The Challenge | Elevating Brand Experience with Design Best Practices
ZONIN1821 is one of the top 5 wine producers in Italy, with a family of 10 quality Made-in-Italy brands. The group is renowned for having contributed to the international export of Italian wine-growing culture and sustainable viticulture. Its Castello de Poggio brand is credited with being among the first to bring Moscato to the American market.
- How to create a digital presence that lives up to the full-bodied fun and bubbly flavor of the newly refreshed Castello de Poggio brand?
- How to showcase the rich history of the century-old winery, while enticing the senses in a modern, approachable way?
- How to increase brand engagement by improving the accessibility and experience of digital
channels?
These were the challenges that ZONIN USA brought to CoStrategix as it prepared to launch its two sweet new “Fruit Blossom” and “Secret Garden” lines.
Results
The old Castello del Poggio winery’s digital presence suffered from underperforming site metrics and an inability to connect with consumers and convert them into customers. A rebrand meant the opportune moment to redesign its digital presence to give it a better user experience and modern design.
Within the first year of launch, KPIs were significantly improved:
- 250% increase in site visits
- 74% increase in organic search traffic
- 13% increase in average engagement time in the first month, and 51% for the first year
- 10% increase in new users, with the female demographic up to 54% of users
- 5,469% depletion growth of the Strawberry Kiss wine during its launch year
- 14 new markets showed conversion growth from web traffic
Qualitative KPIs improved, as well:
- Improved brand awareness across channels, especially among consumers who had never heard of the Castello del Poggio
- Bridged data gaps and KPI management through Google Analytics G4
In a huge step forward, Zonin1821 created a platform for users to share feedback, ask questions, and get involved. Zonin is now able to capture and share fan stories – including a couple professing their love for Castello del Poggio at their wedding.
Plus, the modern Castello del Poggio website infrastructure will make it easy to bolt on digital commerce platforms in the future to open up a new direct-to-consumer revenue stream.
“Our consumers are working women on the go, who want to live life to the fullest and enjoy the sweeter things in life,” said Alexis Dawson, US Brand Manager for Zonin USA. “Our new digital presence is a lot like our Castello de Poggio wines – it shines by providing quality at value, innovation, and uniqueness.”
Our Approach
When ZONIN USA was looking to improve its winery digital presence in the US market, they knew they wanted a partner with expertise in both traditional design excellence as well as user experience design. They were also looking for expertise in digital commerce and backend system integration. Enter CoStrategix.
“We had a vision for our website when we started this project,” Dawson said. “The expertise that CoStrategix brought to the table transformed our expectations into something beyond our imagination. They brought an unparalleled level of design sophistication, and guided us every step of the way in thinking through the user journey.”
ZONIN USA and CoStrategix started with a strategic planning workshop, where they explored the digital functionality and connected systems the new digital presence would require to support its 360 marketing strategy. Some of those included:
- Marketing automation/email platform
- E-commerce engine
- Product Catalog
- Content Delivery Network (CDN) platform to deliver cached data and media to visitors
- Store location finder
- Google Analytics backend reporting platform
CoStrategix also provided critical thought leadership in establishing the key user flows to drive design and requirement decisions, including user experience, layouts, and navigation. Together, ZONIN and CoStrategix reviewed the updated brand assets, worked on a user journey map, and dug deep into the personas that Castello del Poggio resonates with.
When it came time to build the new digital presence, the CoStrategix experience design team provided valuable leadership in the visual selection for theme selection, graphics, fonts, layout, responsiveness, photography, and placements of established brand elements. The new site engages users with lush lifestyle photography and a vibrant color palette.
CoStrategix built the winery digital presence using a theme and site templates that make it easy for the Castello del Poggio team to update, modify, or create new content on the fly.
“Working with CoStrategix, I learned so much about design theories, accessibility, and best practices in UI/UX,” Dawson said. “They helped us infuse a living, breathing lifestyle into our brand.”
CoStrategix set up the integration with Google Analytics They also enhanced website security.
Finally, CoStrategix performed QA testing of all of the website functionality and helped with the launch of the website. The first few weeks after launch, CoStrategix was on hand to handle any issues that came up or answer any questions.
“The collaborative journey with CoStrategix was not just about creating a digital presence, it was about crafting an online masterpiece. Their strategic approach and dedication to user experience design truly set them apart,” Dawson said.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled with the final result, and we wholeheartedly recommend CoStrategix to anyone seeking an extraordinary digital experience.”
Alexis Dawson
US Brand Manager for Zonin USA
