“Working with the Aquaspersions team on their website was extremely rewarding. Their proactive engagement throughout every phase of the project fostered a truly collaborative approach, which is reflected in the final product. The dedication and enthusiasm demonstrated by both Aquaspersions and the Halston B2B team contributed significantly to the successful outcome of the project.”
Nicole Walton, Head of Account Management
Case Study
AQUASPERSIONS
A Website That Brings Innovative Dispersions to Life
Aquaspersions manufacture world-leading aqueous dispersions and emulsions which they supply to a global market. With the company’s 50th anniversary on the horizon, Aquaspersions approached us to design and develop a brand-new website that would better reflect their chemical expertise, company culture, and showcase their large array of innovative products.
To the drawing board!
From the get-go, Aquaspersions had clear aims for the new website which they hoped would revamp their online presence.
Project brief:
- Do justice to the corporate nature of the business
- Increase the amount and types of informative content for target industries to navigate
- Elevate the international aspects of the business, with consideration of the specifics of different regions and languages
- Optimise the site for search
- Give users a positive and enticing journey onsite – tell the proud story of the brand, enhance attraction to potential recruits, and provide details of Aquaspersions’ developing sustainability agenda and achievements
Market and target audience research
With the core aims in mind, next it was on to persona and market research. It’s all well and good knowing what you need your site to do, but you also need to understand who you want there – and how you can keep them onsite for as long as possible.
Heading up the website project was Head of Account Management, Nicole, who arranged a fact-finding session between our Content and Creatives teams, and Aquaspersions. After a few hours of insightful conversation, enthusiastic questions, and pots of coffee, we were saturated with details about the Halifax-headquartered manufacturer, including:
- The business’s plans for the next 5 years (to help us understand the role of the new website in the dispersion company’s long-term strategy)
- Core target markets (industries and regions)
- Target personas – their wants, challenges, and pain points
- A tone of voice concept – how they desired the website to sound and ideas to introduce more sustainable messaging
- A quick-fire chemistry lesson to support our understanding of Aquaspersions’ products, services, and USPs
Creative Vision
Now that we had the vision for the website, we needed the vision that users to the site would be greeted with – the aesthetic. Group Creative Lead, Toni, ran an interactive session with Aquaspersions to begin to shape the brand’s new and updated look and feel. From hand-picked colour palettes and complementary font packages, to filters and creative devices, like angles, lines, icons and buttons, Toni immersed the Aquaspersions team with creative elements that would pin down the brand’s new and updated core identity.
Next, Toni united the ‘favourite’ elements on a mood board, further developing the colour palettes to incorporate core themes of Aquaspersions’ aqueous products and services: mixology, chemical, bubbles, quality, and strong gradient colours. Existing and desired brand imagery and videos, as well as inspiration from compelling website pages, completed the eye-catching and comprehensive mood board.
“From the get-go, it became apparent that what we sought to achieve wasn’t a rebrand, but a strategic brand refresh. The effective exchange of ideas and seamless collaboration between teams facilitated a precise understanding of their aspirations, swiftly aligning the creative vision with their expectations. Seeing the remarkable transformation of their website from before to now has undoubtedly made this project stand as a personal favourite.”
Antonia Gifford, Group Creative Lead
Finalising the Aesthetic
The hardest part of the creative process for Aquaspersions was deciding on the elements to leave out of the design – it’s fair to say Toni had done a stellar job in curating a board with an aesthetic that made you go ‘wow!’. Aquaspersions did reach a decision, deciding to run with a water theme that would tie all of the creative elements together.
The Details:
Bespoke icon design to visually aid explanations of technical, niche information
Extd as the header font, and Articulat CF for the body copy – they’re neat, sharp, and crisp, reflecting Aquaspersions’ authoratitive and expert ToV, and they’re also spacious, a creative’s dream!
Enhancing user experience
With the look and feel of the site ready to roll, we were onto one of the most significant parts of the website project: user experience (UX). The aim of any quality website is to give users a positive experience that adds value to their search. And the longer they stay onsite, the better.
We worked with Aquaspersions to understand what they wanted the new user journey to look like, and where and how each page would add value to the experience. Our web developer was then in the driving seat to build the blocks that would host copy, imagery, and videography that would encourage maximum user engagement. The website development process considered:
- SEO (how to optimise the site’s design and navigation for search engines)
- UI/UX (getting the user interface to enhance user experience)
- Onsite conversions (AKA CRO – creating a website with valuable content that’s presented in an aesthetically pleasing, easy-to-follow design to encourage leads and conversions)
- Responsiveness – websites need to work across a range of platforms and devices, from your iPhone to your Android tablet
Website Copywriting
With the site in build, it was time for our Content team to craft the copy for the new site’s 50+ pages. On sessions with Aquaspersions’ chemical and technical experts, we found out every detail of their dispersion products – how they’re manufactured, what set them apart, which industries they’re applied to, and what makes the business’s production stand out from competitors. Each page was written with copy that encompassed the newly determined tone of voice, and with website blocks in mind that would amplify and enhance the content.
“Content is crucial for any website both in terms of user engagement and searchability. We worked closely with Aquaspersions to get the copy spot on and really show the true span of the business, which wasn’t represented in their previous website, with only 2 pages of copy. Both the Aquaspersions team and ourselves are so happy with the final copy and what we have been able to portray.”
Jessica Farrow, Group Head of Digital Communications and Insight
The Outcome
Seeing all elements of the new website come to life on-screen was a pretty special moment for all involved. From the tailored icons which are now a prominent feature on each page, to the technical copy that both engages and informs, through to the site’s identity which makes for both an impressive first impression and a memorable UX, both Aquaspersions and our team were delighted!
What could a website redesign do for your business? Whether you need to refresh your branding or undergo a full redevelopment, like Aquaspersions, find out what’s involved by speaking with our team!