R / GA creates a scrumptious new web site for Le Creuset
The French cookware brand Le Creuset was founded in 1925 and is best known for its colorful cast iron pots and pans. Its products have long been a staple in middle-class households, but in recent years they have also become popular with a whole new generation of chefs. A recent article in The Atlantic highlighted the brand's growing appeal to design-conscious millennials who like to spend their weekends watching food documentaries, cooking, and sharing their culinary creations on Instagram. According to writer Amanda Mullen, Le Creuset's products – along with Kitchen Aid's pastel mixers – have become "small markers of stability and sophistication that are sought after by young people, for whom traditional indicators of both are often unreachable."
Now Le Creuset fans can satisfy their desire for kitchenware and cooking inspiration worthy of Insta on a colorful new R / GA website. The new website offers a more engaging online experience with colorful photographs and carousels displaying popular items, as well as a gift option that allows users to shop by color or collection. In a discovery area you will find a number of recipes – from a pot to quiches to grilled dishes – as well as content on the heritage and the production process of the brand.
The website is part of a larger project to transform Le Creuset's direct customer business. "When they came to us, they asked whether they should not only revise the online trade, but also think beyond it and help them to switch the whole thing directly to the offer of the consumer," explains Ilia Uvarov, ECD at R / GA in London.
While Le Creuset already had a functioning e-commerce platform, the online presence varied from region to region. Therefore, R / GA wanted to create a more unified experience that brought the values and history of the brand to life – and gave people a reason to contact Le Creuset between purchases.
The team also set out to bring more emotions into Le Creuset's digital communications and create a platform where a wider range of stories can be told. Through conversations with consumers, R / GA found that people felt a deep bond with their Le Creusets by connecting them to important life events, such as moving home or getting married, and meeting with family and friends. Some had used the same products for decades, while others had inherited Le Creusets from their parents and grandparents. "When we looked at the digital experience, it was missing [this emotion], it was very transactional, and for us the goal was clear – we had to bring this more emotional side to life," adds Uvarov.
With this in mind, R / GA and Le Creuset have decided to create a platform that combines shopping with editorial content and lifestyle tips, uses the emotional connection between people to eat and cook, and makes the website more than just a place to shop . “We wanted to create not only a first-class experience where you can buy a product, but also something that goes beyond buying it right now and showing how we can help people use it and inspire them every day to get in to grab the lifestyle. The goal was to touch these three pillars – how we can help people buy, use and live. "
The new website has a simple but playful design with bold splashes of color and aerial photography of products as well as delicious pictures of food. Color is a key part of Le Creuset's appeal – the products are available in a variety of colors – and this is reflected throughout the website.
“Le Creuset has a unique approach to color… so we had to celebrate it,” explains Uvarov. "Our designers spent a lot of time thinking about how we can use complementary and high-contrast color combinations [to present products] and how we can make [color] more present throughout."
The team was also interested in creating a “tactile” experience that shows the design details and unique features of Le Creuset products. To complement the lively look of the website, R / GA worked with the Le Creuset marketing team to develop a new, more playful tone: “We felt there was potential to speak with more confidence and a little more expressively and to be more playful, "adds Uvarov.
The website is not only intended to provide a better experience, but also to facilitate navigation in Le Creuset's extensive product range. The articles are divided into clear categories, and carousels allow consumers to search the areas at a glance. Each product page also has clear sizing information to help consumers choose the right product for their household, as well as tips on how to use and care for this item.
While the website focuses on products, the goal of the project, according to Uvarov, was to offer “an entire lifestyle service”. The website was created with the goal of not only helping people shop, but also helping them become better chefs. "We tried to apply this to every element of the experience," he adds.
The website is the first step in Le Creuset's plans to modernize and expand its direct customer business. In addition to helping the brand reinvent its digital platforms, R / GA has worked with Le Creuset to rethink how the business works – “how to better market and structure them, how to optimize them for the future, and how to do more things internally and can bring in the right talent, ”says Uvarov. The website created the foundation for Le Creuset "to build new relationships with its customers", which the brand wants to build on in the future.
Le Creuset doesn't just offer recipes or cooking tips within its e-commerce platform. With its new design and focus on creating helpful content, the brand has created a distinctive online experience and a useful resource for young Le Creuset fans and old.
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