Whilst we intend to enter some of our stand out work from the last year, we were keen to get involved in events and contribute to promoting Irish design talent at a local level.

This year, the IDI Awards will showcase exceptional design using a digital platform. Awards will cover fashion/textiles, product, digital, visual comms, structures & spaces.

Due to the current pandemic there will be no physical awards event, however that won’t stop everyone enjoying the moment to celebrate the best design work in Ireland with awards announced live on instagram.

Our support for the IDI follows on from our recent collaboration with CCSDA on their global Website of the Year Awards, which had over a million visits, to celebrate the best in web design so it’s a good time to follow this on with something local too.

For more on the IDI Awards 2020 you can visit the site or search for the IDI on the social channel of your choice. You should also check out the WOTY site here, it’s pretty cool.

We were proud to work with PCH to develop their entire digital eco-system which included reinventing the digital experience for Highway1. This is PCH’s startup accelerator program in San Francisco which has helped to launch many new hardware products including Drop.

It’s the sort of statement made by many an agency about their projects — but it’s rarely can delivered with such sincerity.

For WONDR Brand Director, Oisín Hurst, however, it’s 100% justified. For not only had he and WONDR founder, Dermot O’Shea worked to develop a digital presence that showcased future startup — but the project also gave the PCH a story and experience that would lead to greater recognition.

Of course, while these changes would end up impacting just about every facet of the wide-ranging business, they all stemmed from a response to one relatively small problem.

The hardware company, which was founded by Irishman Liam Casey, made its name working with Fortune 500s companies (well known phone, tech & fashion brands) and IoT startups ranging from flic to Ringly to develop, manufacture, package and distribute hardware products for companies that ranged from plucky startups to large multinational corporations.

The issue wasn’t that Fortune 500 companies weren’t on board — in fact, it scored highly in brand awareness with them. The problem was many people weren’t aware of its supply chain capabilities; in other words, it was limited in perception to a mere manufacturer.

As part of its services, PCH was bringing products from the drawing board into people’s hands, taking startups through every step of the process — an end-to-end process that was being missed by clients. That knowledge gap prompted PCH to review the entirety of its business — including its seven business units which cover areas B2B, B2C, B2B2C and more — and from there, it created a product that would be consistent but also caters for the differences each unit offered.

When WONDR was approached by Philip Dwyer, PCH International’s group Chief Digital Officer, the aim was clear: to avoid the clichés associated with corporate sites and blogs, mainly one that only pushed its own announcements without offering anything in return.

“PCH had a great story, particularly Liam Casey’s journey to build the company into a trusted partner with some of the World’s best known technology brands,” says Dermot. “As an avid fan of WIRED, I was well versed with getting information around hardware launches as a consumer, so this project gave me a chance to understand it all from the business side too.”

The approach taken was certainly different, Oisin notes, “As Philip proposed the first PCH project to us, it was clear that he intended to use digital as the first platform to express the brand repositioning. He was very open about the fact he didn’t want yet another corporate site that would act as a recording archive of past press releases.”

Instead the brief was to develop a strong digital platform that would clarify PCH intent in the connected hardware revolution. Working on the master site and all the sister sites, we managed to produce a convincing industrial and service story.

The standout example is its hardware startup accelerator Highway1. On the landing page, you’re presented with a short background video showing what it offers, a clean design, large images that catch the eye, two main colours — sky blue and white — to complement each other, and a straightforward interface that works both on desktop and mobile.

This is a great representation of WONDR’s work — communicating the main thread connecting all of PCH’s units: the speed of hardware innovation, the momentum driving connected hardware and the worldwide ecosystem behind it. All while maintaining PCH’s unique identity.

Dermot says, “Highway1.io tells that story best. We transformed the website from a simple start-up registration form to a strong showcase of the alumni startups; the blog quickly became a must-read destination for all hardware start-up looking for an accelerator programme”.

Telling that story helps prepare those visiting Highway1 or any of PCH’s services. By getting a sense of what it has to offer, they would know they were engaging with something more than just a hardware service.

“PCH were very active at the time on the global tech event circuit, regularly featured in WIRED, TechCrunch and The Wall Street Journal, so they needed their digital branding to reflect the scale of business they truly were,” says Dermot. “Also they were well connected with the VC community in Silicon Valley so it was important that when those influential people visited any of the web platforms ahead of a Demo Day for example, that they got the sense they were dealing with one of the world’s best.”

While it’s an obvious thing to say, having a clear digital presence is important — all the more so for PCH, allowing it to use the many different advantages brought about by digital, including gaining customer insights, improving relations and customer lifetime value.

In short, it’s easier to find leads, improve collaborations and grow demand through digital, making the redesign more than the sum of its parts — and this digital version of the company perfectly represented what the team was trying to get across in the first place: end-to-end integration.

“More importantly, it provided an opportunity for PCH Group companies to present the unique, seamless and interwoven customer journey, emphasising end-to-end services with demonstrable case studies in how we deliver continuous customer value creation,” says Philip.

“We don’t see digital purely as a channel to market, particularly as digital continues to create new frameworks for industries and consumers alike.”

