Top Performing Financial Website

I was reading some of Warren Buffett's latest statements for the current bear economy and decided to do some checking into his credentials. I've heard his name, synonymous with finance, frequently mentioned but knew very little about Buffett. Wikipedia had most of what I was interested to find. 3rd richest man in the world (until he gave $37 of his $52 billion to the Gates Foundation - a man's gotta live), CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and at 73, a respected financial genius.

Buffett has built Berkshire into its own micro economy, capable of rescuing some of the housing debacle with a rather large loan. Berkshire has it's tendrils into some of the top performing companies and brands in the world. It has returned 25% a year on average and has the largest stock price on the NYSE at $100k a share - which just so happens to be Buffett's salary.

All of this, and you would expect to see a beautiful website with marketing messages so distilled, they resonate with the human psyche. Interaction design so perfect and logically organized, that it seems to direct itself. Creative design so rich it politely reminds you that Berkshire is one of the wealthiest companies in the world. Then I clicked the link to Berkshire Hathaway.



I had to triple check the link! Now, I've been on the web since 56k was high speed. I still recall the digital grinding of the modem connecting to the web. This website took me back to that time.

Consider that Buffett still lives in the home he bought back in 1957. However, now it is worth $700k - the guy can't lose. He refuses to leave tremendous amounts of inheritance to his children and is considered to be frugal.

Things that make you go hmmmm.

Home Depot for Valentine

Don't mean to beat a dead horse, but this one showed up in my email box just after I had created my previous post about the misalignment of Home Depot's retail environment and online. Now it's glue!



Russ Barrett
Southbank Interactive

Brand Experience Misalignment

I just received my weekly email from Home Depot and after a recent retail visit, it became very clear that the retail experience and the online experience are misaligned.

The retail experience, while vastly improved from the 90s, is still very much contractor-grade. Maybe it's the bright orange color, but I always feel I should be wearing my tool belt when I visit my local store. I prefer the Lowes experience. Not because the product, availability, or assistance is superior, but because it is more friendly.

Depot's email is much more design sensitive and approachable than their retail. The experience is more engaging but also less garish with color usage. No bright, handwritten signs using a fat, felt-tipped marker. It speaks about environmental issues and promotional products in a soft-sell approach. Totally different.

The email communication is "Come and shop Home Depot because we care about the consumer and their needs". If the email is successful, the consumer arrives at the storefront and, beginning at the front entrance, it screams - "Welcome contractors". Kind of like telling my kids we're going to Toys R Us and then arriving at Kmart.

As Depot's readership and email subscriptions increase, they will need to consider the experience gap because the communications are not consistent. My two cents, risk alienating the contractors for a slightly more friendly retail experience. Something to take away for any email campaign and marketing program.