help her “survive,” Marie Osmond returned to the Las Vegas stage Tuesday night amidst tears and standing ovations.
It was her first public performance since her 18-year-old son Michael Bryan took his own life on February 26 and one day after she laid him to rest at a Provo, Utah funeral service.
“The way Osmonds survive is we keep singing,” Marie said after the first of three standing ovations, according to Radaroline.
“My son would want that.”
Marie wore colorful gowns through the sold-out 90-minute show with brother Donny at the famed Flamingo Hotel. But she did shed tears during an emotional solo opera-number which she dedicated to her son.
During his solo portion of the show, Donny said: “I hope you all appreciate what Marie’s going through tonight. That fact she’s even here…what a strong woman.”
As the Vegas performance concluded, Marie continued to smile but appeared overcome with emotion as she wiped away tears and struggled to finish the evening’s final song, “It Takes Two,” according to People.com.
After the music stopped and crowd came to it’s feet, Donny simply walked to his sister and hugged her.
Whats The 411 hearts go out to your family.
“Mama’s Boy” Jason Momoa Talks ‘Conan’
Mar 10th
You heard it here first folks, Conan the Barbarian used to get stuffed into lockers. Okay, okay, I’m joking, but Jason Momoa, the actor who will be playing the legendary warrior in Marcus Nispel’s 2011 film, did get his fair share of bullying when he was younger.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Des Moines Register, Momoa talks about his experiences growing up as a “little hippy kid from Iowa,” his introduction to Hollywood as a cast member of Baywatch, and his thoughts on taking up the legendary mantle of Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the mighty Conan.
While the article is chock full of interesting details about Momoa’s life (enough to make even the most ardent Momoa-haters sort of like the guy), we here at Screen Rant are most interested in details on Conan’s progress. To this end, the article featured a number of interesting new nuggets to pore over.
When Momoa was first cast in the role, one of the big criticisms from fanboys was that he didn’t have the right build to play the “almost inhumanly strong” Conan. Of course, Hollywood generally has no problem in beefing up actors quickly, which is exactly what is happening with Momoa.
Quoting from the article:
He [Momoa] expects to add 10 more pounds of muscle to his frame with help of David Leitch, a stunt performer seen in “The Bourne Ultimatum” and Chad Stahelski, the martial arts stunt coordinator for “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions.”
Additionally, Momoa is enrolled in an “intense six-week training program at a stunt and martial arts academy” where he is learning the fine art of smashing skulls with a 10 lb sword. Beyond the character’s physicality, Momoa also talked about how he sought to get into the mind of Conan by re-reading the source material, namely the original books by author Robert E. Howard.
While these new details may not be enough to convince Conan fans that Momoa is the right man for the role, I happen to think that he’ll do a pretty good job. At the very least, with Mickey Rourke in the running to play Conan’s father, and Avatar bad guy Stephen Lang cast as Conan’s main adversary Khalar Singh, we know that Momoa will have a good supporting cast to work with on what is shaping up to be one of 2011’s more exciting films.
What do you think? As Conan comes together, are you comfortable with Momoa in the lead role?
Currently, there is no release date for Conan, though the film is expected to hit theaters next summer.
Source: Des Moines Register
Trends and challenges in Web Analytics in 2010
Mar 10th
Challenge 1. From reporting to actionable insights
There was much discussion around how best to cope with “Information overload” and “analysis paralysis”. There was a common need to make subsets of information available to marketers who are non-analytics specialists who don’t use the systems regularly.
Practical solutions discussed included creating custom profiles, dashboards and alerts within the analytics system which related specifically to a market or category the marketer was involved with. We identified a 1 in 10 rule, that for every 10 marketers or digital marketers there needs to be one specialist analyst (or part of) to devote time to producing the tailored reports, optimisation projects and education. There needs to be a way to avoid this person being sucked into reporting only. Identifying the right culture for a rolling programme of optimisation of site areas, page types or marketing activities was another common approach.