“Consequently, digital has provided strong scalable advantages internally by improving executive strategies leading to business process optimisation, and enhancing capital and resource efficiency across the business”.

Highway1 wasn’t the only standout project WONDR worked with PCH on. there was also the official rebranding and launch of PCH Group site at the Dublin Web Summit. It too followed a similar line of thinking to Highway1.

“WONDR utilised rich publication solutions to create an immersive experience that not only clearly articulated the PCH Group proposition, but additionally facilitated deep-dives into the unique services offerings from PCH,” says Philip. “It continuously delivered countless competitive advantages for Fortune 500’s and startup IOT companies along the journey from prototype to consumer”.

Not to mention the launch of Hardware for Health, a strategic collaboration between PCH and Johnson & Johnson Innovation, which looks at advancing new healthcare solutions.

For that, WONDR developed a responsive site with integrated CRM (Customer Relationship Management) functionality, catering for the custom-fit programme that brings innovative health hardware startups from concept to the consumer.

And that’s not including how it’s assisted PCH in other group companies like TNS Connect and PCH Access. It’s a partnership that has reaped dividends for both parties.

Oisín remarks, “Digital is a core space for the development of direct business communications. Controlling owned platforms makes it easier to develop leads, develop demand and increase collaborations.”

“For example, as PCH collaborated with Johnson & Johnson to develop a health hardware accelerator programme, we were able to develop a communication platform and a registration service in just few days. The first registrations came in within just a few weeks of the businesses agreeing to the programme.”

While Highway1 is seen as a jewel in the crown, with everyone saying it’s the project they’re most proud of, really the main draw is how the entire project came together as a collective.

“I’ve said it a few times to anyone that will listen, that Highway1 was one of my favourite projects as it gave WONDR a chance to show the difference digital branding can make,” says Dermot. “Two years later, the brand and its digital presence hold up well and document the early stages of startups as they invent the products of the future.”

“Collectively, it was developing the holistic group brand proposition for PCH, while also implementing a portfolio of digital assets that both showcase and seamlessly integrate PCH’s end-to-end digital solutions platform,” says Philip.

“Yet at an individual project level, it is Highway1 that stands out. It was a pleasure to collaborate with the team at WONDR in developing a site that captures its unique and compelling offering.

Like millions of others across the world, we’re big fans of Star Wars. The 4th of May is recognised globally as #StarWarsDay and to mark the occasion our creative Jedi, Oisin, paid tribute with a series of video posts he made.

Everything from a Rancor strolling outside outside our window in Dublin, to a little Jawa racer to the latest in sour snacks from Papa Palpatine’s Pickled Snokes (organic & gluten free).

Lots more to see here on our dedicated page for Star Wars Day, enjoy.

We designed a new application tool to manage the power grid as well as trade electricity in real time. This best-in-class monitoring interface allows ESB plant managers to update themselves on the commercial position of their plants in a clear, quick and accurate way.

We worked closely with the leadership team to define the product using our design sprint methodology, resulting in a high fidelity prototype fully user tested and validated. We went onto do full product definition, design & development phases. This product manages complex data so the key was creating an interface that simplified but also allowed managers to deep dive where necessary.

The application is now live and being used by power plant managers across Ireland.

Peter McVerry Trust is a national housing and homeless charity committed to reducing homelessness and the harm caused by substance misuse and social disadvantage.

This is a cause close to our hearts, so we were delighted to collaborate on a project that would make a difference to help them increase their digital fundraising. We worked with the team to reimagine their website with a focus around stories and putting people at the heart of the message.

We worked closely with the client team through discovery sessions to gather insights and define technology needed to make this happen. We worked through UX/ UI design phases and we trained the team on how to pour content into our custom-build CMS.

Digital donations through the website have never been higher, and we are proud to be part of the effort to help society’s most vulnerable.

Hopefully you appreciate the work and will donate to Peter McVerry Trust who will continue to help those in need during this Covid crisis. 90% of your donation is used for services.

HedgeServ is a top-ranked, independent fund administrator, servicing more than $350 billion of assets across 200 client relationships.

The HedgeServ website is the gateway to its industry-leading technology, and the first touchpoint to their customers and over 1300 employees around the globe.

Working with teams across their EMEA HQ in Dublin and North American HQ in New York, we’ve been asked to reimagine their digital brand, and bring clarity and bravery to their digital presence.

HedgeServ is trusted in its field, and they’ve trusted us to showcase the best of the best.

We worked recently to design & develop a new website for Google to support their promotion of their Cloud products & services in the Netherlands. The site acts as the invite and content hub for the event which brings businesses together to share their learning and knowledge on cloud services and beyond.

Working closely with the strategy & content friends in ftrprf, we have created a structure that enables them to re-use the site for multiple events by creating a visual symbiosis between Google and the partner brand. The site has already been used for partner events with Atos & Accenture, with more to follow.

Expect to hear lots more about google Cloud as they look grow their cloud service revenue to over $20 billion a year.

We are thrilled to be part of this fast-moving bank’s plans to further deliver on its digital first strategy.

