Branding & UI Design
Waterberg Guest Farm
Brief: Waterberg Guest Farm, a fully functional, family run, sustainable farm in Namibia, offers tourist the unique opportunity to experience the inner workings of an African farm. However, due to an outdated brand positioning, their offer was often not entirely clear and as a result the Guest Farm got compared to Luxury Safari Lodges and Hotels which are run by different standards. I was briefed to help them update their brand and online presence.
Approach: My approach to the project was to firstly determine what the specific pain points of guests were during their stay at the Guest Farm and to identify which of these pain points can be addressed using design and branding. By analyzing guest reviews and conducting stakeholder interviews I was able to identify 3 opportunities that would address these pain points:
1. Modernize and simplify their existing brand to be more approachable and web-friendly
2. Provide information and position Waterberg Guest Farm as a homely family farm with upmarket accommodation.
3. Create an intuitive user experience on their website that reflects Waterberg Guest Farm’s product and reworked positioning.
Branding: By subtly intensifying the color pallet, updating the typography and flattening the logo I was able to update the brand without compromising its integrity.
Copywriting: A major pain point for a lot of tourists traveling to Namibia is the lack of information as to what exactly one can expect once you get there. Unlike other tourist destinations, Namibian Guest Farms are often far removed from town and cities, which means being prepared is incredibly important but not often communicated enough.
Along with the owners of Waterberg Guest Farm we agreed to rewrite the copy to be more transparent as to what exactly guests can expect and what they can do in preparation for their trip.
Rewriting the Copy also helped us position Waterberg Guest Farm as a family “Home” and as a “Farm in Africa” that was “Built by Hand” thereby differentiating the Guest Farm from big corporate Luxury Safari Chains.
Website: To successfully create an online experience that is intuitive to the typical guest visiting Waterberg Guest Farm website, I had to understand the typical user of the website.
It became clear that not all guests used the Internet as their primary research for Accommodation in Namibia but rather relied on travel agents, friends and booking companies to provide them with information. Those that did eventually visit websites of Lodges, Hotels and Guest farms did so further down the decision-making funnel and were thus more interested in detailed information than top-line marketing speak.
Contact
Berlin, Germany
Email: ilenaclara@gmail.com
LinkedIn: @clarailena
© Clara Schneider-Waterberg 2022