The homepage establishes the online experience with the website visitor and
its messages ought to aid brand enhancement and not the reverse.
In addition, the homepage message of luxury brands should also be aligned
to the offline communications strategies. For example, in the spring of 2005,
Versace.com was ‘closed’ and the homepage had a message indicating that
the new site was ‘in arrival’. During the same period, Versace launched a
multi-million dollar global print advertising campaign featuring music icon
Madonna. Several consumers that were exposed to the highly visible and
appealing adverts would have likely visited the website either out of the
desire to begin a relationship with the brand or reinforce the already existing
brand relationship. The closure of the website and absence of an alternative
shopping channel, could have led to stunting the consumer’s perception and
negatively affecting the brand’s aura. Closing down a website can be likened
to closing down a physical store without providing an alternative store.
The homepage of a website is often misunderstood as the brand’s welcome
page. The welcome page is different from the homepage in content, function
and layout. Homepages house the major navigational toolbars for the
website’s functionality and interactive features to enhance the web atmos-
phere. Welcome pages on the other hand serve as the first page that welcomes
the browser and ushers them into the website. Welcome pages are most useful
for sectionalizing websites that have different localized contents in terms of
language and region-specific information. While the homepage is indispens-
able for every website, the welcome page is optional and is implemented
according to the requirements of the market and the expectations of the
consumers. Luxury brands should ideally have welcome pages, especially the
brands that feature multiple languages and regional market contents.
Another important visual element in webmospherics is the video. The use
of short and relevant video clips adds colour and excitement to the online
luxury atmosphere, and enhances the mood of both the e-boutique and the
online shopper. Video clips also contribute to website stickiness. Website
stickiness is the retention of the online consumer’s attention to an extent that
their time allocation to the website’s visit is extended. Videos also contribute
to memory recollection of the website and repeat visits. Most importantly,
website video clips create a feeling of human presence and interaction and
decreases the impact of the virtual interface in the web environment.
Several luxury brands such as Christian Dior (Figure 6.20) and Louis
Vuitton have included video clips of their fashion shows on their websites.
Other brands like Chanel and Dior have also implemented video clips of
interviews with their creative directors Karl Lagerfeld and John Galliano at
different times. Vuitton.com has also shown a video clip of the manufactur-
ing process of its leather goods and Chanel.com has featured a video clip
demonstration of its cosmetics use at different times.
In order to be relevant and appreciated by online consumers, video clips
ought to be short, easy to understand and fast to download. They should also
chapter 6 215digital luxury