Education was also seen as key with many trying to build in sharing of insights into the campaign process from making identifying learnings part of the briefing process through to always making some time for discussing learning in post-campaign reviews. Several of the attendees had produced a step-by-step guide to applying the software to their individual business. If you’re using Google Analytics, my guide to customising Google Analytics to your business may be useful.
Challenge 2. Selection of multiple web analytics systems
When we reviewed the main web analytics systems companies used, the paid systems (i.e. Coremetrics, Omniture, Site Intelligence, Unica and Webtrends ) dominated as you would expect from companies investing substantial amounts in Ebusiness.
But many were also using Google Analytics as a “free” system, so we discussed the need to standardise on a single tool. Some were taking this route to avoid the issue of resolving discrepancies in reporting methods and lower cost of training and support. Others felt that Google Analytics provided a useful tool for less-skilled marketers to review how well their campaigns or landing pages were performing whereas the power users .
This recent report from iPerceptions on Who Runs Analytics? iPerceptions shows that amongst retailers there is a trend to using more than one tool as also suggested by the Econsultancy report on measurement strategy.
Another trend suggested by the largest companies was the creation of a data warehouse for integrating data exported from web analytics with that for company systems. Visualisations were then created using business intelligence system like Business Objects or SAS.
Challenge 3. Evaluating social media
There was a separate roundtable on social media, so we generally kept this brief discussing the tools that were most popular and selection criteria. Not much to add here, other than keep an eye out for the Econsultancy Buyer’s Guide to Buzz monitoring tools which is scheduled to be published in March or April. In the meantime, you may find this compilation by Michael Brewer and myself listing 25 social listening tools useful.
Another trend is the integration of reporting of social media into analytics systems – I mentioned the recent announcement from Webtrends about Facebook tracking and someone mentioned that AT Internet had an established approach for this.
Another interesting tool which was mentioned that I was unaware of was Rapleaf which appends social network data to your customer database to help you discover where your customers are across the social web.
Challenge 4. Improving search engine marketing
Again, there were separate tables on this, but many attendees had particular concerns on measuring and improving SEO effectiveness in particular.
We didn’t really get into the details of this, but several mentioned that additional analysis was required outside the main features offered by web analytics tools. In order, for example to evaluate multiple touch-points from search engines and integration of SEO and Pay-per-click through a gap analysis.
One tool which is interesting for visualising searcher behaviour is the free keyphrase visualisation tool from Juice Analytics (part of their more sophisticated Concentrate tool). Worth a look if you haven’t tried it, although I’m still making my mind up as to whether it’s a toy or an actionable tool – it does highlight problem areas though.
Challenge 5. Attribution of sale to individual digital channel and multichannel attribution
I’ve left this to last, since it’s certainly not a new challenge. I’d say there was a mix between those using the last-click win model and weighted attribution approaches. There was interest in the relatively new Tagman approach for measuring multiple touch points
There was also discussion on how to model and assess the impact of TV on sales. Some attendees had used econometric modelling which help develops a rule of thumb on the optimal mix of online and offline, but only really as a one-off analysis rather than an ongoing approach.
Other challenges
So what wasn’t covered that we expected to be? Well there was surprisingly little discussion on AB and multivariate testing, probably because there was an adjacent table hosted by Craig Sullivan covering this, although it was mentioned by several participants as a worthwhile activity.
If you’re completing a vendor selection I have just been alerted by @JimSterne of this new specialist AB or MVT tool comparison site.
One of the areas of analytics that excites me most is tools that elicit feedback from customers. These systems close the loop from most web analytics systems which show what customers, but not why. For example on my site and at Econsultancy we use Kampyle to gain feedback and this gives great granular feedback, for example, feedback on individual reports or problems with the site and this is integrated with Google Analytics. I notice that Kampyle now has a two-way integration with Omniture which enables marketers to be automatically alerted about on-site issues affecting customer service and conversion.
I’m also seeing more companies replicating the idea from Dell Ideastorm by creating open or closed customer communities where they give feedback which feeds through into new product ideas. Ideascale offers an increasingly popular solution for this.
