(6 votes, average: 4.17 out of 5)
Some of the biggest digital agencies in the world are changing. Changing the way they produce their own websites! Just a year ago, agencies like EVB, The Bavarian Group & Fantasy Interactive had some of the slickest websites in town to compete with the cutting edge traditional agencies like McKinney, Leo Burnett, BBH and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, but that was then, and now budgets are being cut, timings are getting tighter and clients more important than the agency “flashturbation” websites as they are known… But above all, agency websites need to become live feeds about the work they have done and more importantly the work they are doing. Content is KING remember!
They are calling it the Feeds-Over-Flash concept. Where you take a high end website, press the delete button, say good by to the multi-art-director slagging matches and setup a slick new blog that allows you to communicate with your clients, the way you’re trying to get them to communicate with theirs! Plus, agencies can then easily intergate their various social media accounts to cross polinate as much as they like… Its simple really?
A lot of this is to do with the cost, or lack of it, in producing great looking sites (digital buzz!) on fantastic CMS platforms like wordpress, virtually for free. Not only this, it takes the slavery away from updating those crazy websites and actually allows agencies to quickly communicate with thier customers, syndicate feeds, build better SEO and simplify the experience people have with the brand…
There is a tonne of great comments going on over at AdFreak on this very topic. But I’d love to here your thoughts too! Is your agency moving this way? I’ve just launched an agency blog for IdeaWorks, focused on one of the core fundamentals of the agency, which will probably evolve into the main site over the next 6 months. Its called Refreshing Retail – check it out here.
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May 28th, 2009 at 1:45 am
As a certified Flash freak (which I claim forever) who have created some memorable flash work, I think the main reason for this shift is:
1.) The Wordpress designs I’m seeing are awesome and work well with what agencies need to do: communicate often with audiences who read words and content rather than “experience” flash sites. They have professional needs to sell services. Many agencies have flash sites that are like a block buster DVD movie. Yeah, it was a great killer Cannes Film fest movie…. but I ain’t gonna watch it more than a few times a year. I will read the NY Times every week. I will Google/Bing something I want to find/research and buy almost everyday. I will read and reply to social media several times a day.
2.) Web 2.0 Javascript has taken much of the low hanging fruit from flash. Rollovers, animation, slideshows, transitions can be done with jQuery and related javascript. Flash has become the defacto standard for video online and now it has to add dynamic parts to compete. Augmented Reality is the kinds of creativity that comes out of this shift.
Langston Richardson
VP, Digital Brand Strategist, Creative at LazBro
Twitter: @MATSNL65 @lazbro
May 29th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Flashturbation is WAY quicker and cheaper than a good quality site.
Flash = a few good ideas, and a decent designer and/or flash coder for a few weeks.
Good content = a clearly defined marketing strategy, a good plan, a deep understand of users, a really well thought out IA and, last but not least, really well written content. The platform – wordpress or whatever is irrelevant.
May 29th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
I don’t think it is just for the agencies but even small business is heading this way.
Lets face it the brochure style website that you pay thousands of dollars for is just not producing the expected results.
We do a lot of work showing small business how to use these same techniques to help their bottom line as well.
Quentin
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:27 am
We made this shift last year… we spent a good amount of time adjusting our positioning as a firm and realized that all agency websites were pretty much saying and looking the same regardless… we wanted the communication of our value to be rich and dynamic… wordpress is an excellent platform.
The challenge remains to develop useful content that people care about… if people don’t care about you, the web platform is meaningless.
Great article…
Thomson
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:37 am
I have been feeling the same way about Flash portfolios and agency websites for a while. The reasons why:
1. Flash sites often take a long time to load if you are on a slow connection
2. They don’t get updated regularly
3. It takes too much time to find relevant info (if bad IA > Flashturbation)
4. Forces you to sit through loading bars, especially annoying when you made a “click mistake”
5. Intros: If you can skip it, while put it there? Or: don’t show this to me if I’ve already been on your site.
6. Unless the URL has been manipulated, it’s impossible to bookmark an article/post/portfolio piece (which gets more and more important if you send out links via social networks, and don’t want your followers to search for the item you posted).
Trends like that always happen because needs have changed. And our communication has changed dramatically in the last year or so.
Thanks for the post.
Claudia
June 3rd, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I have created a strategy for my own company OPEN4net which includes having a net PR office – http://open4net.netpr.pl/ and a blog ‘effective e-marketing’ http://mirekpolyniak.wordpress.com/ [apologies in Polish
]
and I find it a very good one – extremely low costs, good conversations, posts show my expertise – no bullshit approach, WordPress ia a powerfull tool re. SEO, netPR as well
I really start doubting whether I should set up a proper website
June 8th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Bavarian Group?
June 11th, 2009 at 4:19 am
Another reason to abandon Flash is because Flash in not SEO friendly (yet). You’re much more likely to turn up in Search results if your site has searchable content. Also, your content can be added to sites like fffound, and accessed on smart phones.
Of course, I see no reason why Flash content can’t be used alongside wordpress as well. I made the switch from flash to WP and I myself, and I see no reason why they can’t coexist. Here’s an example: http://inorganik.net/data
June 11th, 2009 at 4:22 am
For the past 8 years I was all about Flash… My two previous websites were all 100% Flash, but still with a simple and humble use. I love the control of sharp typography…
Last January, I wanted to redo my website. I spent some time, I didn’t know much about Wordpress. So I realize what I will loose in term of ‘cuteness’ versus what I would gain. So I decided to move to Wordpress and have it designed very simply.
I believe that Wordpress is bringing maturity to the internet. Something similar that shaped the newspapers long time ago: A title, headline, news feed, front page, columns, etc.
I believe that after years of wondering about interactivity, maybe we realize that we want to go the point, using a website like a layout, a canvas to showcase the content.
June 11th, 2009 at 5:13 am
WordPress all the way.
June 11th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Is not the future to do with conversation not presentation? Does that not make this a good thing? I think so!
August 20th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Have always had an issue with Flash sites for a few reasons but am happy to see the shift after preaching it for so many years.
Flash can be good when used in the right context but otherwise it is cumbersome on many levels. Not sure I agree with the WordPress loving in this thread, there are better platforms out there just less known.
As others here have said, for an agency their website should not be a ‘victory lap’ wank but rather an initiation of a conversation with potential clients and communication of what they can offer.