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Is Web Innovation Dead?
Yesterday I spoke with Bill Rice, president of the Web Marketing Association, who talked about the organization’s annual WebAward competition, now in its 11th year and begins its official call for entries in April. The contest recognizes individual achievements behind the creation of today’s top Web sites.
He talked about the seven criterion used in judging the competition which include design, content, ease of use, copywriting, interactivity, use of technology, and innovation. The last criteria, Rice said, is the hardest to define because the Internet is so dynamic. Typically, if an organization finds something innovative to build onto its site, suddenly that capability becomes the standard with many companies.
If that’s the case, does innovation ever exist on the Web? Brian Tomz, director of product strategy at Coremetrics, got me thinking about this yesterday afternoon. He said the way that sites are interacting with customers is changing and that’s the innovative part. It’s not perfecting the use of Flash or applying avatars for the sake of introducing an animated or video character.
Sure avatars and Flash are great additions to a Web site, but only if they help to guide the customer experience and drive online sales without annoying the customers. True innovation works behind the scenes.
What have you found that's innovative online? Please share the Web site and example here.
In pursuit of media mentions for my PR clients, we had to create Press Kit 24/7 an online tool that allowed us to pitch and follow-up with the media. It even has an online rolodex. To our surprise not only has the tool been helpful to our clients because it provides reports automatically (thank goodness!), but the media is eating it up as the latest cool tool for their own needs seeking experts. PR Week lauded us for our innovative business practices as a virtual PR firm so for sure I believe innovation still exists. It's like anything; there aren't any new ideas out there; only different packaging. And let's face it, that makes all the difference. When serving clients and the media around PR, the biggest piece is how you package it ... well spin it.