If you’ve found some effective solutions to some of these challenges or have other challenges to discuss, do let us know.
UK’s ASA looks to regulate social media marketing
Mar 10th
A proposed amendment to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code would give the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) the ability to scrutinize activity that takes place on social networking websites. According to the Advertising Association, which submitted the proposed amendment:
The recommendations, if accepted, will bring companies’ marketing
communications on their own websites, and other non-paid for space
online, such as brand activity on social networking sites, within scope
of the CAP Code.
Currently, paid online advertising, such as search and display ads, fall within the ASA’s remit. But the ASA says that’s not enough:
…nearly two thirds of the complaints that we receive about online
marketing activity are not presently covered by the Code. The proposed
extension of our remit will plug this regulatory gap, ensuring that
consumers enjoy the same level of protection on websites as they do in
paid-for space.
Needless to say, this move is not surprising given the amount of marketing activity that takes place outside of the areas the ASA has the authority to regulate. And it’s not entirely surprising that industry is supporting it. As we’ve seen in the United States, where much was made of the FTC guidelines when they were first announced, the threat of this kind of regulation usually turns out to be exaggerated. The vast majority of businesses aren’t trying to break the rules, and with some official guidelines in place, some marketers may feel more comfortable about their activities in nascent mediums like social media. If expanding the ASA’s remit helps foster more comfort amongst marketers who are interested in social media investments, the expansion could be a good thing.
Unfortunately, it’s unclear how many of the complaints not covered by the CAP Code would be actionable even after the remit is expanded. After all, legitimate businesses aren’t behind most of the egregious online scams that ensnare online consumers. Scammers don’t care about the rules, and for consumers, the ASA’s ability to regulate won’t be nearly as important as its capacity to enforce.
Photo credit: davidsonscott15 via Flickr.
Has Playmobil heard of usability?
Mar 10th
Detect visitor’s country of origin
The first screen you see when you arrive at the Playmobil site via the search engines is this, which asks the user to select their country:
The website should detect the visitor’s IP address and automatically direct them to the relevant site, why make them work any harder than they need to? It’s just annoying.
Don’t make users register before browsing
Like the lockout threat, this is pretty staggering stuff. Someone at Playmobil seems to value the capture of customer data well above the user experience.
Basically, if you want to view the full product page, browse the online shop on the site and add items to your basket, you have register first. This is absolute madness.
Making users register before they checkout can be a bad enough idea at times, but at least by that point customers have added items to their basket, and shown enough purchase intent that registration may not put them off.
By asking people to register before they can even view further product details or add items to the basket, Playmobil must be deterring loads of potential customers, something which is not helped by the lengthy registration form, which asks for email address, password, name, address, phone number, as well as inviting you to set up separate accounts for your children.
The text at the beginning of the form perhaps provides an insight into the thinking behind this baffling process. It says: ‘We encourage you to visit your local Playmobil retailer to make your purchase’, before going on to describe how you can touch, view products in displays, and ask advice from store assistants.
So, Playmobil doesn’t actually want visitors to its website to shop online. Never mind that they have already shown an intention to purchase by arriving at the site and clicking to register so they can actually start to shop, they would rather send you offline where, who knows, you might find a competitor’s product which you prefer.
Login madness
Just in reviewing this site, I must have created at least five or six accounts on Playmobil. This is because it doesn’t seem to remember cookies and, if you leave the site alone for half an hour or so, you have to login all over again.
As you may have already guessed, this can be a tortuous process. You cannot create another account using the same email address so you need to either go through the reset procedure or start a new account, which is the lesser of the two evils.
While perhaps I should have remembered my password, I’ve not had as much trouble resetting passwords and logging in on any other site. If this was online banking I could understand the fuss, but on an e-commerce site it is unnecessary and will just put people off.
Like the example in this post, where a retailer made $300m by removing registration, I would wager that there are tons of duplicate accounts on the site.
