Date: 3/5/02
To: Carl Meeske
From: Matthew Bell, Marketing
199 section MW 10-12
RE: Assignment 2: E-mail and web site evaluation
Overview
This memo
provides my evaluation of the web sites and e-mails for the Winter 2002 class,
at 10 in themornings on Mondays and Wednesdays. It demonstrates my understanding of what makes a great web site
and great e-mail campaign. I have
judged sites according to content, context, and business sense. I have judged the e-mails according to their
headline, their offer, and their overall design. I have selected the two teams whose e-mail campaigns and web sites
together are the most effective. I am
also selecting my all around favorite.
Results Summary
The
group, whose site and email campaign together, that I believe is the best is
DVD-Unlimited. I believe that they were
the most successful because there email loaded very fast and got the message
across quickly and concisely. The site
is also extremely informative and easily navigated as well as, well organized.
My second choice for combined effectiveness is Extreme
Oregon. They also conveyed their message
concisely and quickly through the simplicity of their email and the rapid
loading time of their e-mail. The only
thing that makes this site come in second is that when loaded onto my computer
screen I have to click over to view all of the information about items. This is extremely annoying when I am trying
to read about a specific item and the description is cut off. There are also large gaps between items. This makes it confusing because I don’t know
if I’m at the end of the items with out looking at the scroll bar.
Evaluation
DVD-Unlimited
The DVD-Unlimited site is the best because their content is
well organized and informative. They
are a very informed resource for DVD fanatics (not a reference to the group DVD
fanatic) they have many different selections for topics related to DVD’s. They have easter eggs, reviews, news, and
descriptions. They are an all topic
resource for people looking for information on DVD’s. Their context of the site is very good. No matter which page I choose all of the information is displayed
on my screen and I don’t have to scroll over to continue reading. The left alignment of the menu is in
accordance with theeasy use of a site.
The only draw back to the menu is that there is a list under all of the
headings that list the divisions of the heading but don’t link to anywhere, the
link comes at the end of the list.
Their business sense is quite good they fill aniche market by out
performing their competition. Their
competition caters to people who just want reviews or news. DVD-Unlimited combines all of the
information available about DVD’s into one site. After reading about all of the different aspects of a DVD a
visitor is more likely to buy a DVD through their affiliates.
The e-mail of DVD-Unlimited loaded and the headline contain
their name so you know what sites e-mail you received. They offered DVD’s at or below $10.99, which
is a very good deal because in a regular store DVD’s are $20 and up at regular
price. The overall design of the e-mail
is very nice; it loads fast and is very simple. The spinning DVD’s caught my attention and the shadowed logo was
interesting enough to keep my attention but notbe to distracting. The banners and DVD cover add to the overall
simplicity but still allow variety and interest for the viewer. The slogan at the bottom makes the readers
want to go and check out the site.
Extreme Oregon
The content of Extreme Oregon is very good they have a
varied selection of items that one could buy as well as information about
resorts throughout Oregon. This is
really nice if someone is interested in buying a snow board and finding a new
place to go to the snow or if they haven’t ever snow boarded, find out about
places that they could go in Oregon.
This site is also pertinent to out of staters who are interested in
coming to Oregon and would like to know where they could go snowboarding. The context of the site is also very nice
but as previously pointed out the site doesn’t load well on my computer, when
looking at the information that comes up I have to scroll over to finish
reading the descriptions. Also once a
menu item has been selected there are large blank areas that are confusing
because I can’t tell if there is information on the screen without scrolling
down. The business sense of the group
is also very good. They cater to people
who want to purchase outdoor equipment and also to those looking for vacation
destination. This is a very good strategy
because they are doubling up on their exposure to their client base and their
services are pertinent to both customer bases and allow crossover from one
market to the other without leaving the site.
The e-mail for Extreme Oregon loaded very fast. The simplicity of the e-mail allows for
quick understanding by the viewer of the purpose of the e-mail. The inclusion of the logo also allows for
customer branding because after viewing the logo a person will associate
similar designs with the Extreme Oregon site.
There offer of 20-30% off on gear is very good and it is very thoughtful
of them to make the e-mail so that a prospective customer has to click through
to the site to find the deals on gear.
The overall design of the e-mail is excellent it loads quickly and is
easily interpreted by the viewer.
MVB