Web Site Makeovers

When Larsen Marketing was hired by Best Buy for the specific task of creating a new online annual report, creative staff who toured the electronic retailer’s corporate Web site found a disconnect between the site’s look and feel and Best Buy’s youthful and entrepreneurial culture. Paul Wharton, vice president of creative at Larsen, a Minneapolis-based design, branding, and interactive marketing company, mentioned this to Best Buy managers, who quickly agreed that the annual report project should be expanded to rethinking the whole site.

“The corporate section of the site conveyed the Blue Shirts as a supplemental element, and had no personality, no imagery, and no photos of the Blue Shirts, which the company considers integral to its culture,” Wharton says, referring to Best Buy’s front-line work force. The site also lacked a cohesive feel—sections for public relations and investor relations all looked different from one another. “They were fragmented on line, and the site didn’t reflect a company that is very retail-oriented and has a large, energetic group of young employees,” he says.

Face Time

One of the first redesign suggestions Larsen made was to highlight photos of real Best Buy employees, not models, in a series of light-hearted poses on the site. The change involved some risk because of natural turnover in those positions, a fact that didn’t dissuade Best Buy. “Management fully committed to using employees because the Blue Shirts are so important to the culture. And they just decided to refresh photos if people do in fact leave the company,” says Jennifer Parks, a senior producer at Larsen. “The company feels the photos really reinforce and reflect its brand and its values.”

The site makeover also included new copy for corporate sections, repurposing existing photography, and adding new photos. Short videos of the CEO talking candidly about the company’s performance, providing rationale for management decisions, were added to the investor relations page. The videos were shot and edited by Best Buy’s internal media group. The addition of video required a server upgrade to accommodate increased bandwidth demands.

“We felt it was important for Best Buy, as a technology company, to communicate with Web site visitors in ways other than text,” says David Molanphy, Larsen’s design director. “We also wanted to make sure the company’s personality shined through in the videos.”