Case Study
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THE BRIEF
Hidden away in the idyllic Kentish village of Ickham stands The Duke William, a charming pub with beautiful views and food to match. Refurbished in early 2015, the pub wanted to replicate their style and cosy nature online.
Kit & Caboodle had a clear idea of what was needed: a website which clearly highlighted what The Duke William has to offer, and to rejuvenate the pub’s local marketing efforts by providing his staff with effective training and support.
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THE APPROACH
Our primary concern was to ensure that content be conveyed clearly, whichever device the website is viewed on - but without compromising the design; the pub's identity must shine throughout.
Design
The website’s structure was led by the content, and with the goal of encouraging informed customers to visit firmly in mind. A clear plan with navigation to all services was settled on. In addition to providing relevant information to prospective visitors, we used the strong imagery provided to immerse the viewer - utilising both full screen photographs and galleries to give a sense of the pub’s atmosphere and aesthetic. A booking widget features on every page as a prompt to make a reservation, while also ensuring that this key interaction wasn’t tucked away and hard to find. Additionally, we needed to highlight the relationship between The Duke William and Mark’s other local ventures. This was worked into the main framework of the site, with a link to “explore the group” appearing alongside the top navigation and in the footer throughout.
A large slideshow of photos fills the screen initially, immediately giving a sense of the space. More photos available are to browse in the gallery further down the page.
Navigation is clear, and remains visible as the page is scrolled
Link to “explore the group” opens an overlay revealing Mark’s other venues.
Gallery design ensures that the image occupies as much of the available screen area as possible.
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Table booking widget on every page
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Social media integration, displaying the most recent posts from Twitter and Instagram
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Simple newsletter sign-up, building a motivated database
Marketing Support
The Duke William required marketing assistance to clean up their existing online footprint, and additional social media support and training for their staff. As The Duke William’s ownership had changed, our first priority was to address their current online presence, as this was negatively impacting the local SEO of the pub. We conducted an extensive audit of their existing online coverage and ensured that all the details were updated, unifying branding and communication across all services where the Duke William features.
To help The Duke William make the most of social media, we provided support and training to get them up and running. This involved tailored group training sessions and ongoing advice to ensure that the staff feel confident and able to effectively achieve the desired results of increasing The Duke William’s exposure to and engagement with a captive audience.
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THE OUTCOME
The results have been fantastic! During the first 12 months, The Duke William has seen a 320% increase in Facebook likes and a 400% increase in Twitter followers. The Duke William also appeared in local Google searches 78,689 times, and received over 340 driving direction requests in a one month period, highlighting the importance of local marketing to ensure that people are able to find The Duke William easily.