Transforming digital operations
Client
Scotch Whisky Experience
Visit website
Key Services
- Planning
- User Experience
- Strategy & Consultancy
- Ecommerce
Partnerships
SEO by Mackerel Media
The Scotch Whisky Experience is one of the top visitor attractions in Edinburgh. Nestled beside the world famous castle and opened in 1988, it was created by the Scottish whisky industry to showcase whisky to international and local visitors alike.
Objectives
With a digital offer that includes ticket sales, restaurant booking, online shopping, and event space hire, user personas and user journey mapping were pivotal in the Planning of the new site. We encouraged the team at SWE to pull all non-essential user flows out of the primary navigation and either remove them entirely, or re-locate them into a footer nav. Where content was undoubtedly useful from an SEO perspective, we worked closely with Mackerel Media to ensure none of our strategy would damage business positioning.
The objectives of the project were to:
- Increase online ticket sales
- Increase the value of online ticket sales, higher premium tour sales
- Increase online booking for the restaurant and events
- Reflect the updated brand
- Position the business as one of the top visitor attractions in Edinburgh
Strategy
The strategy for the SWE site revolved around taking a user-centred design approach that puts the target audience first. With a lot of internal voices and swathes of potential content, it was important to constantly anchor the site back to its objectives and ensure the needs of the end user were met rather than the needs of the staff or stakeholders.
Whisky is serious business, but a lot of fun
The design concept was driven by a desire to encourage visitors to invest in premium tickets by conveying a more high-end experience online. A wealth of white space and clean typography lean into this more sophisticated style, although the primary font was chosen because of its deliberately playful tone, referencing their brand value: ‘We are fun, because it is the best way to learn and spend your time’.
Implementation
With a clear strategy, implementation revolved around user flows and calls to action, ensuring no visitor was ever faced with a dead end and thereby improving conversion immeasurably. The site is built on Wordpress but amalgamates a number of vital third parties, including their ticketing solution Galaxy, an online shop sitting within Shopify, and Fork the restaurant and bar booking widget.
It was immediately clear that Primate was the right partner for us. The commitment, energy and enthusiasm for the project matched our own (which was a tall order) and any trepidation disappeared after our first meeting.
