An advertising firm called Modernista! is getting a lot of attention for its new so-called website. The firm apparently dismantled its own website in favor of a floating menu bar that superimposes its logo and a small clickable menu over the top of whatever referring page you clicked from.
For example, if you click on this link you should now see Modernista's new website superimposed right over the top of SaaS Week. (And if you find the floating buttons annoying, there should also be an exit option on the other side of your screen.) Typing in Modernista's URL brings the floating widget over the top of a Wikipedia page about Modernista that includes a disclaimer that Wikipedia is opposed to being used in this manner to promote a third party.
A lot of people have had very different reactions to the site, which is essentially not even really a site. Frankly, I do not care for the site myself and prefer for a website to at least attempt to sell me on a company, which the Modernista site does not. I fail to see the point it is trying to make and if I were attempting to choose an ad firm I would probably not choose one that marketed itself this way.
A balanced article by Rupal Parekh on Advertising Age presented some opposing viewpoints. Some who commented on the site pointed out that the site demonstrates that the company "gets" Web 2.0, whereas others noted that the success of the gamble remains to be seen.
Angela Natividad of the Adrants blog made an interesting point that when people are researching a company that people pay a lot of attention to what is written about companies on other websites, so being bold enough to rely on the Internet to speak for it could show that the company is confident that the strategy will not backfire.
A user called Drama 2.0 cried BS on the E-consultancy.com blog, however, instead countered that the site showed that hte company was trying too hard to be cool and failed to effectively communicate a message to prospective clients who would be seeking out Modernista's services in communicating a message.
Thoughts on the Modernista website? Post 'em below.
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