Client Introduction
The Australian Jockey Club's ambition is to present one of the world's premier thoroughbred racing experiences, conducting over 60 race meetings at Royal Randwick and Warwick Farm annually.
Project Overview
For all the prestige associated with racing, the Australian Jockey Club continually strive to provide an environment where people of all ages can enjoy the races. After successfully working with the AJC on their email marketing strategy, Switch were approached to redevelop the web site.
With considerable planning, we looked at the needs of not only the avid punter but also the socialites who meet at the course for any of the popular lawn parties. The web site needed to encompasses live data feeds from several sources, content management and an integrated email marketing system.
Utilising the SwitchBack Content Management System and SynergyMail, the AJC now have the ability to get the right message out to their target audience. This is achieved through an intuitive navigation which clearly directs visitors to the site to the information that they need and via segmented email marketing using SynergyMail.
The key aims of the new web site included:
- Improve the User Experience
The AJC really wanted to ensure that access to racing, events and convention centre information was readily accessible. This required some careful restructuring of the navigation and redefining the information architecture of the web site. With the new design the AJC has a web site which is more professional, faster and usable as well as completely consistent with the AJC brand.
- Establish a Consistent and Effective Communication Channel
There’s nothing quite like a day at the races and no-one in the world does it better than the AJC. The web site is a critical tool in letting race-goers know what’s going on at the course. So whether customers are looking for upcoming races at Royal Randwick or when the next Springfest is on, the details are being fed from the SwitchBack CMS and completely managed in-house at the AJC.
- Provide More Extensive Information
Critical racing information is provided to visitors of the site by combining several data sources into one location. Very specific and accurate information keeps visitors to the site up to date with details on race dates, trackwork regulations, nominations and the form guide (just to name a few).
The web site also gives detailed information on carnivals and events as well as the popular convention centre.
- Create a System to Manage Web Site Content In-House
The SwitchBack CMS was integrated with the AJC web site, establishing the easiest way to maintain content. With its customised and comprehensive structure, SwitchBack allows staff at the AJC to maintain content on the web site completely in-house.
- Integrate an Email Marketing System
Visitors to the AJC web site can now opt-in for permission based email newsletters, giving them advanced notice of racing, carnivals and events. SynergyMail is now utilised to manage each campaign but also the AJC subscribers whilst getting comprehensive reports on recipient activity.
