Sportsality - Case Study

CASE STUDY

Proprietary and Confidential.Not for use or disclosure outside of Sketchworks except under written agreement.

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ThE STorY

ThE STorY.ABoUT SPorTSALITY

Sportsality.com is website that gives sports fans a glimpse into the lives of their favorite professional athletes, featuring exclusive photography, videos, and interviews.

ThE ProJECTWhile Sportsality may be a growing success now, when we were initially contacted to build the brand, it was nothing more than a concept. The owner wanted to create a unique online Sports

magazine that would bring in high traffic and good profits.

With no prior data, statistics, or plan to guide us, we were presented with one of the greatest challenges we’ve ever faced: to build a brand from the ground up. And that’s exactly what we did.

As a result of our efforts, one of the most successful websites in the Sports industry was born.

Here’s how we did it...

BrANDING.CREATING A BRAND THAT DOESN’T JUST LOOK GOOD, BUT ALSO PRODUCES RESULTS.


BrANDING

CoNCEPTUALIZING.Before Sportsality existed, stakeholders needed to be sure that their business concept would be solid enough to survive the marketplace. Using three core steps, we were able to identify how best to position the business for success.

ESTABLISh A CoMPETITIVE EDGE

To definitively set Sportsality a part from all competitors, we came up with multiple business models to position the new company for success. We identified the pros and cons of our ideas in addition to any risks and opportunities.

EVALUATE INDUSTrY & CoMPETITIoN

First, we identified possible primary and secondary competitors to get a good grasp of Sportsality’s potential in the marketplace. Results showed that there were many small and big name competitors, but all had similar business models and mainly covered the same news and events. We had to make Sportsality “different”.

DETErMINE LoNG-TErM VIABILITY

Finally, we identified long-term goals that Sportsality needed to achieve in order to stay above competition and remain profitable.

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BrANDING

ChooSING ThE PErFECT NAME.The company’s brand name wasn’t always “Sportsality”. In fact, in the beginning, they had no brand name at all. So we came up with over 50 possible brand names for them to use. We also created the criteria below to ensure selection of a brand name

with the most potential.

MEMORABLE

UNIQUE

AVAILABLE

SIMPLERELEVANT

The name should be directly relevant to the business. So when searched, it can be easily found. Most people should be able to easily identify what the company is about based on the name alone.

The more unique the name is, the less likely to be confused with other similar-sounding brand names.

Something significant enough for first-timers to remember.

Easy to spell, read and pronounce.

Available as a domain name, as a username on popular social

media and web sites, as a legal trademark, etc.

Out of the many names we recommended, the company ultimately decided to go with “Sportsality”. Not only is it relevant to what the brand stood for, but it satisfied all areas of our branding criteria above. Not to mention, it’s a pretty cool way to say “Sports” and “Reality” at the same time. :)


BrANDING

LoGo DESIGN.Keeping the company’s branding goals in mind, we came up with four logo variations that the

Sportsality team could choose from to represent their brand.

Being one of the more “obvious” choices, this logo resembles the logo of a varsity or professional sports team. The letters are strong and bold, accurately depicting what a sports brand should be.

A “boxed” and “pixelated” logo that gives off a more “computer-ized” look, making it futuristic and flexible for the long-term.

In efforts to keep the brand more edgy and upbeat, we came up with this rather curvy, but slightly boxy style. The italicized and serif-hybrid characters make it unique and appealing to the company’s target audience.

We thought this look would fit a more modern-day sports audience, which is exactly the type of crowd Sportsality wanted to attract. Needless to say, this logo was selected as the official Sportsality logo.


BrANDING

BUSINESS CArDS.It was time to cook up some marketing materials and business cards where on the menu. The design we created set the foundation for all future marketing collateral.

STroNG AND DUrABLEThe cards were printed on a thin, but durable stock to for heavy handling.

SILKY SMooThA spot gloss coat was used to smooth it out and a matte-style texture for the finish.

BoXED CorNErS The cut-off corners bring a creative edge

to the business cards.

SLIMMEr DESIGN We also designed the card to be 3.5 by 2 inches for a slimmer, more modern look.

WEBSITE DEVELoPMENT.

DEVELOPING A WEBSITE THAT PROMOTES LONGER SITE VISITS AND HIGH READERSHIP.


WEBSITE DEVELoPMENT

FLEXIBLE LAYoUTWe were able to code the website on the latest technology with an “elastic” layout. This enabled the website to change according to the user’s browser size.

