We did a lot of internal brainstorming, research and performed a focus group. The main takeaway was the website was overwhelming, confusing and the look of the branding was outdated. The main objective therefore became to create a more user-friendly website, to simplify our brand look and to more effectively sell our products.
We first did this by moving into a grid system that allowed us to add and subtract components to create a more streamlined look. We changed the font to a more modern sans-serif, and updated our colors, using less red so it isn’t so distracting to the products we were trying to sell. We created new copy guidelines with punchier and simplified copy, thus allowing our customers to quickly hone in to what we were selling. We also created a new photography style, shooting with natural light and simplified backgrounds. This allowed our products to become the heroes in the story we were selling, instead of getting lost in the noise of the background.
I was instrumental and the lead designer in creating the rebrand. We went through 10 iterations, starting with print first and simultaneously working on wireframing the website. The grid system became the first tie between the website and print. We picked a google font that could be used across print and web, insuring brand cohesion. After we got the rebrand approved, we made adjustments to the website to pick up the same styling as print. The font styles, copy style, and photography style were all carried over. We had full brand cohesion and we saw our click-through rates and sales rapidly growing.
Website Changes
Globally, the website was simplified, and customers had an easier time navigating. We did this by first creating responsive design allowing the webpage to fit the customers web browser or phone type. The supplier banner ads now included a larger lifestyle photography, a set copy block and a spot for the supplier logo. In the past we would build supplier ads based on the need, making them all look completely different. This new template once again allowed brand consistency. Only special promotions like Black Friday, and campaigns got a special look, helping sell them that much more. We added in a “shop by category” section, allowing users to easily find what they were looking for, instead of just a drop-down menu. We also created CLP’s (Category Landing Page), this allowed users to click on the category of item, allowing more cross-selling and ultimately increased their shopping carts.
Email Changes
For our email redesign we included larger and simplified copy and better photography. We removed the large navigation bar from the header, allowing more visual space for the headline and main product image. We also created blue bubble callouts to quickly sell that product’s main feature. We saw a 20% increase in click-through rates and a 15% increase in sales.
Print Changes
Our old sell sheets featured a large brand bar at the top, taking up a lot of selling real estate. By limiting the character count, we could make the top headline larger and hook in the customer more easily. The main headline was changed to the main product feature, therefore quickly explaining what we were selling. By using the grid system, we created 10 templates that we could choose from including paragraph styles, characters styles, and object styles therefore decreasing the time it took to complete a sell sheet.
