The Global Digital Voice of a City
Discover PHL
The Challenge
The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) is the official Tourism Promotion Agency for the City of Philadelphia globally and the primary sales and marketing agency for the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Having a direct influence on the city of Philadelphia’s tourism, hospitality, and trade show industry to the tune of $1.2 Billion in economic impact, the non-profit agency launched www.discoverphl.com in November, 2012. Since that time, research and user feedback had indicated that the website UI design, landing page structure and content hierarchy was visually confusing, lacked hierarchy, and almost impossible to navigate. PHLCVB was looking to engage with a design and technology partner that could assist them with a redesign in an attempt to re-engage the global markets of Life Sciences, Trade Associations, Governments, Corporations, Religious Organization, Sports Organizations and more.
The Approach
Think it First quickly aligned priorities with the PHLCVB and set project goals. High up on their list of must-haves was a more easily navigated site for a global audience, and to leverage a highly customized existing CMS, called Umbraco. With over 1200 member organizations and business units relying on the site for Sales, an overhaul of the sitemap and information architecture was a daunting task. Additionally, of the 3000+ pages to the website, many went levels deep and we’re highly integrated with outside tools and backend systems. In a staged approach, Think it First designed a digital solution that delivers the clarity to inform and direct users to desired actions, but also visually captures the personality of a city, well-known for it’s personality.
“We’re kept well-informed along the way; there’s never been a surprise while working with Think it First.”
Mark Correa
Digital Marketing Manager, PHLCVB
