Where most e-commerce companies use regular banners, newsletters and affiliate programs to advertise new products – designers at Dutch shopping company, Hema (Dutch equivalent to South African shops such as Game and Makro), have come up with a new and original way of advertising their recently released online shopping section. Click on the link below to check it out:
Apart from its obvious “fun factor†and visual appeal, this particular web page serves a bigger purpose than just simply entertaining us with some clever graphics. What you will notice when the sequence on the page is completed, is that you cannot actually click anywhere on the page other than on the blue block that appears at the end of the “show.†This is where the clever part comes in. The writing in the blue block can be translated as follows:
“YOU CAN NOW ALSO FIND HEMA PRODUCTS AT HEMA.NLâ€
“Click to watch again†“Click to forward this linkâ€
In order to actually navigate your way to the Hema homepage, you have to forward the link to at least one person. Only once this is done will you be directed to the Hema homepage where you can proceed to check out their new online shop. What a fun and original way to spread the word that you have just launched a new online shopping section on your website. I alone forwarded the link on to about 10 friends to check it out after viewing it myself; and not because I had to, but because I wanted to!
What a great website! I look forward to seeing similar sites from South African e-commerce companies in the near future.
