Theakston is one of the UK’s most traditional brewers. With the popularity of real ale on the rise and a younger audience to appeal to, matching the digital expectations of today’s consumers while retaining the heritage and craft at the heart of their brand was the crux of the challenge.
The Project
Designing a website for lovers of real ale across all generations was key. The consumption of real ale continues to grow in popularity amongst a younger target audience and a digitally enhanced site was needed to appeal to this market. With this in mind, it was crucial to protect not only their strong brand identity, but the craft behind the trade.
Revolutionising Tradition
From the beginning, we identified that design and cinematography were key to increase brand awareness. We had a challenge on our hands - bringing this traditional brand to a digital audience. Fully immersing ourselves, we took inspiration directly from the Theakston pub, aiming to bring the brand to life through a fully responsive website that remains sympathetic to their heritage. We filmed and edited a suite of short-form clips that are peppered throughout the site as part of the UI, as well as longer pieces of rich and compelling content. This enabled the atmospheric mood of the brand to be captured bringing the feel of Yorkshire to the forefront.
Connecting the digital world to a social experience, we wanted to bring users as close to their ales as possible from a device. From a pub-finder within the heart of communities to a brew guide that provides notes and characteristics echoing fine wine descriptions, and an online shop that makes it as simple as to get your hands on an array of ale-influenced food, drink and wares.
The Outcome
Theakston's new site has epitomised their traditional brand through a digital platform. Featuring well-crafted content and compelling cinematic videos, the website offers a UI that now appeals to a younger audience while still maintaining an essence of familiarity with their existing market who will continue to recognise the traditional brand for what they have always loved. Order numbers, tour tickets purchased online, page views, enquiries and pub searches all increased after the launch of the website:
- 50% increase in sales were generated by the online shop
- Interactivity from web visitors increased
- 32% increase in organic traffic
From our initial meetings to the design and implementation of our new website NetConstruct have appreciated our brand values and the integrity of our company. We are absolutely delighted with the result. The team at NetConstruct were easy to communicate with every step of the way. We would definitely recommend NetConstruct and look forward to working with them in the future."