Union goes live with a mobile website version.
With approximately 360,000 members, 3F, the largest Union in Denmark for blue-collar workers, decided to launch the mobile version of their website using the Sitecore content management system. The majority of their members are neither tech savvy nor are they familiar with touch screens, but 3F knows their constituency well and can predict their behavior. “By the time they buy a smart phone, we will be ready for them to use our site,” explains Susanne Fasting, Web Editor at 3F. How can they be so sure?
3F discovered, through a survey, that most of their members do not work in front of a computer and have a busy family routine. As a result, they have little time to contact the Union. Members struggle, especially when an urgent question arises, such as, “Am I allowed to work with this chemical?” In the near future, with a smart phone, members will have the option of taking a picture of the product, click on the 3F mobile website, send the picture to an agent, ask a question and finish their coffee break.
Apart from making their members´ life easier and consequently build loyalty, 3F believes that the mobile version of the website is going to attract media visibility and new members will follow. This is an organization with the power to point the way to a future in which there really is no off-line anymore.
“ With Sitecore CMS we can control content, resolve issues faster and extend our site as much as we wish. „
- Susanne Fasting, Web Editor at 3F
Challenge
3F is the Union in Denmark with the largest internal news organization, and therefore is responsible for raising issues in society that affect the power game. It is not surprising that they are confidently moving forward with their online presence.
3F counted on Sitecore CMS to take this key step forward. Because they bought all licenses issued since 2003, they can use Sitecore packages with no expansion limitations. The Union has also been working with Sitecore´s partner, Cabana, since 2000, when 3F´s static website, based on HTML pages, became obsolete. Since 2003 they have built a new intranet, extranet, 75 local departmental site and several theme sites with Sitecore.
When Cabana approached 3F with this new project, they suggested that they continue working with Sitecore solutions since no changes in the platform would be needed. “An important part of our job is to make sure that our clients are free to expand their CMS package whenever they wish, without having to rebuild their platform. Sitecore software´s scalability allows us to deliver our projects in a timely and effortless way,” says Niels Gatzwiller, partner at Cabana.
Solution
3F wants to ensure that their members can access their website from any mobile phone. Whether they are using an old Nokia or an iPhone 4, they will get layout and content optimized to the specific phone. The Union opted to go application-free and rely on what are called mobile Web sites, a mobile site being a URL, or Web address which can be entered into a non-Apple handset or a non-smart phone that is very smart, such as a Nokia. To put it simply, a mobile site is a pared-down Web site.
This is the beginning of the new 3F
The 3F mobile website strategy is to start small and grow one step at a time. The first step is to make a small mobile version of their main website to begin with, and later introduce the whole desktop version. The new version started mainly as an action tool for members, but anybody can access it for a variety features: read news, sign up and become a member, use search functions, ask for advice, carry out a job search, find contact information and much more.
The Union integrates tools on the mobile site which users are familiar with. For example, all maps are GoogleMaps, all videos are on Youtube and all comments about articles will be linked to FaceBook.
Result
3F plans to make the mobile version a clone of the desktop´s to give customers 100% freedom. They believe that the majority of consumers of mobile phones are now buying smart phones because their favorite companies are implementing mobile website version.
“We believe that one has to go against one´s best self. Knowing that about us, Sitecore and Cabana always find solutions to make things happen. With Sitecore CMS we can control content, resolve issues faster and extend our site as much as we wish,” comments Susanne Fasting, Web Editor at 3F.
Solution Special Ingredients
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Sitecore CMS
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Technology adoption life cycle Google Analytics
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Omniture and online statistic programs