Children’s accounts
Playmobil allows users to create accounts for their children, if the hassle of creating one account before shopping wasn’t enough.
This creates unique logins for children so they can browse and add items to wishlists, though they can’t buy anything from the site. In the run-up to birthdays and Christmas this may have some value, as kids could create a wishlist that parents could select presents from.
In practice though, it just doesn’t work, since I can find no way to link the children’s wishlist to the parent’s account to actually buy the items on the list, which totally defeats the point of wishlists.
Ludicrously long T&Cs
Entering the checkout brings up a page of Terms and Conditions that should deter a few of the shoppers that have made it this far through the process.
Most e-commerce sites sensibly keep the T&Cs out of the way of the checkout process. Yes, you have to agree to them, and they are there for users that want to read them, but to place them so prominently within the checkout process is just bonkers.
Rude error messages
While sites should do what they can to anticipate and avoid common user errors, they will happen, and therefore error messages need to alert the customer to the mistake and help them to correct it, while also being polite.
This error message (click image for a larger version) doesn’t fit the bill. The exclamation mark is totally uncalled for, and will just annoy users. It annoyed me anyway…
Shipping costs that deter higher orders
This has to be one of the most bizarre examples of delivery charges I have seen on an e-commerce site:
Yes, the more you buy, the more you spend on delivery, which is nuts. What better way to discourage customers from adding extra items to their baskets?
Long waiting times for delivery
Then there are the delivery times. Some e-commerce sites can deliver same day or next day, while most manage it within 2-3 days, so why does it take 10-15 working days for delivery?
Would anyone bother when the wait is that long? It certainly doesn’t make it an attractive destination for Christmas shopping after October.
No contact number and slow email response times
If you want to check up on your order, or else ask any questions, then there is no contact number for you to contact Playmobil, just an online contact form which promises an answer within five business days.
Telephone or live chat options should be provided for customers, as this offers a quick and easy way to answer product queries or follow up orders. If there is no phone contact option then, as ASOS does, emails should be responded to promptly.
Doing neither will just infuriate customers, especially when delivery lead times are so poor. Customers could conceivably wait three weeks for an item to be delivered, then another week or two for a response to a problem with the item. Transactions could take months. In a digital age, this kind of service is totally unacceptable.
Conclusion
I’ve only scratched the surface here; i could easily find plenty more usability issues with this site. For a well-known brand that people will search for online, this website is a very poor effort. In fact, I was surprised to find that this site was apparently relaunched in 2007, as it seems like a relic of the late 90s.
Whatever the thinking behind this website, it seems clear from this website that Playmobil is simply not paying enough attention to its e-commerce operations.
Just by following some basic e-commerce best practice guidelines, it could make a huge difference to its conversion rates and online sales.
Playmobil is a well-known and trusted brand, and one which surely could do well online, so it’s a mystery why they seem to have got it so badly wrong so far…
Six things you can learn from Sex.com’s failure
Mar 10th
Yet next week, Sex.com will go on sale again. The reason? For more than a year, Escom LLC has reportedly been in default on a loan it used to finance its Sex.com purchase. So the lender is finally foreclosing and hoping to recoup millions at auction.
For a domain that once reportedly generated $15,000 in revenue every day, the failure of Sex.com offers six important lessons.
- A great domain only goes so far. Sex.com is certainly one of the most desirable domain names on the internet — perhaps the most desirable domain name — yet a great domain and the type-in traffic that comes with it usually aren’t enough to build a sustainable business.
- It’s all about development. A great piece of land can appreciate in value, but you typically have to develop a property to produce income. Given the amount of competition online, developing an awesome website that offers value is an absolute prerequisite for attracting and retaining users. As the Baltimore Sun notes, Sex.com features little more than a “mish-mash of blah links and boring essays (paired with a design our 10-year-old cousin could improve upon)“. Make no mistake about it: poor execution on the development-side is one of the biggest reason Sex.com is heading to the deadpool.
