Website Review: Nicorette.co.uk
A Nicorette-sponsored site for people going through the process of quitting smoking Overall rating: ***
By on Jul 25, 2011
A bit like a car review this. Clearly, one has to give the site a test drive, kick the tires as it were, and get behind the wheel.
Am I going to get a ‘oneness’ from the site, feel connected, feel assimilated as I would if I were testing out a Ferrari?
Will the steering, the brakes and throttle feel like a collection of metal wires and carbon fiber, or will they feel like an extension of my fingers and toes?
All thoughts to consider as I wade through this review for Nicorette.
Content
It’s good to see that Nicorette believes a certain level of psychological support, in addition to information about their products, in the quit process is necessary.
It has developed this site not only for HCPs, but for people going through the process of quitting. This review concerns itself with the consumer side.
A common mistake in the industry is to focus in on the execution of a piece of communication and not the idea.
Arguably, it easier to discuss an idea (the pros and cons) as opposed to the execution of that idea, which will always be a subjective call and therefore reduces us to debating the lowest common denominators, such as colors.
The site measures up in terms of overall look, ease of navigation, functionality and general usability.
It’s a good clean site that clearly comes from the Nicorette stable, or rather garage.
The level of functionality, while not being overtly advanced, is ‘fit for purpose’ and works well enough.
Clearly, relevance is very personal. It can be different for every consumer in our multichannel, multimedia, multi-platform world.
However, in this case, relevance is less of a concern, simply because users will be tied together by the fact that they all ultimately share one goal—trying to quit smoking.
Regarding the areas the site covers, it seems fairly complete, if not a little basic: Quitting, products, ActiveStop (personalized stop smoking support), cut down to stop, video channel.
All the obvious bases are covered, but I wonder whether they could have gone further.
Community
The one obvious thing that seems to be missing from this site is some form of community feel.
Although it’s good to see that support in trying to quit is acknowledged as an important element, it seems to be a one-way monologue not a two-way dialogue.
In other words, Nicorette supply you with tools, such as an app, videos of other quitters and their stories etc, but there isn’t any forum or function where an on-going relationship can be built among quitters and facilitated by Nicorette.
In my mind, this would be a really worthwhile function in the quest to quit.
There will no doubt be times when quitters are within reach of grabbing a cigarette and one wonders if they had the chance to talk to another quitter and gain strength from them, they would re-consider.
The video channel, although useful to hear about other people’s stories, is in my mind just a guise to push a Nicorette format.
It’s clearly promotion and, although I’m sure the temptation to do this was too enticing, I think it’s missed a trick.
They could have offered other values in this area, values that could have been more appreciated by quitters and therefore further enhanced their choice of brand.
Collaboration
I often think that developing a site within the context of pharma is seen as such an achievement that, once it’s been fully signed off, everyone is just happy to pack up their tents and steal quietly away into the night.
If a brand is to retain positive mind share, then it’s vital that they not only stay current but build on what they have.
How can improvements be made? What new value-added services can be offered?
Admittedly, in this context one would hope that once a successful quit has been achieved, consumers will have no reason to re-visit the site.
But as a successful quitter has tried, on average, five times to quit before, there’s likely to be more repeat traffic than may be expected.
To do this site justice, it does state that it was last updated in June. Although refreshing to see that it’s a recent date, I for one can’t see any new functionality.
Verdict: A good little run-around suitable for the school run, not for showing at Goodwood.
Wyndham Clark is a director at patient-centric communications agencyHive. He welcomes website suggestions to review.
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