know that phrase : "simple is beautiful" ? i mean, people go on the internet to get INFORMATIONS - not to see blinking text, not to watch flashy colors, not to have to download the latest plugin, the latest browser, the latest this or that .... i've personnaly made quite a few web site, that are both BACKWARD & FORWARD compatible, cross browsers (totally, i test on lynx as well !), and that don't require any redirection, and that people are pleased with (coz they quickly find what they are looking for).
The point is to make that understand from the marketing department. They always feel like : the more colors, the more different fonts & text size, the more new plugins ... is the best. A trick i found is to make customers testing the web site. You'd be surprised how they prefer clear and simple design. Then you can go back to the marketing dept and prove them that simple is the way to go, else customers don't even know where to click. It worked (for me at least !).