Bettcher : B2B Manufacturer Gets to the Meat of Its Brand with a New Website
Challenge
Bettcher Industries is the leading manufacturer of cutting and trimming tools for the food processing and industrial manufacturing industries. Its products help increase yield, boost productivity and reduce repetitive strain injuries for workers. However, while its products were regarded as the best in the industry, its website was outdated, difficult to navigate and no longer indicative of its ground-breaking, innovative brand. The business was primarily B2B, so the new website needed to convey the dynamic, inventive aspects of the brand while still appealing to an audience that was largely driven by the bottom line.
Solution
Leading the herd in digital design The first step in the process was a comprehensive review of existing content on the website. In collaboration with the client, we developed a sitemap that structured content in a manner that made it quick and easy for customers to find information they needed. thunder::tech carefully considered how to make the path to purchase as simple and intuitive as possible. A visual design system was developed that reflected the brand’s innovative and dynamic culture and products. Animated homepage elements leveraged the company’s strong brand colors and showcased a selection of Bettcher products—as well as bringing in some of the more whimsical aspects of the brand like “Bessie,” its unofficial mascot. Prior to launch, thunder::tech helped with written content on the site, both in creation and copyediting. The result was a bold, exciting website that conveyed the innovation and excitement of the brand while making it easy for the just-tell-me-the-bottom-line audience to find what they needed and make a purchase. Talking the talk Bettcher has distributors and customers all across the world and, as such, wanted their website to deliver a consistent experience regardless of international region or language. As a phase two of the website project, thunder::tech developed a strategy and tactics to help deliver on their global digital efforts. The website needed far more than simply language translation, it also required different SEO strategies, sitemap modifications and platform demands. Additionally, it was a requirement that visitors could switch to and from languages at their convenience and preference. To achieve the goal, thunder::tech leveraged the strength of our partnerships, starting with Kentico. The robust CMS was already in place, but by upgrading to the Enterprise Marketing Solution (EMS) edition it allowed for the configuration and structure for scalable multi-language functionality. This phase of the website project began with German, and then worked through the remaining region-specific languages. Some regions required different product visibility and access, so the thunder::tech UX team worked with Bettcher’s team to ensure that the appropriate navigational strategies were in place to accommodate all use cases going forward. For the actual translating of content, thunder::tech partnered with Globalization Partners International (GPI). Kentico offered a feature which allowed translations to be submitted directly to GPI and have them loaded into the major pages, widget and localized strings. The Kentico/GPI integrations and workflows kept the project well organized and moving forward. A secondary aspect of the project was promoting awareness and consent of cookies and their connected tracking—which Kentico EMS provided out-of-the-box. Finally, Bettcher launched the new German-translated site and related product content first half of 2019, then immediately began work on additional international regions, translating content as appropriate. Flying high to deepen the relationship After the launch of the new website, Bettcher and thunder::tech continued to work together on a number of initiatives. For example, thunder::tech’s licensed drone pilot shot flyover video of Bettcher’s iconic “big red barn” facility and grounds to be used on the website and in company videos. thunder::tech returned to Bettcher’s facilities several times to capture still photography of a number of new products and various parts and accessories, as well as its cutting edge “Innovation Center.” These images were used extensively in company collateral, print ads, sell sheets and instruction manuals.
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