Babel blog - random thoughts from the Babel team

Details: Written by Ian Hood

After weeks of hard graft the new Babel web site is up and guess what, we won't be announcing it! It's something that always amazes me but we often get asked to announce new company web sites via a press release or some other means. I've never quite understood why - nobody would think it made any sense to spend money announcing a new corporate brochure, but for some reason web sites seem to be perceived differently by some.

There are exceptions of course. If the web site in question incorporates something truly innovative, or it's a front end to a new product or service, there may well be a case for it but in those circumstances, you are not really announcing a web site. For the most part a web site is simply another, albeit more sophisticated, piece of marketing or communication. It may have more bells and whistles but it's doing the same basic job.

Hmmmm, I think I may have invented a new fundamental test for company announcements. Before you decide to spend your hard earned marketing or PR budget on an announcemnet, ask yourself a question - does it pass 'the web site test'? In other words, is my target audience going to give a hoot, or like most new web site announcements, am I just blowing my/our own trumpet for the sake of it. If the answer is yes to the former, go for it. If it's yes to the latter, look for somewhere else to spend you pounds, euros or dollars.

danielle s ian s