Just great. My favorite part has to be the Tetris building.

Trend #1 – Power to the People

Bloggers have had a profound impact on the fashion industry. You may have heard of how Tavi Gevinson, the 13-year old fashion blogger, skipped school and became a fixture in the front rows of New York Fashion Week shows. Fashion bloggers have given a significant voice to a new (and much larger) group of people who are defining style each season.

I recently read a great article in the New Yorker, by Alexandra Jacobs, called “Fashion Democracy“. It discussed how websites like Polyvore are making the fashion world more democratic. Polyvore is an innovative site with a thriving community of fashion fans. Users create “sets”, which are collages of various designer products. They share these sets with other Polyvore users and external friends via social media tools. 30,000 sets are create each day. The Polyvore experience is compelling. With a tool like Polyvore, the process for how style is defined includes more voices and is more social in nature.

Trend #2 – Comprehensive Promotional Mini-Sites

Macy’s Fashion Director is a recently released promotional tool that highlights user-generated content. There is an “outfit maker” that allows users to build outfits by dragging tops, bottoms, dresses, etc. into a workspace where they can be arranged and manipulated. Often times users are given a challenge, “what would you wear to a movie premier”? For the first thirty days of the promotion, completed entries were voted upon by the general public and the look with the most votes was awarded a $500 Macy’s gift card prize.

The Fashion Director site also features celebrities including Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, Clinton Kelly, and Rachel Roy conducting mockumentary-style “fashion interventions”. Macy’s strategy with Fashion Director blended elements of retail promotion, celebrity humor, user participation, and sweepstakes. While a “comprehensive promotional mini-site” may seem like an oxymoron, it describes the approach leading online fashion retailers are taking. In order to be successful one must develop a multi-channel strategy with numerous points for user engagement and participation.

Trend #3 – Curated Fashion Shows

Ralph Lauren’s Spring 2010 Fashion Show is another example of technology driving fashion forward. Many labels have put their fashion shows online before, but Ralph Lauren added another layer to the user experience by adding editorial perspective. Four editors, including Nina Garcia of Marie Clarie, provide commentary on the looks as the runway footage plays. Users can then shop the look, directly from the fashion show footage.

Trend #4 – Effective Augmented Reality Applications

Early attempts at virtual dressing rooms failed miserably. The quality was poor, the image compositing was rudimentary, and the execution was lacking the attention to detail required for leading fashion brands. However, new technology improvements are beginning to make augmented reality an effective marketing tool. Two recent applications are good examples of this:

Tobi is an ecommerce venture that focuses on “1-to-1 shopping”. They recently released a virtual dressing room, that gives users a opportunity to try on different products via their web cam. The resulting user experience is surprisingly memorable.

Ray Bay recently released a virtual mirror application, where users can virtually try on the latest Ray-Ban styles. The 3D engine for this application is quite advanced, as evident by the quality of the resulting images. Previous eyewear virtual mirror applications were never able to get it right, something always looked fake about the result. This is the first implementation where the composited images actually look good.

These trends show how technology continues to redefine the interactions of consumers and fans with fashion brands. It used to be a highly controllled one-way dialog. Now it is multi-directional, involves numerous channels/implementations, and includes many different types of audiences. Fashion labels who have the vision to define these new customer interactions and touch points will be the ones who profit most from the continued evolution of online fashion.

Some pundits have posed the question: Why do anyone need this thing? Indeed, even those of you are lining up and standing outside stores may be wondering, Why am I doing this? Why am I lining up like a zombie for an expensive piece of consumer electronics, a product for which there is no shortage and which, let’s face it, nobody really needs? Back in the early days of our design process, Jonny Ive came in to see me and we spent a long time trying to decide where on Mazlow’s triangle this product would sit. Because we knew if we couldn’t be way up above the very top of that pyramid, floating above it, totally outside the needs it describes, then this wouldn’t be a product we wanted to make. Some of our early iterations, in fact, had to be tossed out because when we looked at them we realized that parts of them were too, well, necessary. Don’t get me wrong. That’s fine for other companies. It’s just not what we do here at Apple.

And that’s just a quote. Read the entire glorious letter here.

