Information Technology Reference
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micro-sites and presenting products through an inconsistent use of zoom,
3-D, flash animations, slide shows, full-screen, flip catalogues and any other
kind of interactive feature you can think of. The result in most cases is incon-
sistent in visual identity and an unbalanced luxemosphere, and the impact
on the client is, of course, low and in some cases quite repulsive. To draw
from my own experience, I have refrained from revisiting several luxury web-
sites as a result of the presence of a mish-mash of these interactive features
that have resulted in “too much” movement on the websites - and these are
mostly brands whose products I actually find appealing! What happens in this
type of environment is that the real value of the products - both symbolic and
functional - is not enhanced and optimized. Websites that have been over-
whelmed with heavy flash and interactive animations actually devalue lux-
ury products and the brands they represent, contrary to popular consensus.
Of course, it is essential to ensure that there is a sense of movement on the
luxury website but this has to be approached so as to ensure an optimization
of the luxemosphere and not be to the detriment of the brand.
How may a luxury website feature elements that enhance movement and the sense
of touch?
As you may already be aware, one of the most important movement ele-
ments is the video. The feature of short and relevant video clips on a luxury
website will not only enhance the luxemosphere and generate interest, but
also will aid in achieving a high level of stickiness, repeat visits, memory
recall of the brand and the website as well as ensure a higher purchase prob-
ability. In this age of Internet content and participation, website videos have
become rampant and therefore the video on a luxury website ought to be rel-
evant to the target audience and have content that is compelling enough to
be watched and remembered. It is obvious that client expectations in terms
of videos have increased dramatically and the reason is obvious - they have
seen it all and they are even making their own videos, and in some cases
they have enough imagination and creativity to produce videos that surpass
the output of luxury brands. A quick search on YouTube using luxury key-
words will validate what I'm talking about. While it is always interesting to
watch video clips from a brand's fashion shows and product launch events
or the blatant display of their products on red carpet events by celebrities,
all of these are
déjà vu
and no longer have the ability to blow the mind of
the website visitor away - not even when entire videos are uploaded on the
homepage in a desperate bid to compel each website visitor to watch it.
The important rule, if there are any, for videos is to make them short and
compelling, with a strong message that is easy to understand and fast to
download. Also imperative are control options to play, pause, stop, rewind,
fast forward and skip the videos at will. This cannot be over-emphasized.
Today's online consumer doesn't have time to wait for ages for a website
