Redesigning the website at Mazda North American Operations has been a steady work in progress. Now that it launched, it enhances the customer experience and cates to the mobile-first customer.
Russell Wager, Vice President of Marketing for Mazda North American Operations, told Loyalty360 that the website has been in the works for about 18 months and came about to transition the site from an old platform that was built with a legacy system to a platform that allows Mazda to better tell its brand story.
“The old site was developed as more of a marketing tool, so through the growth of the brand it became apparent that we needed a site that hit on more of the objectives sought by our customers,” Wager explained. “The newly developed site is built with modules that allow us to quickly add and change data as the site needs to be updated. While conducting research on our old platform, we found that approximately 60% of our users were visiting MazdaUSA.com from their mobile devices—so the new website was developed to consider the mobile user first. One of the new features that we expect to better engage our customers with is the ability for them to build and price a vehicle from their mobile devices. The new interface is also fully responsive to adjust to any size device, providing a usable display and a more natural user experience.”
During the development phase of the new website, Mazda officials worked closely across all disciplines to closely match the overall brand direction.
“Through working with Mazda’s vehicle designers and adhering to Mazda’s global visual identity, we were able to develop a website that conveys a unified look and feel for the brand,” Wager explained. “From a brand story perspective, the new website has more content available than ever before. We are now able to offer information for those simply wanting to learn more about the brand, for those that are looking to perform shopping activities and for those that are looking for content to validate their purchase decisions. From an engagement standpoint, we have more video and still photography available. We have also integrated our storytelling platform, Inside Mazda, where people can read and learn more about the brand.”
To design the new website, Mazda officials thought of the mobile customer first.
“With 60% of our visitors coming from a mobile device, it became apparent that we needed to design an interface where our customers could perform all of the needed actions from their mobile devices,” Wager said. “The new design not only allows them to build and price a vehicle on their mobile device, but also provides more direct links to information they are seeking—allowing better navigation to all of the rich content provided on the site.”
Providing a positive customer experience is at the core of what Mazda strives to accomplish, Wager stressed.
“Through the redesign of our vehicle lineup, the redesign of our dealership experience, the work we do with local communities through the Mazda Drive for Good program, and now the redesign of our website, we strive to better engage customers in all the different ways they interact with the brand,” he said. “The website is just another way for Mazda to provide a platform that is flexible to grow with our vision of delivering a great experience that our customers expect and deserve.”