Fame Foundry Sound Off: AT&T's Seth the Blogger Guy

As the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S., AT&T has found itself in the midst of a PR nightmare of its own making. Most customers have a love/hate relationship with the company, and even worse for AT&T, these customers are very vocal about their issues. As fervently as they sing the praises of their iPhones, they also profess their contempt for the network's unreliable service and vent their resentment of the carrier's stranglehold on the device. In an attempt to tip the scales of public opinion back in favor of love, AT&T has once again rolled out “Seth the Blogger Guy,” who made his debut on the company's YouTube channel earlier this year to hype the launch of the iPhone 3GS: In response, Fame Foundry's agents address AT&T, Seth and yet another misguided effort by a faceless corporation to work magic through social media.

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• The Architect

  I have no idea who "Seth the Blogger Guy" is. He's obviously not a "blogger guy"; he's an AT&T spokesman. It immediately comes off as insulting that AT&T would assume I would know this guy and buy what he says from that point on because he's "just one of us." 

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• The Craftsman

  Why is a "blogger guy" delivering this message? He does not come across as an AT&T authority that can in any way influence the reliability of their network. It's almost as if they found a guy in a cubicle and asked him to be in a video. I also don't appreciate the Schoolhouse Rock approach to explaining what happens when a call is made. First of all, don't insult my intelligence. Secondly, I don't really care. I just want it to work.

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• The Developer

  This just goes to show that not only does AT&T not understand the people they are talking to, neither does the ad agency that made this lame video. It is a blatant PR attempt to position themselves as a leader instead of being honest and apologizing. Today's consumers want honesty, and obviously neither AT&T or the company that produced this video understands this simple fact. Suck it up, AT&T, and give us a sincere apology and a credit for the crappy service so we know you're serious.

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• The Engineer

  Where was the investment before now? Before the iPhone there were smartphones, and we were yelling then, too. You didn't hear us five years ago and get "on it." You're apologizing for your lack of investment in infrastructure with the money you got from charging people an arm and a leg to send cheap text messages. People don't forget, AT&T. Heaven help you when another carrier gets its hands on the iPhone.

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• The Author

  Even if we were to accept "Seth the Blogger Guy" as a credible voice of authority (note to AT&T: we don't), the video is still highly flawed. I will give AT&T credit for recognizing the conversation happening around them in the social media sphere and attempting to address customer concerns through the channels where they are talking. However, that's where their smart new-media thinking ends and they fall back on comfortable and familiar old marketing conventions. Rather than taking advantage of the opportunities offered by social media networks to engage in candid and genuine dialog, they simply broadcast a message that is obviously 100 percent scripted and delivered by a spokesperson with no real personality. There is no sense that this represents a heartfelt communication from a company that values its relationships with its customers. Instead, the tone of the video ranges from condescending ("Frankly, that's a very time-consuming process.") to patronizing ("The airwaves are kind of like a highway.") to exasperated ("We've heard you. We're on it."). As we've said before and will say again many times, people follow people, not companies. Until AT&T is willing to invest the time and resources necessary to cultivate real, meaningful and ongoing relationships with the public, their social media efforts will continue to falter, and they will be haunted by their reputation as the subpar network that's holding the iPhone hostage.

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• The Communicator

  AT&T's video violates one of the cardinal rules of social media: transparency. A simple Google search reveals that "Seth the Blogger Guy with AT&T" (as he identifies himself in the video) is neither an average joe blogger or a rank-and-file AT&T employee as his name, appearance and demeanor are all deliberately calibrated to portray. He is, in fact, not a blogger at all. He is Seth Bloom, senior vice president at Fleishman-Hillard, AT&T's PR agency. As soon as this is revealed, all credibility is lost, and the video comes across as nothing but an empty, manipulative and self-serving PR tactic. If AT&T truly cared about repairing its reputation and earning the loyalty of its customers, it would not hide behind a fictional persona but rather would put a legitimate company heavyweight on the front lines of its social media efforts. Instead, despite the controversy sparked by their questionable choice of spokesperson, the company has said that it plans to continue using Seth in future online videos.

A final word of advice for AT&T: There is no division between the "real world" and the world of social media. These days they are one in the same. You do yourselves no favors by posting what you believe to be a positive, reassuring, "we're in this together" video on YouTube and then telling every media outlet that will listen that your customers and their bandwidth-hogging iPhones are the problem. If you want to use social media to your advantage, you must be willing to represent your company in a truly personal manner - flaws and all - in order to earn and keep your customers' trust. Consumers are much more forgiving of companies with whom they have built relationships on a foundation of trust; they have little sympathy for faceless corporations. Or, in this case, a faceless corporation masquerading as a "blogger guy."

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When Less is More: An Introduction to Minimalist Website Design

Minimalism is a trend that garners a lot of debate and discussion in the website design community. As a result, chances are good that you’ve heard of minimalist design and seen its principles in practice on sites that you visit day in and day out. But what exactly is minimalist design? And is it the right choice for your site?