So we sat back and for a couple of years we really went through a process of asking ourselves what we wanted BET to be, and out of that came what we call our brand. We decided we wanted to inspire our audience, we wanted to elevate them, we wanted to respect them, but we also wanted to entertain them. It’s helped me as the C.E.O. because I’m clear in terms of where we’re going.

Now that is a brand.

Dearest clients, it’s funny because it’s (sometimes) true.

Michelle Shildkret: runs the Social Marketing Team for Cake US. In a world where every other person suddenly is an expert in social media, it was refreshing to hear from someone who actually has deep experience and knowledge about the subject.

Nancy Proctor and Titus Bicknell: Spoke eloquently about museums and the increasing role that technology (particularly mobile) is playing within them. Nancy is Head of New Media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and manages MuseumMobile.info.

Yancey Strickler/Kickstarter: I was already familiar with Kickstarter, but Yancey provided one of the more memorable metrics: Kickstarter projects that reach 25% of their funding have a 92% chance of being fully funded. (The insight being that once the 25% mark is reached, their is enough built-in community support to reach the goal).

Art.sy: I missed the presentation of this startup, but like the name implies, looks like an Etsy-type model for artists. Nice.

Jen Bekman/20×200: Again, I was already familiar with 20×200 and Jen Bekman Projects, but this was my first time hearing Jen speak. The clarity of her vision and focus was impressive.

Saul Colt: Not sure if he is actually the smartest man in the world, but surely one of the funniest. Seems to know quite a bit about metrics and communities too.

But that said, perhaps my favorite slide of the entire conference came from artist Natasha Westcoat, whose enthusiasm and honesty was infectious. Here is her advice:

- Be fearless of consequences
- Break all the rules
- Tweet whatever you want
- Try everything
- Learn from all you can
- THEN make a plan

If you’d like a general recap of the conference, then there is a good one at JustJon Online.

Finally, here is a really beautiful short film done for MoMA called I See.

The most successful luxury real estate websites speak to the different states of user awareness: Unaware > First Time Visitor > Regular Visitor > Engaged Visitor. These awareness states influence the life cycle of a website.

Understanding how a luxury real estate website should grow and change over time helps us better design it to drive users towards becoming fully engaged and therefore, more valuable.

TEASER

We use this stage of a website to introduce the brand to the marketplace and build a priority list. (Here is an example from 456 West 19th Street.) It contains simple functionality, like an animation or an elegant slideshow, and a form where interested users can submit their contact information to register interest. The main goal is to use this stage to begin a dialog with users.

This can simply be a regular program of email communication. Release information to the priority list before other users, and let them know that they are the first ones getting this information. Encourage feedback and respond to it. It is alright if you can’t sell anything right now. Users who register for a priority list are telling you they are very interested.

User Goals for a teaser stage website are geared towards gleaning any tangible information available and to register interest.

FULL WEBSITE / PRE-SALES

This is considered the “launch” of the online marketing program. The full website will contain detailed information about the product, location, amenities, and differentiators. (Here is an example from One Hawthorne.) The brand narrative will be presented, and the marketing message will be communicated. Often, there are only renderings available as the project is under construction. Launching the website provides promotional opportunities press coverage, and signifies the kick-off of the sales process.

Often there is pent up demand for information, and the pre-sales full website is the first opportunity for extensive information dispersal. Our data shows that Floorplans are the most popular sections of full websites. This is the first opportunity for users to learn about the project so it should be release to the public carefully.

User Goals for the pre-sales full site stage are geared toward information gathering. They are comparing amenities, downloading floorplans, and researching pricing. Minimize barriers (like forcing them to register, or withholding information) to enable users to achieve these goals.

FULL WEBSITE / SALES

This is considered the complete website and is the lynchpin of the online marketing program. Often model units will be completed, so renderings are replaced with photography. (Here is an example from Ritz Carlton Residences – Inner Harbor Baltimore.) Buyers can move in so there is a greater pressure to act and close. Pricing information is key during this stage. Consider time-sensitive content promotions (i.e. weekly featured floorplan) to encourage users to return regularly.

