Case Study. Voltron
How to breath life into a 25 year old brand.
Things get pretty important when it comes to the known Defender of the Universe. This giant robot, comprised of 5 smaller robotic lions, fought evils across the galaxy. Voltron zapped Zarkon, ravaged robeasts and even destroyed the Drule Empire in his intergalactic quest for goodness. His website, on the other hand, was far from stellar.
With the rumors of a DVD release for the classic cartoon flying around, World Events Productions, the owners of Voltron, decided the time was right for everyone across the globe to get obsessed with their hero once again.
The challenge was to appeal to 3 groups of people. The first was the die-hard Voltron fans. These folks are constantly on the forums, can quote scenes from memory and are anxiously await more Voltron news. The second was the nostalgic fans. This group watched the show when they were younger and have fond memories. The final group consisted of those that didn't know who Voltron was.
The solution was a website that was accessible to each of these groups. After creating the design for the site, we had to think of an interesting way to create anticipation for the new website launch. The solution: a countdown to V-Day.
The result was a Flash splash page that featured classic lines of dialogue from the show while Voltron ascended to center screen. Forum members went crazy guessing what was going to happen on V-Day as nostalgic fans emailed their friends links to the page.
When the countdown reached zero, the new site launched to universal excitement.
The website's homepage featured a randomly changing background image from the show and a navigation bar broken down into several sections, including Learn, Know, Watch and Make.
Visitors could fill their brains with Voltron knowledge in the Learn section while seeing the latest announcements, such as the DVD release date, in the Know section. They could view never-before-seen scenes from the show along with commercials and original Japanese openings in the Watch section. In addition, fans could submit their artwork, memories, and other Voltron-related pieces to the Make section and be featured on the site.
It is the huge amount of interaction on the site that both visitors and World Events Productions love.
We're proud to announce our design for the Voltron website has won a W3 Award for Graphic Design.
To see for yourself, check out: