Global Beach took care of all design, digital marketing and technical aspects of the project. Catering for time-poor high net worth individuals, extreme ease of navigation and intuitive interface is of utmost importance. The bidding process and each member’s personal page is optimized to make the overall user experience fast, engaging and straight to the point. Victor’s bespoke platform is able to handle a sophisticated database and to alert each member on customized rules, across different channels (email, Victor’s community, mobile network, etc.)

Peter Cameron, Global Beach’s Managing Director, says: “It is a pleasure when an ambitious client comes to us. Victor challenged our assumptions given the revolutionary values the business model is based on. And trust me, this is not an easy task. We have been developing bespoke, luxury-market oriented solutions for a long time now. But Victor makes the impossible reality: anyone can now travel like they have their own jet. When they want it, how they want it.”

Further areas of development are mobile applications and Social Media integration which are underway. Members will be able to indicate their preferred routes, book flights or individual seats, place bids for seats,  monitor their requests on the move, and be alerted on their personal smart phone or tablet, with only two things: a PDA and a passport.

Jonathan Sumner, Managing Director of Victor, commented: “We went to Global Beach because they are well known for their expertise in the digital luxury sector. Their insights about our particular target market were invaluable, and their approach is to work very closely with the client throughout the development process. We trusted them to deliver the complex solution we required to make this business a success and we were not disappointed “

Also, a niche-oriented social media strategy will increase the outreach of the product and contribute to spreading Victor’s values across a segment of discerning travelers in Europe. All this will make Victor’s members experience a revolutionarily easy way to enjoy private aviation when they need it and how they want it. At a competitive price.

In the last week we have launched 2 new websites and 1 new application for one of our most active clients Terrence Higgins Trust.

THIVK (www.thinkHIV.co.uk) – Our new website for gay men which busts a few myths and points out some solutions for HIV and testing. Including a full clinic finder offering the facility to narrow results dependent on your needs.

Mambo (www.mambo.org.uk)- Mambo has been developed by THT, it’s the healthier lifestyle magazine for Africans. Global Beach has helped to move the Mambo community online – our new website with blogs, sexual health information, and Aunty Fola. And soon to be added a Professionals area designed to help professionals  who work with African communities.

Online Counseling (http://www.tht.org.uk/howwecanhelpyou/needhelpnow/onlinecounselling/) – Initially funded for a pilot period by the Department of Health for gay and bi-sexual men, online counselling service is now open to everyone. It gives you the chance to explore whatever is concerning you, from relationships problems to your sex life. The counselling takes place in a number of ways through email and instant messaging (chat).

I am quite excited about just how much we have got going on with all our clients… but on the flip side I reckon I will be more than ready for my holiday at the end of August!

I have always loved starting work at this time of the morning. The phones don’t ring and the office is quiet allowing me to get my thoughts together for the day ahead as the staff start to drift in for our 9am start. This morning I have a new business catch up with one of my closest friends who is helping us build our pipeline. This has been sorely neglected and is one of my highest priorities. With the reputation and experience Global Beach have we should be appearing on many more companies radars when they are looking for a digital agency.

I then have a kickoff meeting for a new Bentley project. Bentley!!! I still keep pinching myself. I may only drive a people carrier but I definitely got goose bumps when the cab taking me from Crewe station pulled up outside the gates at Bentley. I was made to feel very welcome and the whole experience took me back to the days when I ran the Waitrose account at my old agency. Being in the canteen with all the workers sitting down to lunch around us was a real sense of déjà vu.

After that I have a catch up with Clive to discuss how I am getting on against my 7, 30 and 90 day plan (Pretty good I think but you can always do better). One of the discussion points is going to be personnel and what skill sets I think we require to be the strategic and creative agency I want us to be. Having worked in this industry since 1996 I already have my feelers out amongst old contacts and the first post I am looking to fill is Creative Director. On that more next time…..

Then Lara and I are heading over to Kings Cross to firstly discuss a new project we are about to launch for Terrance Higgins Trust and then one of my favourite things, presenting new designs for a brand new project for the same client.

Being that I live in Bethnal Green I will probably G-Wizz it home from Kings Cross and work on the Business Plan I am writing before finishing the day with a call to Matt Passey in our Los Angeles office to discuss ways we can help each other.

Not bad for a days work and I might even find time for a bit of twittering and Facebook catch-up, despite Lara’s scepticism. Like Lara I may not want to know about my mates dissolving earwax but that’s my choice. The beauty of mediums like Twitter is you choose what it is you are interested in, not the other way around.

One of the biggest concerns our clients have is the anti social behaviour that could occur online.  As a result clients usually prefer to moderate and restrict the social interaction of the networks, which in turn restricts the community development. When social networks are allowed to flourish unrestricted, self-moderation usually occurs resulting in sort of ‘network police’ developing and patrolling the site. The outcome of this is fascinating and the real social community is unveiled.

Once a network is up and running it can take any number of directions and in some cases this is not possible to predict.  A great example is the Doggy Snaps self-moderated social network especially.  The community members were never told how to interact with each other, and instead of a community of dog lovers developing a community of dogs talking to each other, or should I say ‘whoofing’ has evolved. A dogs Kennel is a fascinating place to hang out.

It’s perhaps not the expected behaviour we need to be aware, concerned and excited about but the unexpected behaviour!

It’s the same with websites – great looks and expensive design are all well and good but if the behind-the-scenes team didn’t lay the foundations first you might be in trouble. 

It never fails to amaze me – why are some websites just so frustrating and difficult to use? And why, then, is website usability not higher up the agenda? If you are seriously considering a site redesign or upgrade, put aside a small but friendly sized part of the budget for User Experience testing – right through the IA, design and build phases. 

There’s nothing worse than realising the foundations weren’t properly laid and expensive post-launch fixes could have been avoided.