THE OPPORTUNITY

Westport Plaza is an instantly-recognizable and beloved legacy brand in the St. Louis Market.

Westport Plaza has played an important role in the vibrancy and connectedness of the St. Louis community since 1973. As an entertainment venue, it has hosted many live concerts, holiday events and annual festivals where St. Louisans gather together and have the opportunity to be neighborly with fellow residents, new and old. In recent years Westport Plaza has been thought of as an old, stodgy brand with outdated restaurants and stale forms of entertainment. On the contrary, the plaza had worked hard to attract some of the hippest eateries and entertainers to its properties.

Westport selected our team to raise the profile of Westport Plaza in order to attract even more cool brands in hospitality and entertainment to sign on as tenants, as well as reaching the public with a fresh new identity that positioned its brand as young and modern. Our strategic research showed us that we needed to create video and photography that would capture this fresh and modern image, to tell a story that Westport’s audience could connect with.

RESPONSIVE MOBILE DESIGN BRINGS THE IMMERSIVE DESKTOP EXPERIENCE TO MOBILE WITH VIDEO ACROSS ALL DEVICE PLATFORMS.

One of Westport Plaza’s top priorities was having a mobile-friendly, responsive website that made it easy for their guests to find events, entertainment and dining options. It was important to them that they provide easy access to amenities and booking for both guests and their hotel property tenants, Sheraton Westport Chalet Hotel and the Sheraton Westport Plaza hotel. We created a playful, colorful interface that makes it easy for guests to find important information, directions and get answers to their questions. With a few taps of the screen users can:

• View the live music and special events calendar

• Book a getaway

• View the dining and drinks options

• Explore the stores and services

• Get directions

MOBILE WEBSITE WITH FULLSCREEN VIDEO

FULLSCREEN VIDEO INTEGRATION CAN MAKE A WEBSITE EXPERIENCE MAGICAL.

We highlighted the magic of Westports’ family-friendly events, eateries, stores and services in order to create compelling copy and visuals that centered around a digital strategy designed to optimize organic search and convert website visitors to event attendance and guests. 

We built a navigation that seamlessly drove users between different featured experiences that Westport offers. From there, we were able to establish the importance of a website platform that would give visitors the experience of that energy and magic in the palm of their hands.

UX MEETS UNIQUE

CREATING A SITE THAT’S EASY-TO-NAVIGATE IS AS IMPORTANT AS A GREAT DESIGN AESTHETIC.

Westport needed their new website to leverage the popularity of Westport Social to attract more cool tenants, and give the brand a facelift in its experiences and across its main assets. Other top priorities included making it easy for guests to find dining, nightlife and entertainment options, information about directions and parking, and to make inquiries about leasing, private events and pop-up experiences. 

Crafting a smart, intuitive website user experience goes hand-in-hand with designing a beautiful look. Our design-thinking approach integrates attention to aesthetic design and UX design at every step of the process. We built fun, easy-to-use directories and interfaces that hold the audience’s attention, offer a rich experience and help users find the resources and information they are looking for with a couple quick clicks.