We will be mobilising our team to become immersed in the KBC customer journey, the why’s and how’s of their financial needs, in order to create a new experience that makes it easier for them to bank with KBC.

We have been working with KBC for a number of years on CSR initiatives such as KBC Bright Ideas, where we delivered a platform to help them support communities across Ireland with funding for local initiatives.

For the KBC.ie project, we’ll be working on discovery, UX, UI and development phases to launch a new experience in 2020.

We were commissioned by the Carlyle Group to help them create a digital presence to launch their new Student Living property in the heart of the Liberties. The Carlyle Group manage $217 billion in assets globally and this was an important project for them in the Irish market.

Heyday is located on Carman’s Hall and is only a short walk from most colleges in Dublin. We were asked to take their brand identity and bring it to life through a digital design system which could be used across their website, booking engine, social and advertising.

Cormac added…

I’ve worked with multiple web-based businesses over the last twenty years, from banks to property websites, and from game development to national sports teams.  I’ve worked with lots of different design agencies.

I have never worked with people like the team at WONDR. The team understand business, they understand customers and the interplay between them. This is the secret sauce to business excellence on the web – and I would not hesitate to recommend the team to anyone.

Simply put – they walk the talk.

They welcome you home. They purr, they bark, they chirp. Some of them get you up for a brisk walk on a crisp Winter morning when all you want to do is stay under the duvet. They’re dependent on you when they’re sick and hungry.

All across the globe, pets are cherished companions and owners do what they can to Love Them Well. This is the insight that helped us make the online pet medicine retailer, Pet Drugs Online the best performing Magento eCommerce site in the world.

Although the business was performing well as an eCommerce platform, the real challenge was to stand out in the market and build trust with new consumers. We partnered with the client team to define their digital brand & user experience design in order to build trust, make the purchase of pet medicine easier with overall goal of increasing the online revenue.

For WONDR, delivering results for eCommerce clients is all that matters.

Just a year and a half later Pet Drugs Online have seen significant revenue uplift from investment in the UK, ahead of a European roll out plan.

Defining business goals

For WONDR it started with in depth discovery sessions to understand the business, its systems & people, listening to all staff members and compiling a coherent plan to set the project in motion.

Just simply having functional digital transactions is not enough anymore, building brand trust and an emotional experience is critical as it has always been for brands, just the technology has changed.

Working with a progressive minded culture that Neil has built in PetDrugsOnline gave us the opportunity to demonstrate that setting your digital brand right is just as important as getting your UX journeys nailed. We know how to help brands deliver great customer experiences that make significant uplift to brands online revenue.

Setting the brand

As part of the process we helped define the brand positioning of ‘Love Them Well’ and created the brand system for all digital channels. This included brand mark refinement, typography, UI styling, photography guidance, patterns, eCommerce component styling, as well as a complete set of social and video templates. This set in place a simple set of guidelines for the in house creative team to implement.

Building a richer user experience

We researched this brand and user experience extensively to get a solid understanding of what the opportunities were there to deliver better customer experiences and increase revenue.

Dermot explains, “The brand had a reasonably good conversion rate, however it was clear from research that the PDP and checkout pages needed particular attention. We had to make the process of uploading prescriptions easier and remind people that this is all for the love of their pet, so finish the journey.

We carried out extensive user research which included GA analysis, user video analysis, stakeholder interviews as well as one to one sessions with customers to establish what works best for the them.

We prototyped fast, tested with the call centre staff & real customers as we went to refine and adapt the user experience. This was invaluable as it allowed us to make modifications to help us refine the checkout in particular. The financial success today as a result of this, speak for themselves.

Putting design into motion

Oisin Hurst, WONDR Creative Director says, ‘After we set the brand we created a cloud based tool kit which allowed all of the integration team and 3rd party tools to access one central library to get all the brand assets and styles. This made iterating new features and rollout of front end much faster than traditional methods.’

Setting emotion on the website was important and we did this through video, imagery, typography, copywriting and colour palette to communicate the brand proposition.

The prescriptions journey was designed to be effortless, leading with in site search to help customers find what they needed faster. To create a richer, topical and genuinely useful experience we created an advice centre for users to discover pet-care tips and related, relevant products.

Video content is critical for mobile and we build a system to allow the brand to launch the platform and refine core propositions, guided by three pillars, Trust, Convenience and Value.

A partnership for success

Partnering with clients for product management can’t be underestimated. We helped the team to brief, document and liaise with the chosen integration partner.

Understanding the development process, we assisted the Product Owner in Pet Drugs Online, pushing as much functionality into the first release as possible and worked closely with the team using Confluence to set the project and manage its delivery.

Creating a lasting bond

The brand invests heavily in PPC and SEO but to complete the journey we needed to build audience engagement and real connection. In a move away from generic posting we devised a campaign that would build trust and emotional connection. Brought to life through some simple social video advertising that struck a cord with pet owners.

We helped set the media strategy working with Facebook API partner to build lookalike audiences based on their email database to reach new customers and revenue opportunities for tangible ROI.

See the results (and more cute pets) on the live site here.

Read our case study on the project here.