Minimalism defined

In website design, minimalism can easily be construed as plain, lackluster or easy to accomplish. However, that is quite far from the truth. To the contrary, minimalism is a philosophy of web design that strives to eliminate all unessential features and elements in order to enhance usability by providing a clean, streamlined browsing experience that is absent of unnecessary distractions and clutter.

Focus

Every successful minimalist design starts with a crystal-clear vision of the purpose of the site and the key messages it needs to convey. Before any design choices are made, it’s critical to outline the goals and content of the site. This requires determining what information is most vital to visitors and arranging it in order of significance. You might actually be amazed to discover how little information is actually required to help users make decisions or accomplish their goals.

Typography

Because minimalist design is reduced to only its most essential visual elements, the site’s content takes center stage. As a result, typography is key to capturing the user’s attention. The choice and usage of typefaces in minimal design is critical to creating a unique look and feel that makes a lasting impression on visitors. Therefore, it’s important to choose a combination of typefaces that both reflect the personality of the brand and provide a clean, pleasurable user experience. Yet again, restraint is key, as using too many different fonts can make the site feel unorganized and chaotic. Beyond the choice of typeface, attention to detail in size, color, spacing and weight is important to ensuring readability and defining the overall aesthetic of the site. The WPShower website offers a good example of the role typography plays in setting the tone for minimalist design, with an easy-to-read yet somber font for the main caption and a quiet font for the menus.

Color

A common myth of minimalism in website design is that it entails a lack of color. While many minimalist websites do feature a color palette that is limited to black and white, this is merely an aesthetic choice, not a requirement. Instead, just as with all other elements of minimalist design, color should be deployed in ways that emphasize focus and restraint. Minimalist sites commonly employ a single continuous background color that sets the mood or tone for the site. A carefully chosen accent color is then employed to draw the user’s attention to key features of the site, such as navigational elements or important points within the content. It’s important to ensure that the accent color is not used to excess, or else it will lose its impact. For instance, take a look at authentic style, the design portfolio of William Smith. The background is brown, with another shade of that very color used as accent, yielding an overall effect that is minimal, clean and neat.

Layout

Layout is a make-or-break element of minimalist design. It requires proper execution and an absolute lack of ambiguity. All elements should work together to keep the primary focus on the site’s content. Minimalist design requires special attention to certain key elements. For example, the company name and logo should be in a prominent location in order to establish the site’s identity and promote the brand. Next, as with any site, ease of navigation is critical. Navigation menus should be convenient to locate and use on any device or platform. If visitors are forced to scavenge for information, the website will not be popular, no matter how beautiful it is. For instance, take a look at the website of The Mavenist – a minimalist design featuring awesome typography and a user-friendly layout. Also, it is often incorrectly assumed that a minimal website design excludes images and graphics. After all, we are concentrating on good typography, few colors and highly structured layouts, so images will only introduce chaos, right? Actually, no. Images are an important component of any website’s content, and in minimalist design, images can be used to powerful effect in the absence of other competing graphical elements. For example, take a look at the Clean Dessign theme. It is loaded with images and yet maintains restraint in terms of layout and design.

White space

White space – also known as “negative space” – simply refers to the area on a web page that is not occupied by any design elements or text. Even though it is called “white space,” it does not actually have to be white. This term merely refers to the space that exists between content. White space is a critical element of any design – not just minimalism. It can be tempting to fill this empty space in order to make the best use of the available real estate on the page. However, in fact, it is this space between content that helps users make sense of the page and understand which elements are most important. In minimalist design, white space is used to help lead and direct the user’s attention. For example, content that stands alone will draw focus immediately. Furthermore, white space can also be used to group similar items together as well as to create separation and differentiate between elements of various levels of importance.

Getting started with minimalist design

While minimalist design is appealing in its simplicity, it’s not the right choice for every site. It works best for those sites that are centered around serving a singular purpose – whether that’s selling an app or presenting a portfolio of work. So how can you determine whether your site would benefit from being redesigned with a minimalist approach? The answer is more simple than you might think. No matter what business you’re in, your website exists to help that business grow. Therefore, every decision you make with regard to your site should be based on whether it will help to advance your business growth objectives. A good place to start is by evaluating your current website. Make a list of its various features and components. Now arrange that list in order of usage, with the most commonly used ones on top. From there, go down the list and eliminate any that are not often used or are not essential to supporting the business objectives of your site. If what remains on the list reflects a few relatively simple ideas and functions, your site could be a good candidate for a minimalist redesign. Further exploration with an experienced website design firm will help you identify the ways that your site could be simplified and streamlined. As always, usability trumps all, so any changes must be driven by the goal of providing the best possible experience for visitors that motivates them to take action. Implementing minimalism just because it is a popular trend could ultimately undermine your site’s ability to help you capture and convert new customers. But if your aim is to present a focused message in a powerful way, minimalist design will provide a stage where those ideas can shine.

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