The Charles

Internet of Things (IOT) is about embracing technology to lead us into the future. The Charles needed a more unique solution to present editorial concepts.

Such a radically new way of doing business required an innovative way of storytelling above and beyond the typical sponsor generated content editorial – something more specialized and more engaging.

The interface guides users through the experience, showcasing important assets along the journey.

Custom event tracking allows for detailed analytics on user actions from answers, to restarts, to how long a user spends on a screen. An extensive logic engine built to determine how ready a user is for the IoT was built for this project. This engine issues a total score with dynamic content, a star rating per question and serves up resources for each answer to be improved upon.

The Charles optimized for accessibility, designing specialized breakpoints for desktop, tablet, and mobile. They also built in features for custom sharing that allows issuers not only to share the assessment, but also their results.

As official Agency of Record for Alpha Industries, The Charles has partnered with the iconic American brand to their DTC experience, with the main goals being increasing brand awareness, loyalty, and conversion.

Website Analytics

From issues with sizing among Alpha’s core silhouettes to poor site search, our main KPI’s were aligned to improving conversion, page duration and ease of checkout.

The Charles encouraged the brand to focus on sales-driven storytelling, as one of their key selling points. They executed this by creating specific landing pages, where each new collection could be purchased and featured in a more editorial experience.

Samantha Edwards, Creative Director has commented,

A big challenge for Alpha has been communicating differences in sizing among Alpha’s core silhouettes. To solve for this we built a custom and intuitive page that allows consumers to view the fits of different fit types across each of Alpha’s core styles.

26% Increase in Post – launch conversion rate (MOM)

480% Increase in site searches for key silhouette products

From issues with sizing among Alpha’s core silhouettes to poor site search, our main KPI’s were aligned to improving conversion, page duration and ease of checkout.

The Charles encouraged the brand to focus on sales-driven storytelling, as one of their key selling points. They executed this by creating specific landing pages, where each new collection could be purchased and featured in a more editorial experience.

Sales Driven Storytelling

Aaron Edward, CEO has also commented,

Story telling has been a central theme for the brand since its inception nearly 60 years ago. Our biggest accomplishment to date, is in how we communicate military heritage to younger audiences with compelling visuals and strong narratives through a multitude of paid and organic platforms.

Margaux re-envisioned the classic flat for the modern woman, and they partnered with The Charles to translate their revolutionary brand experience into an engaging Ecommerce platform.

The full list of services that The Charles provided are content strategy, web design & development, creative and art direction art direction. Plus, award that the project is gathered is the French Design Index’s Site of The Day.

A Brand, New Experience

With the help of The Charles, Margaux launched an entirely new online eCommerce website in which the unique shoe brand aimed to shift consumer expectations around omni-channel shopping experiences.

The brand’s poise and elegance was not accurately reflected within their online presence. The site initially faced a series of limitations from a user experience and functionality perspective, making the process of ordering a made-to-measure pair of shoes a difficult endeavor, thus often leaving consumers empty-handed.

The challenge was to create a digital experience by seamlessly weaving together content and product as tailored to Margaux’s key demographic. Now, 50% of more users are staying on the site longer and engaging with the content and products than before.

Four Simple Experiences

Because there are countless ways that customers can shop on Margaux, The Charles highlights the options upfront for a streamlined user experience. The “How it works” section also communicates to shoppers the benefits of the services–when compared to services offered elsewhere.

The Color Wheel

The color wheel is an integral part of the Margaux brand; The Charles took this concept one step further by creating an interactive color wheel on the home page to showcase each color in The Classic collection.

A Step Into Social

A brand is not just an image, it’s a lifestyle. The custom designed blog gives Margaux its voice and the ability to come alive with fresh, original content to keep customers up to date on the latest from the brand.

The Perfect View

Margaux’s unique selling point is that it offers two sizing options for their customers to ensure a perfect fit. A standard, ready-made European fit is designed for shoppers who want their shoes immediately. Shoppers can also opt for a unique made-to-measure fit that is tailored to exact measurements. One of the challenges The Charles faced was to showcase both options and different prices while communicating the benefits of both fits.

Toggle Bar

The Charles utilized a toggle bar on the shop page, allowing users to switch between standard and magle Barde-to-measure prices. This will also reveal whether or not the shoe is available in made-to-measure.

Shop & Filter Sidebar

Users can also sort through the sidebar and shop by which fit they would like to browse. The sidebar also includes filters for colors, sizes and collections.

Made-To-Measure Tab

Under the Made-to-Measure tab on a product page, logged in users can select a measurement that they would like to use to order their perfect fit.

A Clear Path To Perfection

There are multiple ways in which customers can find their perfect fit. When the brand first launched, Margaux sent customers fitting kits that would simplify the measuring process at home. Since then, they have rolled out at-home appointments and opened a studio in New York for fittings.

Easy As 1, 2, 3

For customers who opt to order a fitting kit, there is a step-by-step measuring process that allows them to accurately measure their feet to comfortably fit into a custom Margaux flat.

A Natural Progression

The Charles optimized the measuring experience by adding a progress bar, which better informs users on how close they are to completing the measuring process.

Expertly Measured

Customers expressed a desire to see the collections and colors in person, so Margaux opened their studio for by-appointment fittings.

