Content Marketing Strategy
Written by: Doug Ridley
Digital Marketing
Written by: Dave Currier
Web Award - EventUX/UI
Rebrand
Website redesign
OCR World Championships, the only independent global championships for the sport of Obstacle Course Racing, approached us seeking an event-driven website. Their old site lacked storytelling, buried key race details, and was difficult to navigate. Since participants and families travel internationally, the new website needed to have clear, accessible information that was intuitive to access.
Our goal was to design and develop a visually appealing website that made athletes the focal point of both the imagery and user experience. We created a user-friendly, interactive site that elevated schedule, sponsorship, and participant information while using bold imagery and animation to properly reflect the excitement of the event.
The original website was flat and text heavy; it didn’t properly convey the athlete’s experience. We introduced a lot of design elements that included different shapes, colors, and textures to solidify their brand identity. Small details, like the ragged edges on the images and slight animation throughout the site bring it to life. Fun elements, like a countdown ticker to the next World Championship event, help build anticipation. The dynamic and vibrant new website provides a much more accurate representation of the event’s overall atmosphere.
This event isn’t easy. The old website was very fact based and text heavy, missing an important visual storytelling opportunity. Participating athletes have to work hard to qualify for a majority of the races; many are in the top tier of the whole race circuit. Since these athletes are so passionate and driven, we wanted to do a better job of highlighting them and making them feel connected. On the new website, we incorporated the event’s social presence; they have a huge following that was previously disconnected from the website, so we integrated them. We also made a point to incorporate their beautiful photo assets and make them central to the redesign, which established a feeling of connectivity, bringing the racing community and event to life.
The last website was laid out like a blog, not an event site. It was very difficult for athletes, spectators, volunteers, and sponsors to understand events and scheduling. We spent a lot of time on the site architecture and mapping out each type of user path. The new website elevates important logistics like the schedule, spectator directions and accommodations, sponsorship details, and qualifying information.
We created a very user-friendly experience so that participants can quickly learn about individual races, qualifications, and view sneak peeks of past races. We developed charts and scheduling blocks that were easy to find and navigate. We made sure that the backend of the website was just as intuitive as the front end; the client can easily add pages, quickly update content on their own, and swiftly provide communication, which was crucial as the 2020 race was postponed due to COVID-19.
Although there were existing maps and apparel guides, they were impossible to find since there were specific URLs for each. We gathered all of their robust resources and created one central location to house them, including a fantastic blog. We also developed a database for athlete ranking since that’s such an important factor for them. “Current Rankings” is a high traffic generating page, so we spent a lot of time developing a nice layout that’s easy for the client to update; users can sort by athlete name, score, country, and ranking.
This world is so important, and every decision we made we needed to tell that story. We developed a sponsorship media kit to help the client prospect and secure sponsorships, but we needed to carry the look and feel of the print collateral to the website. The old website featured sponsorship logos, but they were often buried amid other information. Since securing these sponsorships is integral to the event’s success, we created a dedicated place to outline different sponsorship opportunities, created a grid with various sponsorship levels, and most importantly, we showed what these donations help accomplish. We incorporated sponsorship and athlete testimonials to validate each contribution. There are a lot of high-profile athletes in this industry, so bringing their real experiences to the forefront helps unite this community and tell its unique story.
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