With thunderstorms predicted for last weekend in NY, I attempted to make a dent in a long list of household chores, one of which was to get up to date on my TV watching. Within no time I was stunned by what I was seeing on the networks. No, not regular summer programming - but a ridiculous 30 second mini-musical by Ask.com. The topic? Chicks with Swords. No kidding. This amazed me not because I hate musicals or because I am intrigued by chicks with swords for all the wrong reasons, I was amazed because Ask.com’s previous foray into post-butler, broadcast advertising was so very sedate that it stood out like a sore thumb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxaq15-0vww.
They are calling it Ask3D (the 3D stands for the three dimensions of searching - query expression, investigating results, and digging deeply into content). You used to have to visit three different pages or websites to see and search through each dimension but with Ask3D, it’s all there on one page – even if that one page looks like their web developers are still using “frames.” It begs the questions: Can Ask.com be sexy and serious at the same time? Can Ask.com be fun and not fundamentally boring? Can Ask.com provide me with answers?
It’ll be hard to best Google, but I’ll switch for a little while and see how I like it. If nothing else, it allows me to nicely customize my search screen, something I never considered would enhance my search experience.
Update: So far it doesn’t.
(Read more at John Battelle's blog)
Wayne 'Mitch' Mitchell
Strategists & Planners
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