Namaste Publishing is a small, financially successful Canadian publishing house with a worldwide presence. Known as the publisher for leading authors like Eckhart Tolle, Namaste has a solid reputation for publishing transformative, leading-edge books on self-help, spirituality, alternative health and personal transformation.
Namaste’s original website was built using flat HTML files and grew over the years as a disconnected collection of sites and blogs under Namastepublishing.com and various subdomains. Without standard navigation between interior pages, the site was difficult to navigate, and the key ecommerce functions required unnecessary steps to purchase products in the store.
Screenshot of the Original Design
Namaste’s online presence needed a radical reinvention and expansion. The team wanted a deeper long-term engagement with their community of fans, authors, spiritual leaders and staff. The project required a full re-branding and entire re-experience and re-interpretation of what publishing meant for the company.
Screenshot of the New Site Launched March 11, 2010
A re-design is more than just design.
Boxcar Marketing started with a month-long strategy session to convert Namaste Publishing’s business from a traditional publishing company to the leader of a global spiritual community. Jordan Behan of Tell Ten Friends Marketing Co. and Boris Mann of BMann Consulting and Bootup Labs contributed their expertise during the strategy sessions and subsequent social-media training sessions. Once the team established the goals of the project, we sent out an RFP to various vendors.
Namaste Publishing’s goals were:
To support and engage readers in an ongoing experience that deepens and adds richness to their understanding of the written materials.
To dispel the distance and ‘one to many’ dynamic between author and reader.
To distribute spiritual and inspirational information through new methods that are engaging, easy to understand, inspirational, fun and engage a wide audience.
To expand the commercial viability of the already-profitable online store without compromising the intentions and integrity of the informational and community aspects of the website.
As for technical requirements, Namaste wanted an easier system for publishing their content (events, blogs, store products), a more user-friendly online shopping experience, and support for online and offline groups that form around Namaste’s publications (book studies and interactive courses).
In order to reach these goals the project was divided into 3 distinct but interdependent phases:
Phase I: Re-Experience
Namaste Publishing and Boxcar Marketing worked with Todd Sieling of Corvus Consulting on the information architecture, user experience, and interface design. Key to this phase, and taking the design lead, was Lift Studios, who provided the brand redesign (logos, business cards and other identity) and worked closely with us on the website redesign and desired user experience.
Phase II: Store Renovation
Boxcar Marketing’s experience with publishers and online marketing primed us for taking the lead on the product page requirements that would remake the online store and improve usability for customers. (A separate case study on this phase is coming.)
Phase III: Community Expansion
Namaste Publishing’s connections to the global spiritual community are extensive and they wanted to build social web tools within the Namaste site, as well as actively participate in other online communities where their fans and customers gather.
Throughout the project Boxcar Marketing and Namaste Publishing established practices for building and managing online communities, handling digital and print online sales, establishing online courses, such as The Journey to Higher Consciousness, promoting events, such as Namaste Radio, and incorporating the publisher and author blogs.
Boxcar Marketing, along with our expert partners, did extensive workflow planning, which translated to detailed wireframes that drove design and development decisions. But, of course, we would be nowhere without the guidance and amazing work of our Drupal development team from Raincity Studios. Raincity Studios turned our designs and user experience requests into the dynamic, fully functioning website we launched this month.
Truly a group effort, thank you again to Todd of Corvus Consulting, the design team at Lift Studios (Haig, Cam, Frederick), the development team at Raincity Studios (Erik, Francis, and many other behind-the-scenes folks), and the inspiring team at Namaste Publishing (Constance, Howard, Mary, David, Lucinda, Nora and Kathy).
The accomplishments of this small Canadian publisher knows no bounds. The Namaste Publishing team are my inspiration. Thank you for a wonderful project!
(And like in any Oscar speech, any oversights in the shout-outs are mine alone. If I’ve missed you, please announce yourself!)
Posted by Monique Trottier | Email to a Friend | Of course, you should follow me on twitter here
Thursday is American Thanksgiving, and we thought now was a good time to say thanks to Boxcar Marketing friends and clients who champion sustainability. It’s one thing to be innovative, and a whole other to be innovative and helping the planet.
Chefs who source local food and cook with sustainable ingredients now have an eco-friendly choice when it comes to their chef jacket.
Dajoji chef coats are designed by chefs for chefs and are made from 100% organic, unbleached cotton. The coats are also stylish. Managing Partner Jessica Robinson brings to Dajoji her fashion experience from leading retailer lululemon athletica, and Fashion Designer Leanne McElroy worked with Founder and Chef Anthony Nicalo to bring to life the initial designs. The fitted style is especially flattering on female chefs. Dajoji Kitchen Performance Apparel is available in all sizes.
Plus the Holiday Gift Pack is a great deal!
Includes a Dajoji Chef Coat paired with a special edition, organic olive oil by Renato Fenocchio, imported exclusively by Farmstead Wines.
Want to give a green gift to your company this year? Legend Power’s Electrical Harmonizer-AVR is green for the planet and green for the wallet.
Legend Power offers businesses and organizations an energy conservation device known as the Electrical Harmonizer with an automatic voltage regulator (AVR), the “Electrical Harmonizer-AVR”. The Electrical Harmonizer-AVR is the world’s first proven, sustainable and cost effective solution to address energy conservation in commercial and industrial facilities through voltage optimization.
