The New Sweet Spot: Portals & Programming

What’s recession proof today? For the Food Network – it appears as though they’ve hit the recipe for success. In the midst of an economic crunch – people are eating out less and cooking up their own cheap chic dinners.

In January, the Food Network saw a spike of 44% in online ad revenue – largely due to viewers flocking to the site for Superbowl recipes and menus. Trading take out and table service for people are looking for ways to save money and still dine in style at home.

With what couldn’t have been any more perfect timing – Food Network recently revamped their entire online presence – serving up an portal entree of Food Network programming and recipes with side dishes of food facts and lifestyle tips. Food Network’s ability to stay attune to their audience’s palette on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis allows them to thoughtfully deliver digital content that will satisfy the appetite of their customers.Continue reading

Feminization Of Design

In his book Brandjam Marc Gobe writes about how brands today must shift from ‘communications’ and ‘commodities’ to ‘emotion’ and ‘inspiration’.

One of the key reasons why this shift needs to take place is because – as Marc says – Emotional design is feminized design. As a culture, we are getting more intuitive, more spiritual; we are learning more about and look at the world from a women’s point of view.

The job of good design is to make our experiences manageable and meaningful, taking a bland or messy experience and giving it poignant elegance and distilled power.Continue reading