- Focus is important. If you haven’t visited, you might think Sex.com is something it isn’t. For instance, you probably wouldn’t expect Sex.com to be selling rather tame “I Saw Your Dad on Sex.com” t-shirts. But it is. You’ll also find a YouTube video of the day, love horoscopes, and polls. In other words, Sex.com is trying to do everything, and because of that it does nothing well.
- Business models change in every market. The ‘adult entertainment‘ industry is often heralded as cutting-edge adopter of technology, and that’s probably true to an extent. But like all industries, it faces challenges online, from piracy to rampant competition. The owners of Sex.com clearly failed to innovate and adapt to the changes within the industry as they said they would, and they paid the price just like companies in other industries that have failed to keep up with the rapid pace of change.
- You always have to market yourself. Despite the domain, Quantcast reports that Sex.com receives less than half a million unique visitors in the US each month. Even more surprising: you won’t find Sex.com on the first page of Google when you search for ‘sex‘. Whether you’re paying for advertising or building organic traffic through SEO, you can’t sit back and expect users to find you. That’s especially true when you’re not giving existing users much reason to come back.
- Allocation of resources is crucial to success. Every business has a budget. The key to success is maximizing that budget by allocating resources appropriately. Blowing all of your money on a domain name and skimping out on everything else, for instance, is a recipe for failure.
Like other massive .com flameouts before it, Sex.com is a reminder that money, ideas and domain names come easy. Building a real business doesn’t. Without common business sense and execution, very little can keep a website from failing. Even Sex.com.
Photo credit: je@n via Flickr.
That’s not going to help you get into Costa Rica
Mar 10th
Rush JigglesWell, apparently, Rush Limbaugh is getting ticked off he’s no longer the only worm-filled apple in the right-wing paranoid’s eye. No, it’s time to say some stupid sh*t that at least gets you in the news and allows your greek chorus of listeners to shriek “dittos” through their sheets in glee.
Not content to threaten (promise) to leave America if it enacts slightly less profitable health care, he threatens to leave for a country with a single-payer system. Well, that’s just stupid and pointless, i.e. par for the restricted-golf course.
But that’s not stupid enough, nor racist enough, for ol’ Flatulence. He’s determined to crank up the stupidity. And who better to take out his frustrations on than a black guy? Speculating about New York Governor David Patterson…
David Paterson will become the massa…who gets to appoint whoever gets to take Massa’s place. So, for the first time in his life, Paterson’s gonna be a massa. Interesting, interesting.
“Massa”? Wow, real subtle. KKKlassy even.
That tripe won’t play well on your immigration paperwork.
(Gif from here)
Water Consumption and Olympic Hockey
Mar 10th
This chart from the utility company EPCOR contrasts water consumption in Edmonton, Alberta on two different days. February 27th is charted to show a normal day. February 28th was the day Canada won the Olympic gold medal hockey game. As you can see, a huge percentage of their customers waited for breaks in the game to “go”. Link -via reddit
Facebook Fans Want Baby Named Megatron
Mar 10th
On February 27th, someone created a Facebook group that’s called “MY SISTER SAID IF I GET ONE MILLION FANS SHE WILL NAME HER BABY MEGATRON.” Already there almost 750,000 fans, and the due date isn’t until August. And over at the discussion boards, one thread asks what the middle name will be.
Easy: Destroyer of Worlds.
Link (Image: ©Hasbro) -via College Humor
Cancelled Art
Mar 10th
Two artists have been playing pretty games with the UK Royal Mail’s automated sorting offices. It seems the machines simply read the colour of stamps to check whether the correct postage has been used, so it doesn’t matter what shape they are. Kim Rugg and John Spurgeon each use proper stamps, only they are cut into tiny pieces to create the art on the envelopes. As long as it’s cancelled, it counts! Rugg creates tentacled monsters (pictured), fireworks and beach scenes, while Spurgeon has a collection of vintage postcards sent with confetti postage called ShakesMyMail.
Link to Kim Rugg’s work. Link to John Spurgeon’s Flickr set.
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