An iconic mountain destination
Banff & Lake Louise has a rich heritage as one of the world’s most awe-inspiring mountain destinations. Canada’s first national park and the world’s third, Banff National Park is visited by nearly 4 million people a year. The DMO for the area, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT), wanted to completely rebuild their brand and web presence, including a total overhaul of the website’s content. Banff & Lake Louise’s key value proposition is its natural good looks: its exceptional beauty and awe-inspiring mountain landscape leave an indelible impression, and are the primary motivation for most visits. The existing website’s content however did not capture its awe-inspiring nature. VW was tasked with creating content that captivates and inspires: words and images that encapsulate the experience of Banff & Lake Louise and prompt an emotional reaction. Inspiration fails however when users can’t act on it. The inspirational content had to prompt further action - such as seeking more information, sharing content, linking out to member listings, or booking a trip.
View Live SiteContent that inspires and compels users to experience it for themselves.
The planning phase was extensive. We developed a content strategy which outlined our plans for the different content types, their objectives, how the content fitted with the design and UX, the tone to be used in copy, and the style to be shown in images. Hours were spent getting intimate with a spreadsheet as we worked out the pages and their content, the information architecture, and menu structure.
Our key objective was to create content that connected emotionally with the user and made them feel inspired, awed, and excited. Various techniques were utilized: full bleed images, ‘moments’ (easily-shareable snippets of content), pull quotes, and copy that sought to immerse the user in the emotions and sensations felt when visiting Banff & Lake Louise. One of our biggest challenges was getting the tone of the writing right: we wanted to be inspirational and emotive, but without sounding too cheesy or over sentimental. The inspiration had to be backed up with more informational content that gives users the information they require to plan and book a trip.
We are pretty proud of the results.