Doctor Martens social faux pa

Dr Martens have just released their all flash social networking site freedm2 to beta. The site was created by Saatchi interactive and is an attempt to engage and connect with airware customers. Unsurprisingly the agency is not going to monetise the site, but are trying to change audience brand perception and monitor that change.

I was particularly interested in this project as it's a Flash based social networking site, which made me wonder why they'd chosen that particular delivery format. I was also interested to see if Saatchi had built the site in Flash 9 utilising the new engine to create a more engaging environment.

So after waiting for the first page load I trawled the source code to discover I was in a Flash 8 environment, so let's see what this site is going to do.

The first page provided a view of a grand Victorian London residential street. Why London I wonder, why not Newcastle or Manchester or even Wales? Are DM's target audience going to aspire to this capital grandeur or we're the creative team being a little London centric in their concept? My next mission was to click on the front door, which was really exciting and a loading icon popped up for a few seconds whilst the doorbells loaded. Here I had to register, which was a boring chore. DM wanted my email and my DOB for some reason, which I obviously lied about because I want to protect my identity.

So once I'd managed to navigate the flaky login process I was standing in a dishevelled and dreary hallway looking at a grand staircase, a door and a lift. Clicking on the areas allowed me to access the different zones. Cue another loading icon.

I chose to move upstairs and was presented with a dizzying horizontal scrolling array of weird doors, most of which I couldn't access. Clicking madly to get out of this disorientating environment I end up watching another loading screen until I'm presented with another shabby room. Here I can click on a picture that is apparently a video but it won't play. At this point I notice a new Icon appear on the screen and click on it. I think this is another visitor, but I only seem to be able to contact him via email and am now stuck in this interface. Every time I do anything on this site I have to watch the loading screen crawl up to 100%

So I go back downstairs and try the lift, but it's broken, click on a notice board that’s full of dummy Lorum Ipsum text. I try my last option, which is a door that leads to a cinema. And here the lameness of this site becomes truly apparent when they try to provide a youTube experience. The graphics are really nice as you'd expect from Saatchi but the interface design is weak and the technology is woeful. I wonder if the video content was created by the Saatchi creative team after a long lunch in the pub, most of it wouldn't load and crashed after a few seconds. I notice the audience in the cinema throwing stuff at the screen, and wish I could join in.

As I was trying to leave the house to get a screenshot of the outside for this article I found the music room hidden away in the hallway. Now this space has some pretty big ideas, offering the ability to create your own music using pre-supplied sample loops on a timeline. Now this is obviously where a lot of the budget has gone, and I'm amazed by how poor the system is, it just doesn't work. Stuff won't load the interface is terrible, and the samples are as dreary and dull as the visual environment.

Saatchi claim that this site is in Beta, but I wouldn't have even shown it to the client never mind opened the doors to the public. This is not Beta, this is not social networking, it's is a pretty design that's out of touch with it's audience's aspirations with a shabby backend that makes me wonder what sort of idiot DM thinks I am to spend my valuable time on this worthless website.

My recommendation to DM is to ditch this site, create a social space that really focuses on what their brand essence is. How about a video library of underground punk gigs from the 70's, a photo library of street fashion through the ages, a tool to design your own DM shoes and boots. Brands need to reinforce their essence through content not devalue it.


Tags: Doctor Martens Saatchi Social brand AgencyFreedm2