This stage also provides the project with an opportunity to integrate itself within the community. Sponsored community events or partner with neighborhood companies. Discuss and promote these activities on the website. Show how the project is intertwined in the community and you will begin to develop engaged visitors.

User Goals for the sales full site stage are the most significant of all stages. This is typically where the bulk of sales are generated. At this stage users are deciding whether or not to commit. Give them a reason to fall in love. Encourage sharing – when people fall in love they want to talk about it.

COMMUNITY

This is the last stage and most underutilized. After a project is largely sold out, the website will often expire or just be left to gather dust. However the most successful marketers have transformed their early-stage real estate marketing websites into thriving communities. Companies like Life At showed the early promise of supporting a thriving community but have had trouble gaining traction largely because online budgets have already been spent by this stage.

A community website (that includes forums, events, development news, special promotions) can be highly valuable because it is built for a core set of engaged users. These users are loyal brand evangelists, some of your most valuable fans. A thriving website in the Community stage will also have a mature and well executed Social Media plan in place.

Plan for a website that evolves and changes as its life cycle does. Allocate budgets planning for the long-term, as opposed to taking a narrow focus on just getting the full website live. The result will be a more effective and influential marketing tool.

Social Media marketing plays an important roll in the lower and middle ends of the market, but at higher ends it is not yet embraced. I believe that will change soon, as it represents a missed opportunity for luxury real estate marketers.

Check in next week as we close our insights into luxury real estate online marketing with an in-depth look at measurement and performance metrics.

Over the years we’ve noticed that there are common questions clients repeatedly ask us. And you know what? They should. These are questions that are not in the world of everyday knowledge. They are things that, as experts, we’ve learned because we had to. Often they are things that are annoying or frustrating (to us and our clients) but they are things we have to live with. As such, we often find ourselves in the situation of trying to explain some technical nuance while our clients stare at us, bewildered, with an expression like “what the heck are they talking about and how did they get to be such nerds?” So rather than continuing to keep these things in our heads, we thought they might make for a good ongoing series of articles in our blog.

Client FAQ #1:
Why do colors look different on different monitors?

Ah, the classic web design question. Most clients are used to the world of print design and things like Pantone chips. You choose a Pantone color, and that’s the color. The people at Pantone spent a lot of time figuring this out.

Unfortunately things are not so easy in the world of the web. This is because the majority of computer and tv monitors are not color calibrated (calibration are methods to make colors consistent). Just think how easy it is to change the brightness or contrast on your monitor. When you do this, you are also changing the color. Ever notice how, when you look at someone else’s computer monitor, you sometimes think “wow her monitor is so dark” (or bright), or the colors just look weird. No calibration. Or, have you ever walked into an electronics store and seen all the TV’s for sale, and noticed how the colors looked a bit different on each one? Same issue. Almost all computer monitors are like this, and there is just no way to get accurate color rendering.

That’s not to say though that we can’t at least try. There is no reason not to use a Pantone chip (or any color swatch) as a starting point for agreement. Pantone does make Pantone Matching Guides with RGB equivalents, so at least that way there is agreement on what the color should look like in an optimal, color calibrated setting.

OK, so that’s the short answer, and if you are in a hurry, you can stop here. But really, color is way more complicated than most people realize, and it helps to be aware of this. Our tendency is to think of color as its own thing rather than as a property of light, which is what it really is. Here’s an example: take a red ball into a room with the lights turned off. Is the ball still there? Yes, of course. You can feel it in your hands. And is it still red? Actually no, it’s not. When you turned out the lights, you turned off the colors–literally. The ball is not “red but I just can’t see it”. We only think this way because we know that if we turn the light on, the ball will return to its red state.

So hopefully that sheds some light (terrible pun intended) on why color accuracy is such a tricky thing in web design when it is so straightforward with print. For a more complete explanation on how color works, you should read the additive color and subtractive color articles on Wikipedia, because “direct” color that comes from a monitor is completely different than “reflected” color that you see on paper. And then when just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you can read about color theory. Because guess what? Our percpetion of colors changes depending on what other colors are nearby!

This is the message I hear more and more from HTML5 + CSS3 + JavaScript (“HTML5+” for short) standardistas. Their claim is that the capabilities of their technology triumvirate have removed the need for any other web technologies. Their favorite target for death is of course Flash which they describe as either the Beelzebub of plug-in hell or the screw of plug-in jail. Ah, what joys will attend that funeral day.

