Gilt.com Launches Dujour Content Marketing Initiative
21 Aug 2012 | By Grant Arnott
Gilt has unveiled the latest storytailing venture, a high-end magazine titled Dujour to boost the power of its content marketing. But has Dujour missed the mark?
The number one members only shopping club in the US, Gilt, has continued its infatuation with quality editorial with the launch of Dujour Magazine.
Members have been granted an exclusive preview of the high end digital product, featuring aspirational lifestyle content on fashion, health, beauty, and culture. The cover of the first edition features supermodelmum Christy Turlington, and the range of stories has broad appeal to Gilt’s discerning fan base.
However, the user experience of Dujour is a letdown. I have a major business crush on Gilt, and have long admired the unwavering devotion to stylised, curated sales mixed with editorial. The flash sales star’s content marketing is exquisite, but this latest initiative deviates from Gilt’s typical devotion to the customer experience.
Low contrast texts and backgrounds are difficult to read
Clicking onto the cover story, the article is difficult to read – a low contrast text colour on a black background for a vision-impaired person like myself is virtually impossible to read, let alone enjoy.
As you are reading the article, images pop over the top of text if you hover too close. The experience is counter-intuitive and, frankly, annoying. Online user experiences have evolved. This one is a throw-back to the unnecessarily weird.
As an online store of international repute, I expected to find seamless connectivity between the content and the shopping experience. However, only by a chance mouse stroke did I discover the existence of the items in Christy’s outfit (researching people, researching!). Delighted to have unravelled the mystery of how to purchase from the magazine, I clicked on the BUY NOW button.
The shopping options are well hidden
BUY NOW was misleading. The link lead to the Orlatz home page, and would have taken far more clicks than I had the patience for to search for, find and purchase the product.
You had me at ‘Gilt introduces…’.
You lost me when you made it such hard work to read and navigate your magazine.
Content marketing is more than words and pictures, it’s how the entire experience comes together that will determine succes or failure.