We made the unsexy sexy, by creating a new website and a collaborative 12-month marketing strategy to transform a leading international consultancy. Our digital strategy helped generate 505% more website visits, 20 new client relationships, and increase profits by 695%.
Objectives
Waterstons have been around since 1994 and have delivered a huge amount of work for a vast number of clients spanning most sectors. Changing the way the company was perceived by clients, peers, and the extended industry was one of our biggest challenges. Nevertheless, we aimed to create a website that:
- Authentically evoked the company’s unique personality
- Grew awareness of Waterstons, their clients, and their services
- Improved turnover and profit for the company
corporate personality
With the help of tom redfern, we replaced stock photographs of servers and suits with a healthy dose of personable characters, imbuing the friendly and informal culture of the office.
Strategy
Our strategy had two main components. First of all, we developed a visual style and tone of voice that accurately portrayed the values and personality of Waterstons. This meant killing the dull, monotonous stock images of server rooms and IT professionals, completely reimagining the way people tend to think about the industry. Our solution was to hire Tom Redfern, whose brilliant artistry brought the whole site to life. Together, we invented imps and robots, characters and scenarios to illustrate each aspect of the business and spark the visitors’ curiosity and interest.
Next, we shifted the content focus from technical jargon and specifications to clear, tangible business benefits. The new information architecture highlighted Waterstons’ “five ways” of improving businesses, as well as their core services: Transformation, Bespoke, and Technology. Alongside this evergreen content, we facilitated the creation and publication of genuinely useful white papers, articles and case studies to cement Waterstons as a thought leader and showcase the wealth of knowledge of their team.
The five ways
Waterstons help businesses in one (or more!) of five ways: Raising quality and lowering cost; Acquiring and retaining customers; Providing timely and accurate information; Improving teamwork and communication; and Reducing risk and increasing security.
Eye-catching, unique and completely unlike any of their competitors, they have helped set Waterstons apart and capture the attention of clients.
Implementation
Along with designing and building the new site, we developed an inbound marketing strategy in partnership with the marketing agency Waterston Tanner & Co. Quarterly campaigns were created to promote each service and Waterstons’ unique way of tackling business problems. A key part of the marketing effort revolved around a series of themed campaigns:
- ‘Five Three One’ introduced the new branding, website, and direction of the business to the marketplace.
- ‘The Great Quest’ took clients on a journey, explaining how to increase quality while lowering costs.
- ‘The Happiness Equation’ promoted the importance of both acquiring, and then retaining, customers.
- ‘The Answer’ solved the riddle of how businesses can find accurate information quickly.
- ‘The Work of Tomorrow’ looked at how the way we work, collaborate, and communicate is changing.
Quarterly campaigns
We promoted the services of Waterstons with an audience-led, integrated marketing approach, before directing the audience to the website for further information. This encouraged visitors to get in touch and forge a new relationship.
“Primate raised our expectations of our own website. They pushed us to be creative, to think differently and to bring our values to the forefront. We ended up completely rethinking the way we talk about our company. Our FD has described it as 'the best money we’ve ever spent' and he is absolutely right.”
Alex Waterston
Executive Transformation Consultant