Early in 2010 we won a pitch to create a new website for GreenThumb, the UK’s largest lawn care maintenance franchise. They wanted a CMS website with a good navigation structure, and, having recently launched a series of TV adverts featuring 3D lawn characters like The Moss Monster and Happy Grass, wanted the new characters to form an integral part of the new site to give their brand a strong identity.
Solution
We gave the website a strong garden theme to make the company’s selling proposition instantly recognisable. The new 3D characters were also animated using Flash and embedded within the site’s background – if users roll over them with their mouse they move, which brings the site to life and gives the characters personality.
In order to give the site a good navigational structure, we used a boxed text format which remains static throughout the website to help familiarise users so they can easily and quickly navigate back to the homepage. We also incorporated a quick link to ‘Find Your Nearest GreenThumb’ which is static throughout the site, whilst a short, simple form is visible on every page so users can apply for a free lawn analysis.
We also built GreenThumb a staff extranet system, which enables head office admin and franchisees to share documents and information amongst themselves. It also lets head office post new products up for franchisees to order – when an order is placed it pings off a completed order form to head office.
Result
Although the site only went live a couple of weeks ago, it has attracted a considerable amount of publicity, having been featured in Brand Republic, Campaign Live, The Drum and many other industry magazines.
What the client says
“We instructed MCM Net to build our new website in February 2010 following a fairly rigorous selection process. The team at MCM not only took time to understand our business and our requirements for the website, but were able to deliver the site we wanted on time, on budget, and with a smile, as we moved the goalposts a number of times during the build. Nothing was too much trouble for them and we are more than happy with the finished product.”
David Collison, GreenThumb