Marketers Know
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Site Dimensions
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Professional web sites are designed
for 800 x 600 resolution.
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What this means is 800 pixels
wide by 600 pixels high. A pixel is a measurement of space on a monitor.
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What is the resolution setting
of the computer you are sitting at right now? To find out:
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reveal the Desktop and press
the right mouse button. Select "Properties."
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The Display Properties dialog
box will appear. Select the [Settings] tab.
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In the bottom right-hand corner
of the Display Properties box, look for the "Screen Area" setting:
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Leaving room for the web browser
as well as the page to all fit on the monitor, the widest a site should
be is 755 pixels. And in order for any given item to be completely
visible within the browser, without scrolling up or down, the tallest any
given item should be is 400 pixels high. **
test question
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Site Color
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Colors used on a site need to
match the marketing objectives of the company for the particular product/service/organization
that is being sold. Take for instance Colgate whitening toothpaste.
What colors would you imagine on a web site or an advertisement to promote
that particular product? Let's eliminate a few: yellow, brown,
tan, orange, red. Okay, why? Obviously it is because those
colors don't sell the vision of "fresh, white teeth or breath". What
colors would properly represent this product? What image is trying
to be promoted with such a product?
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fresh
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clean
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white
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cool
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exhilariting
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What colors match that image?
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silvery blue
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white
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winter colors; cold colors:
metallic silver, frosty white. Colors you'd look at and say "brrr"
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minty fresh colors: metallic
green, metallic red
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Target Audience
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The target audience is the intended
audience for which the promotional material is being prepared for -- to
whom are you selling?
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Be careful not to design something
you
personally are nuts about - design it for the intended audience, whether
you personally like it or not. Learn to step outside of yourself
and design what the audience will be attracted to - or you simply won't
sell your product.
Example Web Sites
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Marketers have determined that
the colors red, yellow, and orange stimulate hunger. Is it any wonder
then that the following fast food restaurants market with those colors?
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Over the years, lowcost superstores
have succeeded at associating the color blue (certain shades within the
same color spectrum) with the message of "low cost." Kmart started
the trend with its "'blue light special" in the 70's. Walmart joined
in on the branding of the color blue in consumers' minds as meaning "low
cost leader". Over time, Kmart has moved to a ligher shade of blue
in its marketing messages, but still staying within the same color/tone
family of blue. Both stores market themselves as "America-based"
super stores which care for the communities in which they exist.
So the three colors used within their messages are the same as the flag:
red, white, and blue.
With the emergence of
club-style superstores, such as Sam's Club and Cosco, they've as of yet
chosen to stay within the same color family. Sam's Club markets with blue,
but also has splashes of bright orange, neon green, and sunflower yellow.
Bright colors can stimulate and attract consumers, when used as a "trim"
to other colors. Sam's Club is staying with the traditional "low
cost" message blue while splashing other colors in there.
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Three stores who target a similar
target audience to that of Walmart, Kmart, Sam's Club, and Costco are:
Shopko, Target, and Fred Meyer. While the goal of Shopko, Target,
and Fred Meyer is to exist and compete within the same regional areas as
Walmart and Kmart, consumers tend to believe that the target audience for
Shopko, Target, and Fred Meyer has a slightly higher income bracket;
roughly $8,000 to $10,000 higher annual income. If the goal of Shopko,
Target, and Fred Meyer is to compete with Walmart and Kmart for its higher
income clientele, they're marketing well. If their goal is to compete
for all of Walmart and Kmart's clientele, they need to rethink a few marketing
strategies. And Sam's club and Costco are, by the way, more direct
competitors to Shopko, Target, and Fred Meyer than they are to Walmart
and Kmart. Think about it - why would Sam's Club really be after
all of Walmart's customers? They are owned by the same company.
Target Inc. also markets
with flag colors, only the primary color they've chosen to lead their message
with is the red. Red also matches the "bullseye" icon they use in their
marketing.
Fred Meyer markets with the
red, white, and blue, and have followed suit with Kmart, marketing with
a lighter shade of blue.
Shopko uses the red, white,
and blue within its logo and as the main color scheme of its magazines
(screen shot below shows an image of the front cover of one of its magazines,
on the left side of the image). However, its web site changes colors
with the seasons and doesn't have a tendency to consistenly match its logo
or its magazines.
In Lesson 1, you analyzed
the web sites for Dillard's, Meier & Frank, and JcPenney. Please
note that none of these three stores will market with the same shades of
blue that are used by the companies seeking for "low cost" image.
Their target audiences are simply different.
As you go throughout this
course and visit companies online, and as you recreate your own, please
pay attention to the choice of colors used within sites that are targeting
a similar target audience to yours.
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