The simple link is the building block of the web. Being able to connect one document with another is the basis of it all - that's why the language of the web is HTML - hypertext markup language. 

For years we have been conditioned to click text that is blue and underlined. It doesn't have to be blue and it doesn't have to be underlined - but it will work better if it is. Designers have been offended by this convention since the beginning of web time. 

I was looking at this site on my mobile phone and I realised that the links in the text are difficult to see - the CSS in the template I use highlights the link and mousing over will show the magic disembodied Mickey Mouse mitt to indicate I want you to click the link - but on a phone that is a drag.

So, I am going through my sites and, where it is possible, replacing links with buttons - or having both to make it easier for you to interact on all devices and, as my stats indicate, on the devices you use most often.

Will it be clunkier aesthetically? - probably. Will it be easier to use? - definitely. Will you get downgraded by Google in their search results because your site isn't user-friendly?

If you walk the streets of Auckland as much as I have  you'll see a lot of marketing. If you catch the ferry to work and arrive at the main terminal at the bottom of Queen Street you are going to have to run the gauntlet at least one day a week. The Britmart concourse in front of the Downtown shopping centre is a hot spot of theatre sports and trialling. I've been given samples of insane products there - from yoghurt to cider. It has become something of an art. 

The promotion for SkyTVs show The Unforgotten Soldiers was a theatrically stage reenactment of a World War 1 battle. The trench was squeezed into an alley between two buildings on Lorne Stree. Actors played kiwi soldiers preparing for an engagement with the enemy -Germans? Turks? - didn't matter.

A film crew were preparing to shoot through the day - while passersby could watch and freely shoot video with their smart phones (and share, like I am doing now) . Normally the production crew would have someone to marshal the crowd and preserve the client's secrets. Obviously not the case here. 

I'm not sure how far it radiated - I haven't had a chance to catch up with the news - but I am sure the investment in conceiving and designing the set, costumes, casting etc will all be worthwhile - not to mention that there will be a finished commercial to do the rounds in media in support of the story - which may have little to do with ratings for the show itself and everything to do with the battle between video on demand players, broadcast TV and every other medium to convince advertisers that SKY are the one to back. That's my interpretation on the strategy. 

Though I did admire the tactics.

In Sweden VW tried something a little different to promote road safety (and it almost goes without saying, their brand).

They installed a speed camera that recoded and ticketed offenders. Drivers within the limit earned the chance to win a share of the fines. 

I can see that it might work. Perhaps the only downside would be that, once word got out, the area might become a little too congested to speed.