R.O.I. MEDIA

Today’s internet user is endlessly bombarded with a tumultuous flow of visual impressions. This persistent imagery lodges itself in the human psyche like a worm wriggling through the earth in search of fertile soil burrowing its perception and creating an awareness, subtle or gross, which in some way or another leaves its mark. In this information age where fingertips can guide the online user to a heady state of overload, how does one break through and create a positive impression given the limited amount of time the active online user allows us? What effective tools are available to online producers, designers, developers, bloggers, e-merchants, brands and businesses whose offerings and ideas are useful, informative and full of worldly promise?

The answer to these questions is fundamental and the ability to reach through the visual clutter and communicate directly with your target audience is crucial at all levels of marketing. At the online level, this statement rings, rattles and smacks of truth. The online universe offers many opportunities to introduce and develop; build and associate; communicate and extend your offering and brand with the multitudes of potential users out there in the digital market place. Reaching deep into the belly of human interaction, society, marketing, technology, commerce, design and functionality, the answers proposed in this series of blog posts have the ability to add perspectives to the how and the why of online design and development, offer new ideas and give readers a baseline from which to go forward and enlighten their audience.

Your Brand Online

The numerous facets encompassing user interaction and online visual design comprise of a multitude of expertise, approaches and solutions. Successful branding, understanding logo interaction and corporate identification is the first step to ensuring your web presence is felt and communicates the right positive message to the relevant target audience.

It is safe to say that brand creation and design in general has been deeply impacted by online trends and the requirement for the extension of visual media to the web platform has in itself become a driving force as pixels reign supreme in our ever-widening digital age.

The Brand Breakthrough

The constant re-enforcement of shapes, colours and word flow of a brand infiltrate our visual cortex, enforcing its ever-presence into our consciousness. Over time, the effectiveness of a brand will increase as it penetrates the market, however, an effective logo design will make its presence felt instantly as it communicates its message directly to the willing viewer.

Traditional logo design still has its place in today’s online market and has, more often than not, been successfully introduced to all forms of new media including the web. Nike, Coca-Cola, BMW, Microsoft, Apple Mac, Sony and Nokia have championed the breakthrough from traditional to web media by ensuring an enduring and effective web presence which has served to re-enforce their market shares. These well known brands have kept up with the latest online trends by relying on some of the top Interactive and Web Design Houses who work hard to ensure the latest brands keep up to date with the latest online trends.

A New Breeding Ground

As online culture has developed and infiltrated our societal structures, its impact has been felt at many levels. Designers, who have traditionally taken their influence from their own visual surroundings, are more often finding inspiration online. This in turn has a roundabout effect as, with the introduction of Web 2.0, the web itself has become a breeding ground, an open canvas expanse and a virtual source of visual creation and stimulation.

From ASCII to plain text to the experimental pixel-boom and the power of Flash animation to the latest Web 2.0 trends, the online age of technology advancement has meant a never-ceasing flow of transformation. And this tech revolution has undoubtedly influenced our brand interaction and therefore our brand creation. One only needs to look at the expanding field of digital media to see the extent with which this phenomenon is occurring.

Online brands such as eBay, Google, Yahoo!, Skype, Amazon.com and PartyPoker were created to exist on the web and have since grown and expanded their presence to print, television and 20 foot high interactive billboards. Their brand identities were created to exist online, to have a web friendly-first presence and yet they have seamlessly infiltrated our popular culture in an unfounded and dominant way.

Reach through NOW!

So, where does one turn to when the need arises for a successful online presence? What qualities make up this ever-changing area of expertise and how does one choose the best solution?

Here is a guide to ensuring you find the best company to take your brand to the next level of web prowess:

• Use referrals as a basis. Listen to other people’s experiences to gauge the overall effectiveness of an agency and how seamless their solution has been implemented.
• Keep it in good company! See what brands an agency has worked with as partners and as clients to determine their professional attitudes.
• Any self-respecting agency will have an online portfolio. Review their work to see the level of production.
• Read testimonials and do a Google search to find out some further background information.
• Cost is always a factor, get quotes from several agencies to see what the industry standard is.

By following these guidelines, an overall picture will reveal itself and allow for an easy decision to be made. For more information on R.O.I.Media and our services offered, please visit www.roimedia.co.za