SMArT CoLorWe designed the website on a dark metal background and used neutral

colors for all site elements, leaving the colorization to the images and text on

the pages.

hoME PAGE BILLBoArDSWe designed the home page to include large, billboard-like image sizes to look more like a magazine cover. This allowed featured images to be

shown prominently, making a much more compelling home page.

VIBrANT DESIGN.It was important that we created a design that would be intuitive, appeal most to

Sportsality’s audience, and separate the brand from its competition.


WEBSITE DEVELoPMENT

ArChITECTUrE DESIGN.

SITE MAP & NAVIGATIoNTo better organize the scope of the website, we recommended the most comprehensive and intuitive navigation design based on Sportsality’s goals.

WIrEFrAMESTo give Sportsality a better visual of how the website would be

constructed, we created high-fidelity wireframes for each page to show our recommendations of their layout and content placement.

0.0

Homepage

1.0

Sports

2.0

Philanthropy

3.0

Lifestyle

4.0

Photos

5.0

Videos

6.0

About Us

9.0

Careers

12.1

Privacy Policy

12.2

Terms Of Use

8.0

Contact Us

1.1

View A Sports Article

2.1

View A Philanthropy

Article

3.1

View A Lifestyle Article

4.1

View A Photo Gallery

5.1

View A Video

4.1.1

View A Photo

11.0

Search

7.0

From The Editor

6.1

View An Employee

7.1

View A From The Editor

Article

10.0

Subscribe

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WEBSITE DEVELoPMENT

ENhANCING USABILITY.The website features powerful functionality that makes it a lot easier for users to quickly find what they’re looking for.

AUTo-roTATING NEWS TICKErAn animated rotating news ticker that transitions automatically through the websites latest content.

SITE-WIDE SEArChThe website features a robust search tool so that users can find articles, images, and video content quickly and easily.

ProMINENT NAVIGATIoNThe navigation items are one of the first things users see and changes depending on the user’s interaction.


WEBSITE DEVELoPMENT

VIDEo PLAYEr.Unlike many of the video components today, we were able to develop a custom video player for the Sportsality website that uses the most advanced HTML and Flash technology. This makes it compatible on all screens and browsers. Users could also control playback of the videos including fast-forwarding, rewinding and going full-screen. As an additional feature, the player can detect your internet connection speed and display video according to your internet connection speed so you won’t experience stopping or skipping in the video.


WEBSITE DEVELoPMENT

GoIN’ MoBILE.Sure, the website works great on a desktop computer but there are many readers who prefer to read Sportsality’s

content while “on the go”. Using the latest technology, we developed a mobile version of the website for all portable devices (which generally have smaller screens and slightly slower internet connection speeds). This meant removing

unnecessary elements and code, creating a less cumbersome layout, and faster-loading pages so readers can perform tasks more quickly.

Once the mobile site was launched, Sportsality’s readership boosted by nearly 74%.

rEVENUE GENErATIoN.MAKING BIG BUCKS.


rEVENUE GENErATIoN

rEAChING A NEW LEVEL oF ProFITABILITY.To ensure long-term profits, we identified four areas in which the Sportsality website would make

revenue for its shareholders and investors.

Chart above displays projected data derived from preliminary Market Research.

29%

41%

7%

22%

VIDEo / CoMMErCIAL ADVErTISING

Advertising sales for commercial spots in videos published on the website

SPoNSorShIPS

Offering prominent brand positioning for businesses and corporations

SErVICE rEVENUE

Services that accomodate athletes as a “premium” feature on the website

BANNEr ADVErTISING

Sales from prominent ad spots across the website.


rEVENUE GENErATIoN

ADVErTISING.We incorporated prominent, but unobtrusive advertising spots throughout the website for Sportsality to sell to capitalize on its revenue.

SIDEBAr ADSTwo large ad spaces available for advertisers who more visibility.

TEXT ADSLower cost spots for advertisers who prefer to offer text-only ads.


rEVENUE GENErATIoN

ADVErTISING MEDIA KIT.

To give advertisers a better insight on their value added when advertising on Sportsality.com, we developed an Advertising Media Kit in both hard-copy and interactive PDF formats. The kit includes market data, visit counts, and a ton of useful information on Sportsality’s demographic, allowing advertisers to make a more

informed decision about purchasing.

GET IN ToUCh.MArK KENNEDY

Owner and Principal [email protected]

301.399.6920

www.sketchworkspro.com

Sportsality - Case Study

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