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Think Carnaby Street and you most probably envisage the swinging

60s and mods and rockers. No longer is this the case, but some may think

changing the Carnaby Street image is akin to trying to stop a fully

laden oil tanker.

But they’d be wrong. The street’s owners have driven out the fly traders

and attracted fashionable lifestyle retailers to replace the

neon-fronted boutiques and souvenir shops. Marry this with a cutting

edge ’virtual’ web site and you have the emergence of London’s new

leading fashion quarter.

Practical web site innovation is, to my mind, often claimed but seldom

delivered.

But Virtual Carnaby delivers. The introductory flash page - a pulsating

’C’ centre screen - grabs your attention while loading to a large

bowling ball of a ’C’ logo around which sit the links.

The site’s epicentre is its virtual tour - a complex, behind-the-screen

Java ’Hyper Space’ application that takes time to download. After

downloading - and it’s worth the wait - the screen splits into three.

Top left presents a 360-degree photographic view of each street within

the Carnaby estate while bottom left presents a street map. The third

frame carries information about the shops.

The fun bit is navigating. By positioning your mouse over the picture

view and moving it the screen picture revolves. Spot a shop you want to

’visit’, click on its front door and information is displayed. Aim the

mouse down the street and click again to walk forward photographically

until you find another shop of interest.

Considering the number of people who still imagine the Carnaby Street of

old this site is worth a visit. From a marketer’s viewpoint Virtual

Carnaby finds a way to stop the oil tanker of yesteryear dead in the

water.

New Media is edited by Binnur Beyaztas, who can be contacted at

binnur.beyaztas@haynet.com

Site: Virtual Carnaby

Where to find it: www.carnaby.co.uk