The Challenge
Footprint’s sustainable products are in high demand by a blue-chip customer base that includes Conagra, General Mills, Gillette, Kraft, Nestle and Procter & Gamble. Their earth-friendly packaging solutions are already in use in supermarket and restaurant chains across North America, helping the world’s biggest CPG retailers reach their sustainability objectives.
With revenues exceeding $924 million in 2022, Footprint needed a much more powerful server, a more powerful CMS, and the ability to integrate their CMS into email, SEO tools, social media and dynamic content. They also needed more control over vendors who accessed their CMS.
The Footprint team decided to switch from WordPress to HubSpot, and they needed a capable HubSpot partner to onboard their team, migrate their data and help them make the transition smoothly.
Footprint’s rapidly advancing product innovations and increasing PR attention meant that the company website also needed a redesign. The new site had to fulfill several key objectives:
- position Footprint as a global leader in the sustainable packaging industry
- act as a powerful marketing and communications tool to attract new clients
- establish credibility with potential joint venture partners
- streamline their growing sales through automations
As Footprint was about to become a publicly listed company, the site also needed to showcase their capabilities and their ability to design, develop and manufacture their plastic-free products to the public and to potential investors.
Solution:
After gathering crucial information from Footprint’s various stakeholders, we developed three main personas to determine user experiences for the site: an investor, a client, and an everyday environmental activist. Each persona had their own specific needs, and needed pathways that allowed them to take action easily (from contacting sales or purchasing products to obtaining information on Footprint’s sister sites). We then developed the trajectories for each user journey.
Footprint needed an all-in-one CMS platform that would host the site while allowing the team to manage their leads, monitor their analytics and maintain their social media channels. We recommended HubSpot, and used their tools and builder to create a custom web experience. With HubSpot’s built-in analytics and testing, we were able to optimize the site on the fly.
The site content needed to be accessible and tools usable on any device. All of the content and user experience was not only optimized for mobile, but designed to ensure the same experience a user would get on desktop.
Outcome:
HubSpot allowed us to create a light but powerful website that’s easy to navigate and visually appealing. The new site loads faster, and its navigation is simpler and more intuitive. With an A score by GTMetrix, the site performs much faster than the previous WordPress version.
With speed a top priority, we met our goals of creating a fast and informative website, even as we accommodated the client’s request for a home page slider and auto-playing video. We completely revamped the contact page with custom development built by our team in HubSpot to make Footprint’s sales easier and more efficient.
Impact
We launched the new Footprint website on November 10, 2021.
In the first three months of 2022, Footprint saw record-breaking revenue growth—Q1 revenue was up 133% from the prior year, and the company is on track to meet its target of $135 million in revenue and $924 million in revenue under contract by the end of 2022. Demand for plant-based fiber solutions continues to grow—and Footprint’s renovated digital presence and HubSpot automations have allowed the brand to keep pace with that demand.
Footprint also commissioned a multi-country research study with Wunderman Thompson, examining consumer attitudes toward single-use plastics and their desire for sustainable packaging options. From the raw numbers, our team developed a landing page that illustrated all of the findings from more than 5,000 people surveyed, with engaging, easy-to-grasp infographics that drove home the urgency and impact of the study’s findings in ways that raw copy could not. (The study results as explained in text can be viewed here, while our visual interpretation of the results are here.)
The Open Flow design team utilized motion graphics and the image of an iceberg to convey the concept of an ocean in peril, as well as the hidden cost of plastic pollution and the often-unseen stress of consumers who are upset that corporations and brands offer them few environmentally sound choices.
Our design solution exponentially increased the newsworthiness, impact and accessibility of Footprint’s research. The study findings made headlines in CPG media such as Progressive Grocer, Winsight Grocery Business and Consumer Goods, as well as mainstream publications like Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance and KTAR News.
Visibility and control of the site for the Footprint teams increased dramatically, while page speeds and SEO rankings improved significantly. Collaboration among all the various marketing vendors who use the site increased as well.
Working for a More Sustainable Future
The Footprint website continues to evolve as both the company and the sustainability sector expand. Since we rebuilt it entirely in 2021 with HubSpot CMS, we’ve continued to maintain and update ever since.
Footprint’s products have already re-directed millions of pounds of plastic waste from entering our landfills and oceans. With new initiatives from both the Footprint team and ours, we meet weekly to evolve and grow the website. We are proud to play a role in Footprint’s mission to help our planet, and we look forward to continuing to improve and optimize the site as Footprint continues to grow.
“We’ve utilized Open Flow for everything from work on our website to videography and creative content—they continue to impress with quality and service.”
—Troy Swope, CEO & Co-Founder Footprint
