The BRANDT marketing team required a robust Content Management System that would enable them to easily and intuitively manage all the content on their website. After some discussion and analysis of BRANDT’s requirements, All Systems Go recommended the powerful, flexible, open-source (.NET MVC) CMS, Umbraco.  Together, we made the right choice. Not only has Umbraco proven itself to be extremely reliable and incredibly easy to use, it’s flexibility enabled ASG to develop a number of custom data-driven features to enhance users’ experience on the website.  In addition to managing frequently updated content sections such as Events and News announcements, BRANDT marketing staff manages extensive product data in Umbraco, which feeds the product listings on the website and in their mobile apps – all from one simple dashboard.

All Systems Go developed the responsive layouts from desktop artwork files provided by BRANDT’s design agency. Adhering to best practices for mobile usability, we translated the desktop layouts and implemented intuitive responsive page layouts. Per the client's request, the mobile layout prominently features the custom product finder we built for the site.

BRANDT maintains a growing catalog of hundreds of agricultural products. Each of these products is accompanied by detailed specifications, MSDS, DFUs and more. Previous iterations of the product finder responded slowly and provided a poor user experience. All Systems Go designed an optimized product database and integrated it with the Umbraco CMS. The result is a Product Finder application that delights BRANDT customers as well as their Sales Team, who use it daily to access key product information on-the-go. 

Page designs called for an interactive map feature in the For Farmers section. ASG selected the MapBox mapping tool kit, and provided a custom implementation you can view here. The map is divided according to BRANDT’s regional division mapping. When the user selects a region, they can view and contact BRANDT personnel for that region. All BRANDT staff member information is managed in the CMS, where they can update contact information and assign team members to their respective regions easily.

As a value-add for their Farmer clientele, BRANDT’s designs featured a few useful widgets in the website header. Users can check the weather in their area, view commodity pricing for their crops, and easily search the website for key information they require. The Site Search feature also searches the content of the downloadable PDFs that have been uploaded into the CMS.

BRANDT reinforces its brand on the race track. ASG implemented an online store within the website that sells lifestyle items, mostly related to their auto racing teams. 

BRANDT operates a research farm managed by some of the nation’s leading agronomists. Their mandate is to provide key learning and insights to increase yield and lower costs for farmers. They can easily publish their articles to the website using the CMS. 

In addition to their business selling direct to farmers, BRANDT has a number of products that are sold in various retail locations nationwide. ASG worked with BRANDT to gather retail location data from dozens of distributors. We then provided CMS functionality to create and manage retail locations. When a location is created in the CMS, it appears on the interactive map in the “Find a Retailer” page. Users can input their zip code and select a radius range to search for a Retail location near them that carries BRANDT products.

The BRANDT marketing team use various social media accounts to reinforce their brand and to distribute news and announcements. ASG integrated key social feeds with the website. Tweets and posts appear in a section on the home page in real time.

The Product Finder application that ASG built for the new BRANDT website was such a hit with their customers, internal stakeholders and sales reps, that they requested iOS and Android apps integrated with the product database. The result was a product finder experience where users can easily locate key product information and save it locally to their devices for future reference. They can also look for a nearby retailer using the GPS location of their phone

BRANDT has an aggressive M&A strategy and they recently purchased Grigg Bros., a lawn turf nutrients company famous for keeping the courses at Augusta National that magical shade of green for the Masters golf tournament. ASG again worked with BRANDT’s branding and design agency to build Grigg.co. The site features its own branding with a look and feel, yet remains consistent with the BRANDT brand.

Another recent acquisition resulted in the need for a new site to tout BRANDT and its products for a Brazilian audience. The site features extensive product information including several videos.