Web Marketing: Nixon's website

As I discovered in my previous job, Interactive Agency can sometimes be misleading and it is important to know what need to be done for a good emarketing campaign and to make sure the image online is the same than on the street.

1. User Interface
A website needs to be intuitive in order to provide an happy path for the users, i.e get what they are looking for with the less click as possible.
Nixon’s website has Flash animation which makes it pleasant to look at, however several steps could be improved:

-AJAX could be used for the Drop-down function (good example is Apple’s website). This will allow a better interface without removing the Flash Video.

-Nixon’s website has a masculine feel; women are more detail-orientated, the goal would be to highlight the experience they would get if wearing a Nixon’s watch. Maybe the home page could be divided in two sections: male / female, each will redirect you to a more customized page (here at I took the burton example).



-Women are buying watches as accessories and imagine with what clothes they could go with...As an example the Ivy/ Joy Bryant picture evokes elegance, class, dressed parties, while the skyline or the Loft seems to go more with professional clothing who are looking for a creative/ art deco flair to stand out. More women pictures would help highlight the beauty of the watches and show them how they could stand out from the crowd.

-Nixon’s men watches used to classify their watches as Elite, Business, Sport,etc....However in the women watches page, it is not obvious for a first time user what the models stand for and why they are divided in 4 main columns with 7 columns total.


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Apples, Orange & Me

After years of resistance, I finally bought an Apple Mac Mini even though I owned Apple stock long before I ever bought any of the company’s products!

It started with Leslie giving me an ipod. Convenient, sure, but I didn’t have much use for it. I have XM in my car. She can’t live without hers for listening to tunes in the car or in the house.

She’s had a Macbook for as long as I’ve known her. I see her click-clack away at it with glee making websites, recording podcasts, and sitting anywhere in the world that has free wi-fi.

Me, I had my million year old Dell. The thing is so old that it sounds like there’s a hamster running in a wheel inside it. It’s loud, a huge lug sitting under the desk, but after all, it’s been faithful.

After Leslie moved in, she complained for months - close to a year - about the faithful, but decrepit Dell.

“It’s too loud!” she’d exclaim, “Let’s buy something quieter; an Apple!”

I’m French. We don’t succumb to such aggressive orders.

When I started on the road to finding a new job, I spent hours on my Dell. The poor thing froze up more than the mammoths during the ice age. It made the office hotter than hell. And yes, the reverberating noise began to sink into my skull. It just couldn’t do what I needed it to anymore.

So, we bought a Mac mini last week. I’m learning how to use all of the new keyboard commands, the different setups and programs, but so far, so good. It’ll take some time to get used to, but I’m optimistic. I have to admit, I don’t miss the Chewbacca noise gurgling from the Dell.

U.S watch market / Nixon watches

Market Analysis
During my research, I have segmented the watch market into four classes.
-Mass market Watches(less than $50)
-Middle-Market Watches($50-$300): women’s watches are 56% of sales
-Upper Middle-Market Watches ($300-$1000): women’s watches are 33% of sales
-Luxury Watches ($1,000- Plus): women’s watches are 41% of sales

U.S watch sales at totaled approximately $7.6 billion in 2006
The sales of Middle-Market watches totaled approximately $3 billion.

How does Nixon stand in the market?
From January 27, 2006 to June 30th 2006, Nixon contributed revenues of AUS$21.6 million and net profit of AUS $5 million to the Group.
Global sales of Billabong were at AUS $1.02 billion in 2007 and Nixon contributes 5 to 6% of Billabong International group sales.

Women Market Analysis
Here are some quotes from top executives heading the world’s leading watch brands:

“Women are much more detail-orientated. They have a different set of eyes, they look at the aesthetic beauty of a watch, they look at the different metals, they think about the colored straps that will go with the watch...they really examine all the external details of a watch because they want it beautiful.” said Randi Shinske President of Maurice Lacroix

“Unlike men who collect watches for their complexity and want to conserve them, women collect watches for the occasions and they are wearing different watches for different events”said Poulit-Duquesne.


Empirical Research
I conducted one on one interviews as part of my research with female subjects between 20 and 27 years old, they were college educated, working professionals, sociable and outgoing. What they loved about Nixon was the wide selection of colors and the price point below $200. Their number one reasons were that they had more options for fashion coordination. The subjects also noted they bought Nixon watches as gifts for their significant others or male family members as Nixon watches serve as a status symbol of unique quality and distinct styling.


Brand Spirit
The spirit of Nixon was created by board sport community who desired quality with a graphical edge with functionality in the life of a surfer or board rider. The spirit now translates into more of a fashion forward, indie flaired design to appeal to others who do not necessarily relate to the lifestyle, but seek inspiration from the board riding culture’s distinctive style.

It could be said that Nixon’s namesake derived from the American president relates to the attitude of the sixties when the spirit boundless, love was free, and a blatant rebellion against conformity were the decade’s major themes.

TRESTLES

The first time I went to Trestles was about a year ago when Leslie decided to write an article about “Save Trestles” effort. As I am a member of the Surfrider Foundation, it piqued my interest to know more about the break and the habitat surrounding its mystic waves.
We enjoyed a walk through the park, took some pictures and from that experience Leslie wrote her article to bring awareness to this last remaining park in Southern California.
But it was only months later that I finally surfed the wave. I had always heard that it was really crowded but as my two main break are Swami’s and Black’s, I found it hard to imagine that it could be any worse.
So Leslie, Adam (my best friend from Florida), and I decided to chill at Trestles on a beautiful Sunday. To our surprise, waves were in the chest high range and were breaking perfectly at Lowers.
While Adam and I consider ourselves pretty good surfers there were about 20 pro surfers in water that quickly brought us back to reality. Within 2 hours I think I had seen all the latest tricks and powerful turns that I usually see in the movies.
While In the water, it struck me that Trestles is not about a world class surf spot but rather the epitome of natural beauty. The San Onofre State Park is one of the last places for family to enjoy nature in peace.
For now Trestles is safe, but we shouldn’t take fore granted what tomorrow’s generations may never be able to experience. SAVE TRESTLES.

The ultimate travel board (Uli)

As a passionate surfer, my mind is always thinking about the next surf trip.

Next year, I will get married in France and then we are planning to go to Marocco. I am already
faced with a difficult decision: make my wife happy or bring my quiver of 6 surfboards during our honeymoon.

Someone once told me a happy life is a happy wife, so I am trying to find a strategic way to bring a surfboard without my wife knowing it...Uli may just have solved my dilemna.

Uli surfboards are great for backpack traveling, while it may not replace my Al Merrick, catching a wave is what I live for no matter what board I ride.

Furthermore, I was a surf instructor for several years and those boards looks great for beginners to prevent potential injuries.

Anyway, I am going to put this toy in my wedding gift list and I will take it to Marocco.