Case Study: Absolute World Media
Absolute World Media, a leader in providing travel reviews to Web-savvy globe trotters, tasked Marker Seven with designing the first in a series of destination sites, www.Absolute-Croatia.com.
Rather than a simple, static travel guide, Absolute World Media needed a robust site that could accommodate detailed, quickly changing information. Still, the site needed to be as chic and sophisticated as the vacation locales it discussed. In addition, the site had to be easily updated from anywhere in the world, allowing new venues to be added the moment they become "it" spots, and making it easy to remove places that had lost their edge.
The company also asked Marker Seven to design logos for Absolute World Croatia and Absolute World Media.
From the beginning, it was clear that the look-and-feel of the site would be as integral to telling the story of Croatia's beauty as the site's functionality. Sexy, informative and fun, the website highlights the newest hot places to visit, focusing on breathtaking architectural highlights, luxurious hotels, sizzling night clubs, designer boutiques, gorgeous beaches and a delectable dining guide.
Marker Seven designed a sleek navigation system accessible by activity or destination to provide multiple ways to get to the content. Site visitors can narrow down searches using filters to find the best restaurants, hotels, beaches, events, and more.
Marker Seven also made sure there were multiple ways to highlight special events, attractions, restaurants, or other places. They can be displayed in the normal browsing and searching, on featured city and region pages, or at the top of their categories.
To keep with the site's chic look, Marker Seven created a sleek mapping feature, highlighting vacation ideas for visitors unfamiliar with the country. The map lets visitors navigate by region, and a dropdown menu offers details on the cities in those regions.
The foundation of the site employs an open-source content management system, Drupal 5.1, that enables this robust site to be easy for the Absolute World Media team to update, alter and navigate internally, all without HTML knowledge. If it was built in a standard Web programming language, this comprehensive site of over 300 pages would be difficult to maintain.
With its graceful streamlined look, Absolute-Croatia.com looks more like a fashion magazine than a traditional travel guide, a realization of the client’s vision.
The launch of Absolute-Croatia.com immediately piqued international interest, as hits came in from around the world. The website beautifully highlights the stunning Mediterranean country, tempting even the most spoiled traveler.
Absoulte-Croatia.com delivers on its concept to be more than a travel site, instead becoming a reflection of the fabulous leisure, shopping, and nightlife possibilities in chic locales where the “who’s who” go to play. Since the soft launch, interest in the site has led to increasing site traffic and advertising interest, and more sites are in the works.
Absolute World Media, LLC provides intelligent and up to date reviews on emerging destinations which will satisfy the savvy and chic globe trotting traveler. The globe trotting begins with the Mediterranean country, Croatia. From the most captivating architectural highlights, the must stay hotels, and the hottest clubs, Absolute World Media is the authority on traveling well. www.absolute-croatia.com
About Marker Seven
Marker Seven is a premier provider of Web-based solutions designed to maximize business sales and communication efforts. Headquartered in San Francisco and founded in 2000, its skilled, cross-disciplinary team tackles every facet of Web development with a common bond and vision - to deliver value, high-quality work, and exceptional service. Marker Seven's professional team of business strategists, designers, and technical experts deliver solutions tailored to each client. Proven ability to understand client's business issues and technical needs allow its team to hit the ground running, take ownership and fully manage every project. Marker Seven remains focused on and dedicated to each project, delivering a polished look with clarity and consistency. Whatever the initiative, Marker Seven implements and delivers success.