Case Study: BobVila.com Website Relaunch
Background
Bob Vila, the most trusted name in home improvement, inspired countless baby boomers to restore their old houses on This Old House, Bob Vila, and Bob Vila Home Again.
Challenge
In 2010, without a TV show in production, BobVila.com had become the primary vehicle for communicating Bob Vila's brand, but his website had become outdated:
- Since the launch of the original website, the home improvement landscape had become more crowded. New TV shows, personalities and retailers-- like Home Depot and Lowe's-- sell inspiration, products and services with video instruction.
- Bob’s website needed to be relaunched to keep him relevant and attractive for advertisers, personal endorsements and the next generation of do-it-yourselfers.
Solution
Bob turned to Blue Iceberg to relaunch his website and refocus his brand. Blue Iceberg:
- Rearchitected and redesigned the site to be contemporary, intuitive and user-friendly.
- Redigitized Bob’s show episodes in high resolution and developed a custom Brightcove video player to support full-screen viewing on multiple platforms.
- Integrated SpeakerText, a transcript generation platform for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
- Integrated the Tremor Acudeo and Google DFP adserver platforms to support video, interstitional and static and animated display ad formats.
- Introduced new content from Bob’s books, travels and experiences to reflect his personality and interests.
Result
In three months, Blue Iceberg delivered a new bobvila.com website which accomplishes three main objectives for the Bob Vila Brand:
- The Core Brand has been reinforced: Bob’s projects are now organized by house, by episode, and visitors can search for specific segments.
- The Brand has been expanded: new areas of interest are emphasized and the new site appeals to an expanded audience, enhancing ad revenue opportunities.
- The Brand has been brought into the 21st Century:
- Videos can be viewed full-screen on computers, tablets and phones.
- Green solutions content showcases new internet TV episodes featuring. sustainable building practices and appealing to a younger demographic.
- Twitter, Facebook and "Travels with Bob" reinforce fan connections with Bob.
