Audience
The target audience is people with manage websites and who are likely to buy Christmas presents. . I think this showed up on my facebook feed because the internet algorithms know that I have many websites at various hosting companies.
Seascape Principles
Least Resistance
It’s the Christmas season and everyone needs gift ideas. This ad aims to solve that problem and makes it seem pretty easy to purchase a website hosting plan with the click of a button.
Expectations
Wrapping a website into a gift box alters the viewer’s expectations. A website is a nebulous concept. How could that be a gift? The imagery here implies that it can be and sets a new expectation and perceived value of a website hosting plan as a gift.
Progress
Website hosting is part of the trend in advancements of software and technology. Giving this is a gift is like giving the gift of progress to someone.
Design Principles
Repetition
There are so many horizontal and vertical lines in this design. The blue rectangle overlay doesn’t break the pattern. It stays parallel to all the lines in the plaid background.
Contrast
The repetition of all the lines creates a relentless rhythm that could be visually fatiguing and un-interesting, but the large gold ribbon bow, breaks the rhythm and provides contrast.
Rule of Thirds
The contrasting ribbon is in the area of both the horizontal and vertical thirds lines.
Conclusion
It is hard to present a blank website as a tangible item that could be given as a gift. Bluehost pulls it off with its simple, but sophisticated design and elevates their product from a chore to a gift by the way that they set the expectations that a digital product could also become a viable present.