Many websites today are becoming so incredibly high-tech that I do not even understand what they are trying to promote to their viewers. I believe these new internet tools are becoming very competitive between websites; which one is proving to be more enjoyable for its’ viewers? Entertaining websites will certainly yield positive results for whatever their website is promoting. I mean, Nike.com now allows for their customers to create their own shoes to purchase from their website: http://store.nike.com/index.jsp?sitesrc=uslp&country=US&lang_locale=en_US#l=shop,pwp,c-1+100701/hf-12001+40001/t-NIKEiD_Shoes
&lang_locale=en_US#l=shop,pwp,c-1+100701/hf-12001+40001/t-NIKEiD_Shoes. The customer can choose the style, size, color, etc., of what shoe they want. How cool is that? Three of my friends have already ordered a pair from them! From interactive games and videos- there are numerous ways to disseminate information to people on the internet. The last thing people want when browsing the web is a boring webpage where, God forbid, they can only read to get information. Now days, the viewer can choose to watch videos, play games or simply listen (via podcasts) to the information that is being provided by the website. I'll admit it: when I'm looking up my sport teams information I don't want to read boring articles, I want to see video coverage and I want to hear other people commentaries on the game. Now a sports website may have more opportunities to be more interactive than a basic newspaper webpage; however it is important to draw people to your website and keep them there. With that in mind, I wondered how a food company website could promote its product while keeping their viewers engaged...KRAFT's website was quite interesting: When first typing in the address on the tool bar, KRAFT's website appears, but it gives you 3 different website to enter: KRAFT Foods, KRAFT Corporation and KRAFT charity.
Assuming that the company’s website would be boring, KRAFT’s corporate site turned out to be bearable; http://www.kraft.com/default.htm What first captured my eyes was the large picture with a KRAFT slogan that changed every few seconds. Also, on the lower ride side is an interactive pop-up display where you can click to see all the different brands KRAFT owns...my eyes were naturally drawn to it because it automatically rotates every 2 seconds or so. On the left side is a "Latest Corporation News" with links to their newest press releases http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=129070&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1255460D=1255460 . The site map on top of the webpage clearly organizes the site into "Home", "About Kraft", "Brands", "Investor Center", "Media Center" and "Careers". Under the "Brands" section is an interactive video of the company's history; it is displayed in a timeline format that allows the viewer to choose how fast or slow they want to browse through it. However, the video does not have a sound display- which proves pointless for the hearing impaired or ones that simply don't want to watch it. There is also a concise fact sheet located below the video for those who need basic information. On the right side is the same interactive pop-up display that shows the different KRAFT brands, actually after viewing the entire site I realized the icon was on every page. Under their brands site was an icon to play KRAFT TV commercials http://www.kraft.com/tv-commercials.htm . What I found neat was how they featured their employees under the "Careers" section, a few key employees with their pictures and basic job information was featured. I think being able to see some of KRAFT's employees what their job duties entail gives more legitimacy to their company, from a consumer perspective. http://www.kraft.com/Careers/
Now, KraftFoods.com is MUCH more interactive (and I think more interesting) compared to KRAFT's corporate site. The site includes various interactive tools: such as "How-To" (recipe) videos, ingredient/recipe finders http://www.kraftfoods.com/KF/DINNER/DinnerLandingPage.aspx, and various healthy living tools: such as a BMI calculator, nutrition advice and even an icon to create your own recipe cook book! http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/HealthyLiving/HealthyLivingLandingPage.aspxe.aspx. The site also had a link to their new digital Food & Family magazine, available o
n their website now (instead of it being sent via slug mail). Throughout navigating the site I also joined the KRAFT community and therefore am now able to participate in their member discussion board (such as sharing recipes) and will receive weekly e-mails about new company information. In addition, the site includes information on how to obtain recipes using 6 different communication sources, including: e-mail, Widget, RSS fees, Mobile, iTunes and iPod; covering nearly every media outlet.It surprised me that KRAFT did not provide a virtual tour of one of their product's factories. Being that people are interested in the behind the scenes process of food production (thus the high ratings for Food Network's "Unwrapped" show), this would provide an ideal opportunity for KRAFT to take advantage of. I think their corporate site could have been more entertaining, but it is CORPORATE and therefore more professional and “business” themed. However, I think Kraftfoods.com did an excellent job with their website; I spent over an hour looking at it! From kids, to stay at homes parents or even busy work parents, the site provides ample gadgets to work around with.
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