C L I E N T

D I D  W E  D E S I G N  T H E  L O G O ?
Yes! See branding case story.

S E R V I C E S
Strategy
Marketing Audit
Brand Audit
Core Values
Positioning
Naming
Branding
Website Design & Development
Email Marketing

V I E W  T H E  S I T E
www.murraysmith.us

C O L L A B O R A T O R S
Petra Ives
John Dennis

T H E  B A C K S T O R Y

After speaking at the SMPS Pacific Regional Conference in Portland, David was approached by Irina, the marketing director at Murray, Smith & Associates, Inc. (MSA), a nine-office, 155-person civil engineering firm in the Northwest. Handing him her business card, she confessed, “I know we need your help with branding and a new website.”

Challenge

Current Site Repels Talent

When a recent hire declared, “If I were choosing a firm solely based on its website, I would never work here,” it was clearly time for a new site.

The existing site didn’t effectively convey the firm’s culture. Though there were lots of facts, it lacked emotional appeal. Small, dated images and an awkward navigation system contributed to a poor user experience. And the site wasn’t optimized for mobile and tablet users.

Primary Goal: the new site is to attract talent by showing what it’s like to work at Murraysmith.

Site Updates Are Impossible

Since the site was hard-coded without the use of a content management system (CMS), nobody within the firm could make updates. As a result, fresh content that users value and Google rewards in search rankings was not being added.

Goal: Instead of updating the site every twenty years, allow staff to update the site daily. Build a custom site, then train staff on a fun-to-use content management system.

Solutions

S T R A T E G Y,  T H E N  D E S I G N

The project began with a Discovery Phase that included an audit of the current 20-year-old site as well as several competitor websites to assess how MSA compares in the digital landscape. This competitive audit revealed how much the site lacked in terms of modern website attributes.

Because a great website is rooted in brand strategy, we summarized the website strategy in a five-page strategic brief outlining the why, what, who (both users and internal resources), when and how of the new site.

B R A N D  P E R S O N A L I T Y

Before developing the new firm name and logo, we established five brand personality attributes to guide all future marketing communication materials and activities.

Imaginative

Dependable

Relatable

Sincere

Fun

N E W  D E S I G N  A N D  P H O T O G R A P H Y

Through graphic design, color and typography, the new site reflects the firm’s new core values, unique attributes and brand personality. Fresh, custom photography by Klik, demonstrates that MurraySmith is a fun place to work. The site’s responsive design provides an optimum user experience on desktop monitors, tablets and mobile devices. The main navigation at the top of each page is simple, with only four buttons and a powerful search feature. As users scroll down a page, the main navigation “sticks” to the top of the page to minimize scrolling. The footer of every page includes a sitemap to help users find exactly what they’re looking for and discover something new.

E A S Y  T O  U P D A T E

A custom, fun-to-use content management system allows staff to quickly update the site on an ongoing basis.

N E W  U R L

For simplicity, memorability and consistency with the new Murraysmith brand name, we recommended a new URL:

www.murraysmith.us

The previous URL, www.msa-ep.com, automatically redirects to the new site.

Results

 
9 months before website launch vs. 9 months after

40%

6%

32%

14,000

+12

30%

42.5%

Recognition

LecoursDesign/Murraysmith earned the “best website” award at the 2018 SMPS Marketing Communications Awards.

The web­site and rebrand­ing is fresh and unique. Great research and plan­ning, tied nice­ly to strate­gic plan! They clear­ly set out to rebrand their web­site as a recruitment/retention tool—did a good job at each stage. Out­stand­ing results!”

–Awards Juror