Curotec

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a baby gear brand, based in the United Kingdom, developing and distributing products such as pushchairs, child safety seats, and in home baby care items. I'm the director of marketing services and all-around marketing consultant for several brands within our group and our office is based in eastern Pennsylvania.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Curotec?

One of our brands had an outdated website that had been cobbled together years ago using in-house resources and an out-of-house programming resource. The website became dated probably within a year or two of its launch. We have a pretty complex global business model where we distribute our products in nearly 40 countries, but only a select number of those are reflected on our current website. Each country has its own support system and marketing segment that maintains their website. Several years ago, a few of our regions started to develop their own websites, which in no way reflected the identity, vision, and message of our brand. We wanted all of the infrastructure, development, and branding to align with the Joie Children’s Products global brand, and we wanted all of the countries in which we distribute to be reflected on the new website that Curotec was developing for us. We wanted to develop a CMS [content management system] website where every word would be translatable among the different countries, and we wanted all of it to be manageable either by the local offices or our office when the local offices needed our support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The design was a collaborative effort. Some portions of the website were designed by our in-house group and another group, but Curotec advised heavily and helped in many areas of the design. The infrastructure on the programming side was entirely Curotec’s work. Curotec used a WordPress-based CMS, along with custom or plug-in development. They really pushed WordPress to its limits and maybe a little bit beyond. Curotec built the website to be ready for a more robust SEO [search engine optimization] program in the future. They haven't done any marketing or SEO for us yet, though we hope to change that eventually. 

How did you come to work with Curotec?

We had a hard time working with the company we selected for our website before Curotec. This time, we knew the type of group we needed, and in our case, we were leaning toward picking a company nearby so we could meet in person somewhat easily. We knew that proximity could help streamline the process. We had a handful of meetings in person, which was important. We then did extensive Google research. We had sister groups that worked with other groups. We talked to them, got proposals from them, and then narrowed down those companies based on geography, their portfolios, and case studies. Curotec had done multilingual websites before, and they could show us their examples. In our initial meetings, anytime we mentioned certain challenges to the Curotec team, they had solutions for them. They just delivered solution after solution. They were undaunted. We didn't necessarily understand the intricacies of what they were recommending, but it reassured us that they could handle the complexity of what we had to develop.

We had our in-house design team and another group work on the design of the website. We were going through a bit of a rebrand at the time, so it overlapped with Curotec’s efforts on the design of the website, which was probably a little bit of a challenge for them. Curotec did all the development related to how the website worked and how it was built.

How much have you invested with Curotec?

The original quote for the project was under $100,000. We uncovered new needs and Curotec found new solutions that we opted into after we set the original quote. I think we ended up a little over $100,000 in the end. 

Curotec held the project to their orignal quotation for all of the items we had discussed up front, and they only charged more when it was reasonable and fair to do so, like when we changed our project scope and they had to present a new solution or opportunity, or when we brought a new challenge to the table.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started talking to Curotec in January 2015, and we started active development in March of the same year. We had to pause for a couple of months in the summer because our rebranding efforts conflicted with the website development. Curotec moved everything forward seamlessly despite our delays. They move at an incredible pace, and they never caused a delay. We launched the website in February 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The response and increase in traffic on the new website have been far beyond our projections. Our web traffic has increased substantially, and we have had incredible success, even within the organization. We’ve only heard positive feedback from subsidiaries and our internal entities, all the way up to corporate. The Joie company is based in the UK, so we’re a little bit dependent on feedback from the other regions because we can’t actively conduct research in those areas at this time. I think the number of countries that are embracing the site and rolling their sites over to the joiebaby.com site speaks volumes to the reception the project has received in every region.

We are not an e-commerce site, which is quite a challenge for us, and it’s one reason we haven't launched a robust SEO program. However, Curotec was able to develop a one-click system where you can purchase a product from our country specific retailers. Curotec built in a lot of complexity for each region, which was pretty intense.

How did Curotec perform from a project management standpoint?

I cannot rave enough about Curotec’s project management. I’ve worked with developers on both simple sites and complex sites, but I’ve never experienced a problem-solving team that was so optimistic about everything. I don't know that I've ever worked with a team that has handled a project so seamlessly and professionally, especially considering the size of the project. Their management and organization was impressive. We were looking for a company that would be hands-on with us and make us feel like a priority, and we got that with Curotec. Pam was our bridge, our mother hen, our patient mentor, our everything, between the development side, the marketing side, and the technical side. She handled everything so smoothly and hit everything according to timeline and spec. She would help us slow down and think through what we were saying we needed to get as much clarity as possible for each complex piece of the project scope. I don't know how she did it or how she made it look so easy, but it took a huge load off of us.

What did you find most impressive about Curotec?

We were most impressed by Curotec’s ability to provide solutions to complex challenges. They thought of everything, from having the smallest word in the smallest corner of the site translatable to building a huge backend infrastructure that would be able to manage multiple countries and languages, to getting us closer to impacting conversions on a non-e-commerce site. The infrastructure development was robust and complex, but it ran smoothly. The finished deliverable was a home run for us.

Are there any areas Curotec could improve?

We had such a great experience that it’s hard to think of how Curotec could improve. I know they’re growing quickly, which may provide some interesting challenges for them, but I think they have the ability to grow while keeping their personal touch. I think the only things they may not have offered at the time are things we couldn't have taken advantage of anyway, like in-depth consumer and user experience research. They might even offer those features now.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Curotec?

My recommendations would depend on the level of complexity of a future client’s needs. If a client’s needs are as complex as ours, I would tell them to make sure they have in-depth conversations and make sure everything is understood upfront. Talk through the scope of the project, and then when Curotec has a clear understanding of the true need behind a request, they’ll design accordingly and it will work.