Narwhal Digital

Georgia Aquarium came to us with a minimally transactional site that had limited marketing capabilities, notable downtime, and no way to support new revenue. For the largest aquarium in the Western Hemisphere, we knew we could do better. Through technology, experience, and commerce we were able to create a digital ecosystem and connect the narrative to the transaction

Stability, scalability & performance

For a brand with such high-traffic volume and high-visibility, it was imperative that we start with a reliable foundation. Step one was to evaluate the platform and infrastructure and quickly establish stability. From there, we installed the right tools and applied best practices to ensure uptime and improve overall performance. This allowed us to reimagine the online guest experience and deliver a scalable platform.

Ticketing & e-commerce

A must-have goal was to provide a more flexible commerce platform that allowed them to mature their ticket buying process and unlock new revenue opportunities. We were able to customize their traditional ticketing platform and introduce new ways to sell tickets and new types of products and drive donations.

Guest experience, marketing & brand management

Georgia Aquarium’s website is often the first experience a guest has with the brand and the vision was to ensure that the magic of the Aquarium starts there. Our design approach allowed guests to be inspired, curious, and compassionate while making it effortless to buy tickets and make contributions. We simultaneously armed the marketing team with more flexibility to tell stories, educate, and impact revenue.

Since 1902, S&T Bank has served its community by building long-standing relationships, instilling unwavering trust, and providing products and services of value. They came to Narwhal with the desire to create an online presence that reflects the same commitment to quality and personal approach to banking. They wanted to set themselves apart by evolving within and standing out in the financial services crowd. With the goal of reaching new customers, a series of frequent website outages, and the inability to scale the platform to support their growth - there was no time to waste and we were excited to be a part of it.

Design & usability

First impressions are critical to a user’s experience. We gave S&T a complete site makeover that embraced sophisticated design and thoughtful UX, giving users confidence that they were at the right place with the right financial partner. It was paramount that users could segment quickly and find the information, products, and tools they were looking for.

Brand & voice

When approaching the site content, we zeroed in on capturing the DNA of S&T. From the modern and friendliness of the design to the conversational voice of the content, we embodied the values of S&T to successfully connect users. We leveraged relatable stories and conversational content to make the S&T banking experience a human one—removing the invisible barriers to achieving financial goals.

Technology Approach

Considering S&T’s primary goals for the site, we determined that a decoupled architecture would be ideal. It provided better security, performance and speed—resulting in significant gains in page load times and load capacity with essentially no downtime. It also provided more flexibility in building front and backend codebases.