Back in April we won a pitch for an adoption campaign for Somerset County Council. So with a spring in our step we set to work creating a brand identity, advertising, a website and a whole load of marketing collateral. We have really enjoyed the challenge, and with the website going live yesterday we thought you might want to take a look – www.adoptioninsomerset.org.uk. The lead on the project was Somerset County Council’s PR and Communication Officer, Lyndsey Mayhew, here’s what she had to say about the process, “It has been a pleasure to work with DNA on the adoption campaign. Right from the start, I felt DNA really understood what we wanted to achieve and I was impressed with the background research and the ideas that were developed beyond the creative brief. The creation of the site and campaign tools could not have been smoother and the account team were excellent, always on the end of the phone and with no request too difficult!” Thanks Lyndsey! Next up we’ve been lucky enough to secure the Fostering in Somerset campaign too! Watch this space for updates on how we get on.

Anyone thinking of going into web design or development should watch this video of Jeffrey Zeldman, one of the people credited with founding web standards. Click here.

(Si – NOW I understand why you keep banging on about AA this and AA that! Jim)

UsedCars2U is the UK’s first website that supplies fully serviced used cars directly the consumers’ door, at no extra charge. In so doing, they’re aiming to cut out the middle man. All of UsedCars2U’s cars have had one owner, come with a warranty, full service history, 14-day money-back guarantee and undergo a 120-point pre-delivery check… All the benefits of buying from a dealer but for about 20% less, AND without having to leave your sofa!

Although we might be slightly biased (we’ve been working on the company’s branding and web design), we think it’s a bit of a no-brainer. We’re confident this will appeal to the modern car owner – particularly when people seem to have less and less time on their hands. Who has time to trek around different dealers or to do background checks on the cars they’re interested in?

It’s been a really interesting project to be involved with – not least because we’ve chosen to collaborate with two other agencies. The urgent deadline for delivery meant we couldn’t do this one alone, so we’ve enlisted the help of local web design agency, Formoda, and online marketing and PR specialist, SGA Marketing. Even if we say it ourselves, together we’ve made a pretty effective team. Not only have we delivered the site on time and within budget, we’ve also put together a comprehensive post-launch marketing plan. We don’t walk away from our web projects as soon as they go live. We want to make sure our clients achieve their commercial objectives, so we stay involved, driving online traffic, offline awareness and, ultimately, delivering a bottom line. To UsedCars2U, this means spreading the word and converting web visitors into sales.

We’ve done various things to make this happen. Every car sold on the site comes with a detailed description, including a large number of photographs showing every inch of the interior and exterior condition – including tyres and mileage shown on the clock. Each photo depicts the true condition of the car, leaving the salesmen’s pitch firmly for those wandering into the car showrooms. What’s more, UsedCars2U.com sources all of its cars from a trusted and reliable source and will exclusively sell vehicles that are between one and two years old; this gives customers the benefit of the original Manufacturer’s warranty, as well as road tax.

UsedCars2U has already sold a handful of vehicles through the site – from family cars to a luxury Mercedes E class – and we haven’t even got started! Find out more at UsedCars2U.com

OK, well this might be a bit of a techie rant against the Microsoft machine and its shoddy, market dominating browser, Internet Explorer, but firstly its a valid one and secondly its more about recognising the huge achievements of a lesser known browser, Opera. There are a myriad of different browsers and different browser versions being used all with different capabilities and different ways of displaying the same website content, this makes our jobs as web content creators very tricky. One thing that is fairly unanimously agreed upon throughout the industry is that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser is by far one of the worst and has gained its share of the market through dirty tricks and lack of user knowledge. Less known though is that a little browser called Opera has been at the forefront of browser innovation for many years, creating new tools to make your life easier that most of us only discover when we auto-download the latest version of Internet Explorer three years later.

Today, we reinvent the Web.

Opera’s latest innovation is called ‘Opera Unite‘. This claims to allow non-technical users to serve and share content and services directly from their own computers via the browser instead of traditionally just viewing content. Time will tell on this latest innovation, but if it’s as good as it claims to be you can expect to see it integrated into Internet Explorer in a couple of years time! The following article highlights some of the browser innovations that are now common place in nearly every browser but started many years previous in the perfectly crafted underdog that is Opera.

www.geektechnica.com/2009/06/8-browser-innovations-started-by-opera

Want to join the 2% of Opera users -  www.opera.com

(Opinion by: Simon Farrow – Web Development Manager)

The latest yachts from Princess Yachts International, the Princess 130 and 105, have been revealed on their respective microsites. Designed and created by DNA Advertising, backed by press advertising and characterised by their brooding and mysterious atmosphere, the two new web microsites have a feel and mood unlike any other Princess campaign. See the introductory microsites at: www.princess130.com and www.princess105.com. New images, videos and specifications will be added to the website as time passes so be sure to check back for the latest information.

The recession appears to have set in for at least a two-year period, and more and more people are turning to the Internet for a better deal. But still so many businesses are getting it wrong.

Most of us now accept that a website is a shop window. Just as most shoppers will look in a window on the High Street before they walk into a retailer, figures now indicate that more than 80% of potential customers will visit your website before they do business with you. With such compelling figures, why would any business not invest in a professional, well-thought-through web presence and online marketing strategy?

Click here for full article

Supporting this statistic is that over one third (40 per cent) of all adults surveyed said that they would feel more comfortable purchasing from a retailer who offers a wide range of payment methods than a retailer who only offers one payment option. 

To read the full article click here

We have just successfully completed the redesign and build of the Education section of the Met Office website (www.metoffice.gov.uk/education). Working to tight brand guidelines inline with W3C guides, to AA standard. The project was completed in 3 months, to budget and delivered on time – live last week. As well as the web design and build, the task included designing and producing flash animations as teaching aids on the site, and the creation of the Met Office Educational character ‘Weather Explorer,’ to help children in Key Stages 1 & 2 to understand and engage with the material. The work has been very well received by the Met Office team, passing comprehensive usability testing. We are looking forward to working with them again soon! 

Search engines exist to provide relevant, useful search results for their users. They are not there to benefit companies who are proficient at optimizing websites. If you think you have thought of a clever way to fool them – forget it. They are not easily tricked and, if they catch you, they will probably ban you. For businesses that depend on leads and enquiries from their websites, this can literally prove fatal.

If you want to drive people to your latest, beautifully designed website, concentrate on the following tips for generating web traffic, and don’t cheat! Click here.

As part of our ongoing drive to reduce our paper usage and to pass on some festive merriment we’ve produced a web based, simple flash based animation with some festive fun interactivity.

We hope you’ll enjoy dressing ‘Frostie the Throw-man” up and chucking him around, click to play!

http://www.dnaadvertising.co.uk/xmas2008

Merry Christmas!
The DNA Team.