Scenic | Scenic website homepage on iPad | Devotion

96% increase in users.

104% increase in sessions.

72% increase in pageviews.

A fully customisable digital sales and marketing platform for one of the world’s premier luxury travel companies.

Scenic.

Scenic is one of Australia’s - and the world’s - premier luxury travel companies. The Scenic team has worked tirelessly for over 30 years to earn a world-class reputation for creating and delivering the ultimate cruising and touring itineraries for travellers who seek wondrous experiences and exceptional 5-star service. In early 2015, Devotion was engaged to redefine, redesign, and redevelop the Scenic UK, USA, and Canadian websites.

The challenge.

Scenic had a re-developed (though evolving) brand that they needed to launch in April 2015. We started our relationship with Scenic in February of 2015. In that time, we needed to launch a completely new Scenic website in 3 markets, on a new platform, with a new brand, consuming a new API, with stakeholders in 4 countries - all of which were not Australia. No pressure!

Further to that, we were tasked with delivering three Emerald Waterways (a second-tier Scenic brand) websites for the international markets in the same timeframe, thus double the amount of work. What also became apparent during the initial stages of the project, was the ‘Australian-specific’ nature of the API content, meaning our platform development needed to allow for localised overrides to suit their on-ground marketing activity.

The solution.

The UX design process began with a series of intense workshops in the UK with all markets represented. As the timeframe in which to deliver was governed by the relaunch of the brand, a phased approach was initiated, which then influenced the UX thinking.

A close working relationship was then established with the agency engaged to relaunch the brand, so as to ensure that the constantly-evolving positioning statements and visual language, were well understood and would translate effectively in a digital environment.

Additionally, the team worked very closely with Scenic’s internal IT team, based in Newcastle, Australia, learning the API, how best to consume it, and what data would need to allow for overrides, thereby allowing localised market-specific content. Over time, Devotion became the facilitator between the international market teams and Scenic’s own IT, based primarily on proximity and a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

Devotion developed six websites within a single project, allowing for the UK to be the master of all content, which was then copied to the other markets and updated. The project was then broken out after launch, so that each site could be updated independently.

The sites were delivered within the exceptionally tight timeframes (10 weeks) and have been undergoing constant iteration since. A major focus on SEO, performance, and user experience are currently underway.