But that day is not coming any time soon! Flash is the best…

Psych. This is not a defense of Flash or another HTML5 vs. Flash article.

No, what’s got me writing is a discomfort around this concept that there is one set of technologies that should serve the world and no other. Conform? Why should I? Who is that really good for?

Here’s the state of the web world. The Internet is a general communications platform. The most visible and used way to access that platform is with a web browser. And the mother tongue of a modern web browser is HTML5+.

I’m pretty happy with that except for that last part. Why is it that HTML5+ has become the language of the web? No, that’s not quite it. Rather, why is there a single language of the web?

Okay, that’s being simple-minded because there is not a single language for the web. There are also plug-ins like Flash. You see, somewhere along the way, it was decided that there are times when the needs of the Internet will outstrip the capabilities of the web browser’s language and to handle those cases, browsers will have plug-ins.

That sounds pretty good, right? Well, no, not really. This approach still assumes that the language of the web must be HTML5+ and that other languages must be satisfied with a plug-in architecture that is penalized at every turn. Installing a plug-in into a browser involves error messages about it being missing, downloads to mysterious folders, warnings about running things downloaded from the web, installation scripts that require user names and passwords and browser restarts. And then the plug-in’s capabilities are limited by the plug-in architecture. That’s even if the browser allows the plug-in. (Mr. Jobs?) It’s a minor miracle in these circumstances that Flash enjoys the install base that it does.

What’s the effect of this? Well, it certainly makes a lot of people proponents of HTML5+. That is, I don’t believe that all the people who claim a love of HTML5+ would necessarily choose it in a blind taste test against some other technology. Are CSS3 selectors really the best way to write queries into an HTML document? You are truly a masochist if you think they are.

So what do I propose? Browser neutrality. Much like network neutrality says that network traffic should not be discriminated against based on its content, browser neutrality says that a web site’s content should not be discriminated against based on the language that it’s written in. I propose a browser that truly treats the Internet as the general communications platform that it is. I propose a browser that doesn’t impose itself on the web but rather promotes a diversity of technologies.

The neutral browser would work by asking a website what client-side technologies are needed to understand the language it is written in. Then if these technologies weren’t already available to the browser and if the website were trusted by the client then they would be automatically downloaded and installed without any need for user intervention. Next, the neutral browser would download the website’s contents in the language they were written in be it HTML, Processing, Java, Frontal (my personal favorite) or whatever. And finally it would process and display the web site’s contents.

“What?! Allow executables to be downloaded and run off the web without a million user warnings and jumping hoops? What about viruses, malware and resource hogs? Are you trying to burn down the Internet?”

That’s an understandable reaction until you realize it’s what we’re doing today. It’s just that we trust the companies that are delivering the programs. We trust Apple, Microsoft, Google, Firefox, Opera, etc. to deliver safe and stable implementations of HTML5+ and thank goodness they do a decent if imperfect job of it. But guess what? There are a lot of other companies I would be as likely to trust. Why can’t the web of trust be extended beyond those companies rich and powerful enough to build web browsers? I know the rich and powerful always have our best interests in mind since that’s usually how they got to be rich and powerful but there are some other entities I think I can trust like IBM, Amazon (since I don’t have a Kindle), Pixar, EA, the Smithsonian Institute and myself.

So would it be messy and would there be missteps and mistakes and corruption and evil? Of course there would be but imagine the benefits. Imagine the innovation. Now a rival language to HTML5+ is actually a viable proposal. If you think the language of the web stinks, then rewrite it! Get enough people to see the benefit and trust your efforts and it will be supported!

And if you chose to describe your content in HTML5+ that would be just fine. A great decision as a matter of fact because so many services have been built around that language like searching. (Oh by the way, do you think HTML5+ is really the best way to describe information for search purposes? I don’t think anyone would say it is.)

What’s a better approach for improving a solution: competition among diverse proposals or conformity and iteration on a single proposal? My money’s on diversity. So me conform? I’d rather not. My motto?

Vive la difference!