Chelsea Marketplace, a husband and wife special event planning business in midtown NYC, has been in the same building for over 30 years, providing their expertise and their vast collection to special events- big & small - throughout the years.
They wanted a brand update to appeal to their "newly hip" neighborhood, a vibrant web presence-including a responsive site that would not only look good on all browsers and devices (unlike their previous static early 90s one) but also get their large inventory cataloged and properly showcased to the larger public. Their desire was to expand their reputation and business beyond the word of mouth that had gotten them this far and to be able to have a successful online business. It was also a great opportunity to showcase their main designer and their wonderful collection of special event dresses and gowns.
How to bring in a new clientele, raise brand awareness and create a digital presence for a business that had run for so long on word of mouth and whose only digital footprint was an online brochure (with product-images that begged for a reshoot).
How to introduce the business to a neighborhood in the aftermath of gentrification that had transformed it into one of the hippest NYC neighborhoods.
A new, energetic, light, youthful and playful wesbite enhanced by video, image galleries, slideshows, interactive maps and a robust web presence (social media, email blasts, daily blog, monthly newsletter) and a long process of getting their massive collection properly inventoried and showcased with high resolution images.
A responsive site where people can interact, research and find transparent information including pricing, venue availability etc -an all in one event planning and shopping stop.
How to bring in a new clientele, raise brand awareness and create a digital presence for a business that had run for so long on word of mouth and whose only digital footprint was an online brochure (with product-images that begged for a reshoot).
How to introduce the business to a neighborhood in the aftermath of gentrification that had transformed it into one of the hippest NYC neighborhoods.
The challenge was how to bring in a new clientele to a business that had run for so long on word of mouth and an online brochure (with product-images that begged and screamed for a reshoot).
Re-branding was actually quite easy- we were lucky because their business name and location were both super highly sought after.
Chelsea Marketplace is in the middle of what was once an industrial neighborhood that had a seedy reputation after dark and now had transformed into one of the most highly sought after NYC neighborhoods, the "new New York" -the Meat Packing District/Chelsea (Highline, Hudson Yards, the Hudson River Park, Chelsea Piers, Whitney Museum etc)- so the brand's makeover would have to bring the special event planning veterans into a new era- hip, casual chic and diverse.
Researched the event planning and hosting market, spoke to willing participants in the neighborhood and people online looking for "NYC event planning/hosting". Everybody that we spoke to has a special event coming up or will attend one in the near future.
Reached out to people (Facebook, Instagram) and through email, created customer personas, wireframes and flowcharts. We decided on a bright, youthful, casual elegant and multicultural approach (their main color would be red -the owners' favorite color) which fit in and highighted everything perfectly as it turns out).
A new, energetic, light, youthful and playful wesbite and web presence (social media included) email blasts, a monthly newsletter and a long process of getting their massive collection properly inventoried and showcased.
Most importantly, we wanted the new site to be like a meeting place where people could research and find transparent information including pricing, venue availability etc - an all in one event planning and shopping stop.
Increase in interaction/traffic with the site: +94%.
Increase in sharing via our social media: +78%.
Increase in new clients: +53%.
Increase in bookings: +52%.
Increase in product rentals: +34%.