A Fit For Every Woman

After customers complete the measuring process, it is saved on their personal account page. In addition to housing their addresses and orders, the new account page allows customers to view, edit, add, and delete their measurements. Whether they want to add a friend’s custom measurement to gift later on or add multiple measurements for other friends and family, their information will be saved and will be accessible for future use anytime, anywhere.

It’s In Their Hands

A Margaux Gaux Girl is well-read, engaged, and always on the go, and the new eCommerce experience reflects that lifestyle. From its minimal elegance to bold typography and images, the design system is solely focused on highlighting the brand and the products. The shopping experience is now a smooth, integrated experience from desktop to tablet to mobile. To facilitate an seamlessly integrated experience, “Shop Now” moments were incorporated throughout editorial content. Buying a pair of made-to-measure flats from the Classic collection became just as effortless on mobile as on desktop.

A Streamlined Process

From adding an item to the cart to the confirmation of the order, the Margaux site was designed so the shopping process became a seamless experience.

The boutique luxury hotel collective partnered with the NYC creative, The Charles to unify their visual brand narrative and messaging through content and strategy.

With properties in New York, Beverly Hills and Miami, it was important for the SIXTY brand to be highlighted, in addition to showcasing the culture and personality behind each locale. For example, SIXTY Columbus, SIXTY LES and SIXTY SoHo are all in New York but have personalities and audiences unique to their neighborhoods.

Chief Creative Officer at The Charles, Samantha Edwards commented,

I think one challenge that hospitality brands are facing is standing out in a sea of homogenized content, OTAs aside.

Just searching the hashtag #hotellife brings up 600k+ shots of ‘hotel life,’ so we knew it was imperative from the outset that the strategy should be focused on bringing the cultural authenticity and personality of each property to the forefront while maintaining the SIXTY brand DNA.

Using this as the foundation for the brand narrative, The Charles devised an overarching content strategy that championed the SIXTY brand voice and communicated each property persona.

The Visual Brand Narrative

The SIXTY brand is known for its striking imagery and arresting video content. Utilizing existing assets and new content, The Charles created a visual narrative that integrated with the content strategy.

The Moodboards

Dean Quigley, Content Director commented,

We felt the visual brand narrative was just as important as the content strategy which led us to create a series of mood boards to highlight the accompanying design language.

A Campaign For Culture

The SIXTY audience is largely centered around digitally-savvy, trend-setting travelers who expect quality content in addition to authentic cultural experiences. Targeting this audience online is a challenge, furthering the notion that the visual brand message had to be just as elevated.

Designed For Impact

The STAY SIXTY campaign was designed for impact, using the concept of “STAY” as a driver for relevant experiences to follow. Rolling out across multiple digital channels, the concept of STAY was designed for longevity and variety.

Driven To Book

Using the content strategy and visual brand narrative as the foundations, The Charles designed and composed compelling content for a multitude of channels, enabling the SIXTY brand persona to shine through each channel and interaction.

Over the course of the campaign, SIXTY have seen a significant increase in click-through rates and bookings within the first quarter of implementing The Charles’s recommended strategy.

Wall Street Journal London partnered with The Charles to help Six Capital tell the story of TAGG, a revolutionary online gaming experience that mixes work and play.

An Out-of-this-World Experience

The Charles created a hub for the branded content piece that catches readers’ interest from the get-go on the home page. The project has been nominated at CSS Awards as Site of the Day as the agency upgraded their design, development and art direction.

A Place for Play

The Charles used the three.js animation library to create a canvas element filled with particles that rotate around in 3d space to emulate the idea of outer space. The dev environment brought the design to life, creating a memorable first impression of the site.

Beautifully Broken

The Charles created custom glitch effects for each article thumbnail on the homepage to further enforce the sci-fi theme of the experience.

The Library is Open

The Charles used the latest in development techniques and libraries to create a visually-stunning and memorable user experience.

Particles.js

Complex, movable shapes were drawn using particles.js, a javascript-based animation library.

Scroll Magic

Hexagons in the background were animated into the window using scroll magic, which animates elements based on user scroll position, leaving the power of movement with the user.

Canvas Elements

Within a fixed position, The Charles used an animated canvas element to create the illusion of the hexagonal honeycomb.

A Workspace with a difference. This is Blender.

Blender Workspace is an established luxury co-working space located at the heart of Madison Avenue in New York City. So, The Charles was tapped by founders Scott Sassoon and Amro Qaddura to re-envision the company’s brand position and narrative, in addition to revamping Blender’s website and digital presence.

We created this with purpose…
This is for the inspired, for the driven, for those that respect the instinct to succeed, yet thrive on originality…
This is for the thinkers and the doers, the groups and the individuals.
This is for those that are inspired by the differences in others, yet believe in themselves.
This is Blender.

A leading luxury workspace provider located on Madison Avenue in NoMad New York City, the space was thoughtfully designed by our friends and partner Parts And Labor Design, an award-winning hospitality design architecture firm.

Samantha Edwards, Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer at The Charles NYC commented,

The co-working space sector is showing no signs of slowing down and while there are a few players that dominate the market, it’s a sector that still has room for growth.

Blender’s approach is different in that they offer a much more considered alternative to the start-up/tech-bro open office culture. Scott and Amro have worked really hard to cultivate a community of like-minded individuals, in addition to paying close attention to the design and aesthetics of the award-winning space. We’re proud to have launched the website.

As a manifestation of Blender Workspace, “When work is life and life is work, you need a place that ‘gets you’.” , and they’re using #thisisblender as their common hashtag.