Pixelcarve Blog

We’ve launched the microsite for 9to5 The Bra, along with the corporate ecommerce site for Wink Intimates, and they’re getting great reviews!

Andrea Clair, founder of Wink Intimates, says “What I got from Pixelcarve has far exceeded my expectations, I ended up with a great e-commerce site www.winkintimates.com and an incredible flash site www.9to5thebra.com I have had rave reviews on both sites, not only are they simple to navigate, they are an artistic expression of Wink Intimates and The 9to5 Bra. The ongoing support has been second to none.” (read more in our testimonials section).

This was a fantastic project  to work on and we’re very proud to have been involved in the success of this new product. It’s already taking the market by storm.

http://www.mommyweardaily.com/blog/2009/4/10/get-winked.html
http://www.womenspost.ca/daily/woman-week-march-30-2009-andrea-clair
http://blog.en.chatelaine.com/styledesk/no-man-would-ever-design-this-bra/
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Wink-Intimates-Theres-a-New-iw-14525280.html

Microsoft has released the final build of Internet Explorer 8.0 (IE8) in 25 languages (final build number 8.0.6001.18702). The much anticipated browser has been long awaited – and with the rumoured speed and safety enhancements it couldn’t have come too soon as the competition heats up with strong rivals Mozilla Firefox & Google Chrome.

In addition to the alleged increased security and speed, it brings a number of new features such as InPrivate browsing (no trace of history, etc.) legacy site support, Accelerators (quick links built within the browser), Visual Search Suggestions, Web Slices and others. However the most significant enhancement, the one that defines IE8 as a much larger leap forward than IE7 was from IE6, is the standards support. This finally brings IE in line with the competitors such as FF, Chrome and Safari. Now, this certainly won’t bode well for sites that tried to hack themselves to display properly in the much less standards-compliant IE7 (that’s why they have that compatability mode), however it’s a great leap forward for the Internet as a whole.

All is not rosy for the Redmond giant however, as during a security conference in Vancouver a hacker was able to exploit a hole in the new IE8 and take control of a Sony laptop in 2 hours (more on this here). Additionally, even though it boasts serious speed improvements over IE7, independent tests from Computer World have revealed that it’s still significantly slower than the competition. Microsoft claims the tests are biased and based on non-realworld scenarios, but those who have used Google Chrome know how blazingly fast it is. Many are also criticizing the new browser for having ignored a huge percentage of the userbase, as discussed in this article.

Nevertheless, love it or hate it, the new browser is here, and it’s your choice if you’d like to use it.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/

According to research conducted by the Internet Advertising Bureau and design magazine Wallpaper, consumers are more likely to purchase premium and luxury goods based on ads they see online, rather than on TV or in print. Additionally, 75% of premium luxury consumers indicated they go to the Internet first before making a purchasing decision.

Now more than ever it is critical for premium luxury brands to utilize the Internet as a key component of their marketing strategies. Affluent consumers are very web savvy, in addition to possessing modern computers and high-speed Internet. Their internet has become a natural extension of every part of their life, from social to finance to shopping. Premium and luxury brands have to advance with them, or risk losing relevance.

Sarah Crawley-Boevey explores this trend more in this great article.
http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/784753/Online-ads-better-TV-promoting-luxury-goods/

When was the last time you clicked on a Coca-Cola TV commercial? Yes, that’s a trick question, because you can’t click on a TV commercial. So why is it that CPC (Cost-Per-Click) advertising is getting all the respect online?

For years we at Pixelcarve have been fighting the perception that click-based advertising online is the only worthwhile investment, as that whole concept flies in the face of years and years of proven marketing methodologies. The argument goes that CPC gives you solid metrics and therefore you can track every dollar spent for every dollar made. Well, putting aside the fact that metrics are by their very nature flawed, and often provide grotesquely inaccurate information, this argument ignores the fact that TV, radio and print advertisement has been very successful without any form of direct audience interaction. Consumers are affected by the messages that they see and read, not just by the ones they seek out.

Finally the obsession with clicks is starting to evaporate, as heavyweights in the ad industry like Gian Fulgoni of comScore Inc. begin to address the major flaws in this system, and are able to demonstrate how important display-based ads actually are.

Check out this article to read more: