THE WEEKND’S WEBSITE REVIEW

THE WEEKND’S WEBPAGE

FRIENDLINESS OF THE SITE

The Weeknd’s website feels welcoming from the start, because of the easiness of use and the high quality design of the page. Also, the colours used are very related to the brand and to the message that their songs want to impart. There are clear benefits of visiting, because in the same homepage you can find videos, tour dates, merchandising and news, which is content that the people who’s interested in the brand will find important.

Related to the content of the site, the few words and messages that appear are written in a formal conversational style, though the band prefers to communicate with images and videos instead. That makes everything easier, since we won’t have to worry about the size of the text, and the message will be spread effectively anyway.

It’s not difficult to scan, since there are very few words, and a lot of images or audiovisual content. Also, the fact that the background is black makes seeing the information easier. In every tab youneed to scroll down a bit to see everything that is there, so the content probably wouldn’t fit in an A4, but that’s not something bad, since the process of navigating through this website is simple and the design is very attractive.

COMMUNICATION

It communicates everything it needs, since it’s an entertainment site that is visited by people who are interested in knowing different information about the band. Every single content that the page offers is summarised in the homepage, so it can be considered as an effective website. Also, the fact that the design of the web is highly connected to the type of music The Weeknd produces, helps the people who go to the band’s page find exactly what they were looking for, in aspects of design and content.

We could determine that the site is definitely consistent in design (color, layout and fonts), has an clear and highly usable platform, the buttons and different tabs are easy to find, and it’s simple to understand in general. The only thing that is missing is a navigation bar that might help us find what we look for easier and faster. However, due to the fact that all of the contents are summarised at the homepage, it may not be necessary to have one.

RELEVANCE OF THE CONTENT

Once we get into the webpage, the design of the platform and the content will be the decisive elements that will make us want to stay there. If we’re there to buy merchandising,the fact of getting inside of this atmosphere will increase or desire of acquiring these items, since that will make us want to be a part of it.

People that click on the band’s website will want to discover new music, watch The Weeknd’s viedos, know the tour dates, read news about the band or buy merchandising objects, and every single video, image and text that we can find there will talk about these things, so we could say the content that is offered to the audience is absolutely relevant for them. It’s not the brand that goesto the potential client, but the potential client is the one who’s interested in the brand and will go to their webpage to find some more information, so clearly the content will be important for him.

BENEFITS OF INTERACTIVITY

In The Weeknd’s page you can either interact by subscribing to their newsletter, or by buying merchandising produtcts, and in both cases the interaction will be positive, since the client or potential client will have something in return, whether this is information about news, videos or albums, or a merchandising item. 

There is not a main action that the page wants the audience to take, since its main purpose is not only selling or making people subscribe, it’s more of an information platform. However, it does worry about having a good and pleasant connection with those who want to interact with the brand, and that’s why they make the process of subscribing non-invasive for the person, and also the buying course is easy and well designed.

Something that is very important and that this webpage misses is a tab with all the information about the brand, like who are its components, what kind of music do they play… we can assume that people that come to this website do already know who The Weeknd is, but I think it is important to remind them and that would be also a good opportunity to sell itself and to highlight its values and objectives as a music band. If that part was good, maybe the people who read it would be even more interested in buying its items or being part of this community. In the merchandising page we can see nonetheless what the components of every item are and where they are made and embellished, which I think is important information.

I think the incentive to take the required course of action isn’t sufficiently motivated to the audience of this webpage, since when we get inside it we don’t have any message or pop up telling us we can actually subscribe to its newsletter or that we can buy The Weeknd’s merchandising, we need to look for the buttons instead. So, taking into account that this is more of an information website and it’s main purpose is not to sell items or to make people subscribe to the newsletter, since what is the most important is the music, I think the fact that there were some pop ups or just a little window on the right that appeared when we got inside the webpage saying that we could subscribe by clicking one button or that we could buy elements by clicking another one, would be very important and would make the people more aware of it. That would encourage  visitor details to be left there.

The benefits of the visitors returning to the site are not specified, but I don’t think they are required to be told, since if the visitor wants to go back to buy some specific item, he would go by himself, and he will remember the website because what is offered here is not offered anywhere else.

The privacy policy is easy to find, because it’s at the bottom of the home page, and the regular buyers’ data is stored so that the brand can send them e-mails with new offers.

NAVIGATION

The site has a logical structure and navigation in it is easy and clear. The only thing that we could improve is that it doesn’t have any site map, and maybe it could have one so that the experience of navigating would be easier.

All the links link back to the homepage except for the merchandising one, that opens in a new tab, but we can go back to the homepage since the home tab is open still. They are easy to find and recognise, and you can go from one page to another in less than three clicks, which would be too much.

The visitor can navigate freely through the site, and they can undo or redo all the times they want, or add items to the basket and then cancel them in just one second. There’s no need for “back” and “forward” buttons in the merchandising page, since the ones from the navigator we’re using (Google, for example) already work. However, they do not have location Bread Crumbs.

There isn’t any search option, which I think it would be necessary to make the process faster. The usability, though, is effective and it has been used by a focus group to prove it.

QUALITY

The design is simple, attractive and customer orientated since everything’s very easy to be found.  Visually, it offers pleasure to the potential client that visits the webpage. You can immediately know where you are ‘cause every tab has a title and though there are few texts, they say the what’s important in every single one of them. We could consider the main homepage as an index because it has in it a bit of what you will find in every tab on the top. 

It grabs and holds your attention from the first moment and it avoids clutter because everything is very well organised and visual, and the top and left of the page is used to determine brand identity and navigation (there is the logotype on the left and the name of the different tabs on the top). It has a lot of visual aids like color coding and typography, with colors coming from the same tonal range that makes us relate the web concept to The Weeknd’s music.

There are not any big errors, though sometimes when you try to buy a t-shirt the prize is only in US dollars, and not in euros or pounds, but then it gets fixed. The back button takes us where we were and it is very clear to understand how to find new information or content.

The site is more than 800 pixels wide and the images are more than 72 dpi since they are HQ images (same with the videos). However, the user needs to scroll down to see the whole picture in every tab, so maybe this is something that should be fixed.

COPY QUALITY

The content is clear, relevant and grammatically correct, even though there isn’t much text in general. It doesn’t have any emotional tone, it’s more impersonal, because it’s not the written part but the music the one that needs to connect emotionally with the visitor. The topic of every section is very clear and easy to be scanned. 

READABILITY

It’s easy to read though some of the users may need to zoom the page a little bit to get the information clearly, but the font is well chosen and it’s higher than 10 point size, and it’s always the same. The font used is a sans-serif typeface and it’s always used with capital letters, and there isn’t any marketing-speak word in the content since it’s not  marketing web and it’s purpose is to provide information about The Weeknd. The only bad thing we can point out is that the letters are white and the background is dark, which reduces readership levels.

It’s clearly known what the users will get by clicking on actionable items.

DETAIL

Everything un this web, including the copy, has been double-checked since it’s a worldwide known web. The information that appears is clearly up to date and also there are new links that appear (especially in the merchandising tab) with new updates about news or products of the band.

All of the colours have been checked to be “Web Safe”, and all of the mandatory and corporate identity requirements are included correctly, and the appropriate signs for registered brand are also in the right place. Related to legal checks, they have all been made.

CREDIBILITY

The site clearly proves the competence and experience not only of the web designer who made it, but also of The Weeknd brand. It definitely offers a unique participation to these who are interested on the band, giving a delicate balance of functionality, design, content, structure and usability. In addition, the visitors probably find the information on this website useful, since they will probably be The Weeknd’s fans and they will find most of the content interesting.

In the selling tab, the security icon is evident and as this is an official band’s website, there are no pop-ups. There aren’t frames, nor blue text or underlined words.

MARKETING

The site’s proposition is to offer information about the brand, and also offer the possibility to buy items from it, and its benefit is more valuable than the one offered by competitors since The Weeknd’s products are unique.

There isn’t a defined message for all of the customers since the main purpose is not selling, but the brand tries to make this experience the best one for the visitor anyway. These visitors can be from any age, and it will be easy for them to navigate through this platform.

The updated parts of the site are clearly marked, and there isn’t any mechanism to recommend this page to friends or family. The site might clearly have been checked for search engine optimisation since when you search “The Weeknd”, this page is the first one to show.

BRANDING

The brand identity is clearly projected, not only through the logotype, but also through the typography and colours used. The emotional tone is connected to the band’s songs: dark and mysterious, which will make the audience (that will probably listen to The Weeknd’s songs) feel  highlyconnected to the website.

ACCESSIBILITY

The site has been checked on the most common browsers, and the website always appears in the first page of all of the results when we search for “The Weeknd”. I don’t know if it has been checked in older versions of the browsers, but I guess so, since there must be a lot of people working in this site. It will work on every device and will be compatible with every operating system.

LOADING SPEED

The homepage loads instantly, and there aren’t any unnecessary animations and complex graphics.

USE OF MULTIMEDIA

Every video, image and text item serves a clear purpose and a definite contribution to the benefit of the visitor.

Objectives and Conversions – The Weeknd Merchandising

The Weeknd

The Weeknd’s webpage is not only made for people to buy the merchandising items from the band, but it is much more. Once you go inside the page, you can go through different tabs that will lead you to a whole lot of information, from news about Abel Tesfaye (the main singer), to all the dates of his actual tour. However, we will focus on the Store tab, since it’s the one where the brand objectives and conversions can be applied upon.

Web objectives of the brand

The main objectives that the brand wants to achieve through the content of its website are:

• Sell: the ultimate purpose of every product/ service from every brand is to be sold, so in this case it’s not different.  Even though The Weeknd’s brand is focused on spreading around their music, their merchandising products (found in the Store tab) are created to be sold, and The Weeknd’s website encourages the visitor to buy them, creating an attractive atmosphere for him, and leading him towards their products from their homepage.

• Reach: as The Weeknd is not a band created mainly to sell products but to create music, we could not compare it to any other clothing store, so we cannot base our results on their SEO nor their SEA. The people who is interested in their products need to know about the website (maybe through social media, word or mouth or just by themselves) and go there on purpose. But the way of reaching the audience in order to buy their products is by their online page design, that makes the people want to be part of it.
• Give visibility and engage: one of the main objectives of the webpage is making people aware of the values that carry wearing one of their products. All through this site we can see Abel’s new productions and videos and also news about new products, and dates of the tour he’s making. So that’s how the brand engages the potential client, leading them towards buying their clothing so that they will share these values that The Weeknd has.
• Generate trust: all of the products that the brand sells are under a secure seal, so that they know their purchase will be protected at every moment.

Conversions

There are three ways of generating a conversion from The Weeknd’s webpage:

1. Their newsletter, where the user will be able to subscribe and recieve new information about the brand and the singer.

2. Their own account, from where they will be able to buy their products.

3. Social media, where they will be able to follow the singer and get updates from the products he sells.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary: OVP (Online Value Proposition)

Definition of the term

The online value proposition (OVP) could be described as the addition of online value that a web offers to its customers or potential clients to differentiate itself from other competitors. In a more colloquial way, we could define it as the online USP (unique selling proposition), or what you can give people so that they will choose your website out from the rest.

Every brand’s goal is to establish a durable relationship with their clients in order to have regular purchases of their products/services and, consequently, guarantee the success of the company. But to obtain this engagement with potential clients, it is necessary to define the main objectives and values of the brand. The core intention of the OVP is telling people everything they need to know about it: who they are, what do they offer, who is their main audience, what makes them different… so that the clients or potential clients know who they are dealing with.

Creating our own OVP

It’s not an easy task to come up with a brand’s OVP, since there are a lot of elements to take into account. These are the steps that must be taken to figure that out:

1. Determining the target our brand’s addressed to, so that we can adapt our message to them.
2. Benchmarking OVPs, so that we can know what others have done and how to succeed in doing so.
3. Defining our message and communicate it (knowing how to communicate it well is the key to achieve our objectives).
4. Analysing the results, and keep improving our site.

The costumer value proposition

We need to take into account that the most important agent in the creation of the OVP is our client. Our final objective will always be to create engagement with the costumers, so that there is a conversion. To do so, we need to base our OVP strategy on what Kaplan and Norton state on their book Strategy Maps: a solid costumer value proposition.

The customer value proposition would be defined as the benefits that the visitor will get from our brand’s website, and how those will be associated with the brand’s values. Dave Chaffey states that here are 6 dimensions of possible value proposition in the digital world, and we need to keep them in mind all the time:

Digital Marketing

Lastly, the main element that we need to take into account to communicate our OVP in an effective way would be digital marketing. The brand needs to have not only a nice web design and a good SEO, but it also has to be efficient and easy to use by the visitors so that they will have a pleasant time and they will want to come back. It is recommended to use a title and a little description of the site on the homepage, linked information in case people need help to get where they want and a tab where the OVP is explained, just as the following image:

To sum up, the OVP is a fundamental element for enterprises to communicate their values and objectives, and to make people know what the brand can do for them. An example of it, would be the following video:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary: OVP (Online Value Proposition)

Audience Analysis – The Weeknd Merchandising

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is the singer behind the name of The Weeknd, a wordwide known R&B/ Hip Hop band which started to be famous on Youtube by the year 2010. After the release of his album “Trilogy” on 2012, the fan community has been growing considerably up to these days, where the band has become not only a hip hop music reference, but also some sort of brand, with its own social connotation and values. Due to this fact, The Weeknd’s design image and merchandising are very important elements of the band, which intends to keep its high position in the music market.

When we visit its web page we can see a tab on the top that says “Store”, that will take us to the merchandising section. There we’ll be able to find pieces of clothing (t-shirts, sweaters, sweatpants, hats…), ashtrays, and old music albums from the artist. These are the elements whose target we’ll be analysing.

In the first place, the geographical strategy of the brand is to sell their products all around the world, with preference in the UK and Europe over USA/Canada and the rest of the world. The language in which they communicate is english, considering that the most part of its audience is from North America.

Since we’re analysing music merchandising, the target of these products will be similar to the target of the people who listens to this band, that would be formed by people (both genders) from 18 to 30 years old, probably from an upper-middle class (most of the prices of the products are not cheap, but not extremely expensive either). Even though Abel’s music tends to be commercial nowadays, the band had always been recognised for creating a dark hip hop atmosphere, so the main psychologic attributes from the audience of The Weeknd would be introvert people in search of a disconnection from the real world, that often see themselves in need to escape from where they are (that’s why in his songs always talks about drugs, sex or illicit activities), and that need to get lost in that darkness sometimes, to relax. Also, wearing The Weeknd brand is like being part of a circle of people that tend to have troubled-lives, or who are lost and tired of trying, so they have decided not to care about life or feelings anymore. Those who buy The Weeknd’s clothes will want other people to think of them as this dark mystery.