Bristol International Airport
“"3Sixty quickly grasped our business requirements and developed creative and practical solutions to meet our objectives. Not only have all projects been delivered to agreed timescales and budgets, they have also shown measurable ROI."”
-Isabelle Whiteman, Marketing Manager – Bristol international Airport.
Summary
The second fastest growing airport in the UK in 2004, 4.6 million passengers passed through Bristol Airport’s doors over the year.
This project required the use of a full range of digital marketing skills and services to help move the business onto an altogether higher plane.
Challenge
In early 2005, Bristol International Airport had a problem: a website which, in terms of user-friendliness, was stuck on the runway.
In terms of visually reflecting Bristol International Airport’s brand values, the existing website didn’t get off the ground. And, even more worryingly, it clearly wasn’t doing its job. User data showed visitors to the site struggling to find the information they needed – and, in large numbers, cutting their visit short and never returning. Not good for business.
An initial review of the site revealed another massive problem: the original designers had allowed the client virtually no facility to manage and update the site themselves.
Solution
The first thing 3Sixty did was to put the client back in control, by installing a quality content management system, (Sitecore, since you ask).
They then went to work on the site itself:
New look and feel: nothing flashy needed here, but, for a brand like Bristol International Airport, a clean, uncluttered and unmistakably modern feel was the basic minimum requirement.
Greater usability: the crux of the matter, and by far the most demanding part of the project. Why exactly was the existing site so unwelcoming and confusing? Usability testing with target customers provided us with valuable insight into what people wanted from the site, and how the navigation could be greatly simplified.
Built-in flexibility: no point giving the client the power to update the site, unless the design can accommodate the latest airport news and promotional offers.
Result
A simple yet highly effective site. Since it went live in Autumn 2005, customer feedback has been highly positive, and all the user data has taken off – with traffic up by 18.8%.
- Car parking makes a massive contribution to the airport’s total income. SEO and 'Pay per Click' parking have resulted in a 30% increase in revenues year on year.
- A successful advertising campaign for Bristol International Airport in conjunction with Continental Airlines, promoting their new flights to New York.
- The client’s online newsletter was redesigned, with the new Sitecore content management system making it easy for them to create it themselves.
- The website management ensures that as the site evolves, it continues to perform excellently. New pages were added, and 3Sixty also take care of general housekeeping of the site.
- A new online customer incentive programme is also planned, which will offer more to the customers– while enabling the client to build a hugely valuable segmented customer database.
Technical Description
This site is served by Microsoft Internet Information Services 6.0 on Windows 2003 Server.
It is managed by the Sitecore CMS.
The flight information systems were developed in VisualBasic.NET using Microsoft VisualStudio.NET and flight information is stored in Microsoft SQL Server 2000.
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