If you’re a big box retailer, grocery store, hotel, school, government building, warehouse, manufacturing plant, hospital or large office building, ask for a free building audit to see whether the Electrical Harmonizer-AVR is right for your building. Conserving electrical energy could save you up to 10% off your electricity bills, plus a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and an extended life for electrical equipment. Green is good.
Ready to build your dream home? JayWest Country Homes Ltd. is Western Canada’s largest independent distributor of Viceroy Homes. Viceroy dream homes embody the key principles of building green techniques. The homes are designed to maintain a high level of indoor air quality and energy efficiency, while minimizing the impact of manufacturing on the environment. JayWest Country Homes can help you design or build your Viceroy Home. There are over 80 floor plan designs that JayWest can customize to your needs.
Have enough stuff? Dreambank encourages us to stop giving stuff and start giving dreams.
How it Works: you post your dreams to Dreambank.org (your dream vacation, your dream home, etc.) and choose from a list of charities that Dreambank supports. Come Christmas time, instead of giving gifts, friends and family contribute to your dreams. Dreambank gives 10% of the transaction revenue to the charity you choose.
Agricola Marrone Moscato d’Asti Soleil d’ Oro is my breakfast wine. Absolutely delicious.
Farmstead Wines imports rare artisan wines that are handcrafted on small farms. The wines are made by the very same farmers who grow the grapes, without irrigation, chemicals or manipulation.
Our favourite farmer at Boxcar Marketing HQ is Gian Piero Marrone. Gian Piero Marrone continues a long-standing family tradition of winemaking, started by nonno Pietro Marrone nearly six decades ago. The family’s vineyards are situated throughout the hills of the Langhe region in Annunziata, Cuneo, just outside the village of La Morra in northwestern Italy. As mentioned, the Moscato is one of our favourite wines in the Farmstead collection. It has fruity aromas, crisp clean acidity, pleasant aromatic nose, and is well balanced with a tinge of frizzante and only 5% alcohol. (See, you could have that for breakfast, right?)
Ayala Moriel Parfums is an artisan perfume house located in Vancouver, BC. Founder Ayala Moriel designs and handcrafts natural perfumes from pure and precious botanical essences. She’s always looking for materials that are harvested sustainably.
If you’re not green enough, Ecoholic is a great resource on practical tips and products that can help you help the planet. You’ll learn what not to buy and why, ideas for great gifts, clothes, and home supplies, as well as advice on what seafood is safe to eat, what green cleaners actually work and more.
Why not shop responsibly?
At Boxcar Marketing we think it’s really special that we can work with so many great people who are doing interesting things that support a sustainable way of life. In fact, our projects, friends and clients all share this interest in common. Many thanks to the friends and clients of Boxcar Marketing this Thanksgiving. Thank you for being good.
Posted by Monique Trottier | Email to a Friend | Of course, you should follow me on twitter here
Boxcar Marketing is pleased to announce the launch and re-designed of the BC Book Prizes website.
The BC Book Prizes, established in 1985, celebrate the achievements of British Columbia writers and publishers. The seven Prizes, plus The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence, are presented annually at the Lieutenant Governor’s BC Book Prize Gala in April. The Prizes are administered and awarded by members of a non-profit society who represent all facets of the publishing and writing community.
Finalists in each category were announced on Thursday, March 6. To view the BC Book Prize finalists visit the 2008 BC Book Prizes webpage.
Tickets for the April 26th Lieutenant Governor’s BC Book Prize Gala are on sale now for $70 and can be reserved through the BC Book Prizes website.
Boxcar Marketing would also like to thank Joslin Green of PLAYER Industries, who designed the site, and Eric Barstad of Shadow Box Creative Media Ltd., who handled the programming.
Posted by Rachael Ashe | Email to a Friend | Of course, you should follow me on twitter here
CanGEA—the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association—is a non-profit association promoting the development and use of sustainable geothermal energy in Canada. Sustainable energy that works in partnership with nature.
CanGEA members are leaders of the Canadian geothermal energy industry ...
CanGEA joined the Work Industries’ client list in August, and we worked with them to determine the website strategy, the content architecture and design. We used Expression Engine to run the website, and you’ll notice there is a News blog and Events blog, available via RSS, as well as standard pages.
Work Industries would also like to thank Joslin Green of PLAYER Industries, who designed the site, and Eric Barstad of Shadow Box Creative Media Ltd., who handled the programming.
Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Holidays is a Canadian company based in Whistler, BC. They offer luxury motorcycle tours through Western Canada and down to California. These are all-inclusive trips with knowledgeable guides, a safety/chase vehicle, incredible routes, and the best hotels and dining options known to man.
Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Holidays offers trips ranging from 5 blissful days to 13 incredible days that will change your life. Guests call it the “trip of a lifetime.” And based on the trip photos I wonder why I’ve never learned to ride a motorcycle.
We live in an incredible place for mountain views, deserts, lakes, canyons and twisty roads—all of which are perfect for the nimble Triumph motorcycles ridden by Rocky Mountain guests.
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