New Orleans Saints
“Sitecore was a natural fit - and we were really impressed with the level of technical support from Sitecore. We believe Sitecore is a category leader.”
-Nate Thompson, President of Cypress Consulting
Summary
The New Orleans Saints are bringing a next-generation web experience to their dedicated fans. Sitecore partner Cypress Consulting worked with the Saints to design and develop the new site and implement Sitecore’s CMS to power the ongoing fan experience. Sitecore provided Cypress with the software tools it needed in order to craft an entirely new, next-generation website that takes less effort for the client to run. Today, the new website is generating record-breaking daily traffic, increased average time spent on the site, and more page views per visit than ever before.
Challenge
The Saints had been using a homegrown content management system that was developed by a previous provider. The CMS performance was erratic and required ongoing fixes, as a result site performance was not optimal, and they had to keep adding additional servers to accommodate the high visitor and usage count. In addition, the site design needed an overhaul to accurately reflect the brand and essence of the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints’ goals for the new site included:
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Web 2.0: The Saints wanted to offer fans a next generation website with the inside scoop on all things Saints – from daily videos and interviews to constantly updated stories and team and player updates.
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Online branding: They wanted the new site design to visually reflect the core essence of the Saints brand – Leadership, Character and the Who ‘Dat Nation.
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Online community: The Saints wanted to be able to connect with their fans on a personal level.
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Best-of-class CMS: The team needed a reliable and web-based Content Management System to allow the site to be updated from multiple locations by users with little to no technical backgrounds.
Solution
The Saints preferred to find one partner who could handle everything – including the design, branding, infrastructure, and content management of the site. They contacted Cypress Consulting, a Sitecore partner, who had recently built a new web site for the Seattle Seahawks. After winning a competitive bid, Cypress Consulting worked with the Saints to identify their overall requirements for the new web site. Some of these requirements included detailed ad serving and tracking, distributed content management, hosting and maintenance of the site, a new look and feel to match their online branding, and assistance with the presentation and selling of ad spots on the site.
Result
The new site launched in July 2007. Cypress not only hit all of the Saints’ goals, but they provided a seamless transition to the new site. They also took the New Orleans Saints brand to the level they were striving to reach – which has successfully allowed them to better tell their story using rich media. The online brand also matches what is seen on TV – which is important considering the tight bond with fans and the Saints brand. A custom calendar on the bottom of the home page allows fans to quickly see the team’s schedule at a glance.
“It has been an honor to work with the New Orleans Saints on the development and launch of their new online presence,” said Nate Thompson, President of Cypress Consulting. “The new site incorporates three main characteristics: a cleaner, bolder appearance that captures the dynamic look of New Orleans, a streamlined navigation that enables users to quickly find the information they are looking for, and a depth and frequency of unique content generated about the team, by the team, that fans told us they wanted. Sitecore’s CMS gave our designers the creative freedom they needed to produce this level of design, and delivered very professional and high quality support throughout the project as well.”
Other benefits of the new site:
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Record-breaking traffic: In the first week that the new site was live, the number of site visitors increased 43%, the number of page views increased 233%, and the duration of time spent on the site increased 75%.
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More efficient use of time and money: The Saints can successfully tell their story online—without a huge increase in cost. And because the CMS is web-based, it allows multiple people – from several locations – to edit and publish content, so they don’t have to hire additional people to manage the site.
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Ability to easily grow the site: Sitecore provides Enterprise class capability and scalability, yet allows the Saints to start modestly and easily scale up, without the fear of outgrowing their CMS. This allows organizations like the Saints to efficiently use limited resources to have huge market impact through lively web experiences. Sitecore’s CMS enables companies to leverage their websites in order to further extend their business.
Based on the overall success of this project, Cypress Consulting now has several other Sitecore projects underway, including Fox Sports and Butte County, CA. Says Thompson, “Sitecore was a natural fit – and we were really impressed with the level of technical support from Sitecore. We believe Sitecore is a category leader.”
Technical Description
Solution Special Ingredients:
Coveo™ for the search engine
Google™ Analytics for site analytics
Google™AdSense for ad serving
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