Private View

You’d never mistake this Frederick’s of Hollywood banner for a Chanel banner, but so what? This brand is big and bold and so is this piece. In my opinion there was way too much going on in the layout, but it got the results the client was looking for, so who’s right?

On Foley Hoag, these days, a Web site redesign is not just about creating an engaging experience with the user, it’s about optimization and getting ranked higher on search engines. If customers can’t find you, they’ll find someone else.

I’ve seen the superhero approach before. But in this case SurfControl used it to great effect by achieving a 20% response rate. However, I think it could have increased the response by selling the sizzle of the sweepstakes more.

The calendar visual on the Papa John’s promotion is confusing. The numbers 4, 8 and 13 distract the viewer from the important information of 7/7/07. Not to be picky, but shouldn’t the giveaway feature 7,707 pizzas? And by their own logic, wouldn’t the luckiest day of the century be 7/7/77? We’ll have to wait seven decades to know.

Free minutes with Jajah! Everybody likes free stuff, but when I have to involve my friends it starts to smack of pyramid schemes and I get nervous. And with “Free trial,” “Free minutes” and “Free your voice,” the campaign was too free with the word “free.” Clean, attractive graphics, if somewhat predictable.

New Home Source was well organized, involving and relevant to the home-buying audience. It was rich in information and a well executed, great idea. –Martin Buchanan, Executive creative director/Managing partner, Trone