I have to give credit to the folks at advertising agency Modernista! for dismantling the company’s existing website in favor a “site-less” approach. In this disruptive move they’ve done much more than simply save on site design.
By foregoing the breadth of information available on a traditional site, they focus viewer attention on the company’s art and creativity. It’s a big win (and just plain cool).
The company’s new homepage consists only of a small menu that floats over the viewer’s referring site or over the Modernista! entry on Wikipedia. Click on the “Print work” menu tab and you’re directed to the company’s work as presented on Flickr; click on “TV work” and up pops a You Tube page with videos of Modernista!-created ads.
This new approach is different, budget and very simple. To many, it would be a leap down in terms of the traditional metrics that define good website design. The company’s “conventional” website was a resource-intensive, complex site that resembled a kooky (yes, I said it) haunted house. It was impressive yet overwhelming, flexing the firm’s creative muscle with more animation than most viewers could handle. The new site is perhaps less user-friendly for those expecting a traditional website structure, and offers less context for the depicted company work. The new format could also yield negative user-generated critiques of Modernista!’s work on the social media pages that serve as its website.
The trade-off for these drawbacks? A cleaner site that demonstrates the firm’s creativity, confidence in letting its ads speak for themselves and comfort incorporating Web 2.0 platforms in its work. The site has generated more blog traffic and buzz in a wider range of forums than a traditional website with fancier features would have done, with this blog post as a case in point. Isn't that the goal of a website as a marketing tool? And the move isn’t one that other leading advertising agencies are likely motivated to follow. Voila! Disruption.
But that’s just the web site. The real disruption will be if Modernista! applies a similar leap-down approach in developing client advertising campaigns that have worse performance on some traditional dimensions but are, perhaps, simpler and more affordable relative to conventional advertising.
