høppstudio develop sports publishing hub

høppstudio

E-Commerce, Match Centre, OTT Video, Publishing Hub, Social Hub, Website Design & Build

Sports publishing hub sits at core of bespoke suite of digital products.

Delivering world-class digital experiences with the right tools enables sports clubs and federations to power-up engagement, build loyalty and create greater returns on commercials goals.

Our growing suite of products and tools have been developed in collaboration with our clients; it’s not simply an out-of-the-box set of applications, it’s an evolving eco-system. We work with each client to build on core and deliver a tailored solution that exactly meets each sports brands needs.

The publishing hub is the core of the ecosystem. It’s scalable and can be seamlessly expanded over time to meet your growing system needs.

The publishing eco-system

Our vision was to deliver a system that offers excellent value for brands. Each tool can be deployed in a unique way; for example we built chat functionality into a pay-walled coach revalidation platform, expanded it out into a full blown community hub (social) tool, and can embed it into the learning product for class cohorts to learn together, or into match pages to capture fans opinions ahead of, during and after games. Imagine what you could achieve with these tools.

Data of course is key. Our hub can hook into multiple commercial and sovereign data sources, and push data back out into your CDP.

eco-system tools

match centre

Club, league or association, the match centre hosts all the fixtures, results and in-game commentary, social embeds and video, bringing fans right up close to the action.

Integrating the OTT video function brings content rails on match pages for previews, highlights, or even live match streaming.

OTT video

Our OTT video product lets you stream live and on-demand content, not just in a dedicated video section, but acrtoss your digital footprint.

Exclusive member content, pay-to-view and free-to-view options gives you the flexibility to grow your audience in line with your commercial strategy.

ad server

Our bespoke ad server features a custom database for detailed analytics, tailored REST API endpoints for site, section and page-specific ad delivery, with weighted random ad selection. Smart in-page ad positioning optimises in-content ad placement.

Easy to manage controls ensure precise targeting, responsiveness, and maximised ad performance.

e-commerce

You can do more than sell merchandise with our e-commerce modules.

We use e-commerce tools to control content, incentivise engagement, manage online learning and organisational content, hospitality sales, webinar registrations and more, including selling merchandise.

social hub

Fans are always want to join the conversation. We created a stand alone social hub to give brands the power to bring these conversations into their websites, to enhance the fan experience.

The tool can be deployed outside of the social hub, for example embedded into specific match pages, or to use alongside video streaming (imagine an exclusive pre-game Q&A just for fans).

Massive thanks. Amazing work
Digital Engagement Officer, FAW

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New website for JD Cymru Premier Leagues

JD Cymru Premier League

Ad server, Match Centre, OTT Video, Publishing Hub, Website Design & Build

JD Cymru Leagues now have a new digital platform to support clubs and fans.

høppstudio have brought their expertise to the Domestic game in Wales, delivering a new websites JD Cymru Premier, Cymru North and Cymru South leagues.

The websites integrate with the Football Association of Wales’ main website, as we continue to build out a digital eco-system for all of Welsh football, from grassroots through to the national levels.

The sites launched with a data-driven match centre with automated game pages which make it easier for fans to check fixtures, check results and see the follow match updates and commentary.

høppstudio’s OTT video product has also been deployed bringing live cup draws and matches direct to fans.

Diolch to høppstudio for their incredible work
Rob Dowling, Head of Content, FAW

More features will be added to the sites during the 2024-25 season as part of a planned process of continuous development and improvements.

View the new websites HERE

Caernarfon Town vs Penybont FC in the JD Cymru European Play-Off Final at The Oval, Caernarfon (Pic by Sam Eaden/FAW)

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Gwalia United choose høppstudio to power new website and brand launch

Gwalia United

Brand Development, Website Design & Build

From initial away shirt sponsor to digital support partner; delivering the new Gwalia United website is continuation of a valued partnership.

At the start of the 2023-24 season, we agreed a deal with Cardiff City Ladies FC to be the main front of away shirt sponsor.

CCLFC is the oldest women’s team in Wales. And the only one that competes in the English league. Like høppstudio, they take some of the best of Wales and compete on international stages.

What we didn’t know then was the club was in advanced talks for a takeover which would bring even higher ambitions, a rebrand, and a need for a first-class digital platform. With goals to reach the highest tier of Women’s football, the club have set about creating the right roadmap on and off pitch to build the brand, attract new fans, talent partners.

Club owner, Julian Jenkins, invited høppstudio to create a phased website build; a project our digital publishing hub and its flexibility is perfectly suited for.

For the re-brand launch on 1 March 2024 we implemented a paired down hub, with simple news management and OTT streaming capability.

Thank you so much for all your help and support, this is what a true sports partnership looks like. We couldn’t have done it without you
Julian Jenkins, Gwalia United Co-owner

Our OTT video solution can stream from curated video libraries, and live-streaming; ideal for extending the impact of outreach and game day activity.

For the 2024-25 season, the first as Gwalia United, the website will be augmented with our full match centre and partner advertising tools.

The match centre will give the club the capability to publish game build-up media, live scores and commentary, in line video and social updates.

The partner advertising tool is a fully-integrated ad server, with detailed cross-site targeting parameters, and analytics to build the commercial impact and sales evidence.

Alongside our digital partnership we have also agreed to continue our sponsorship activity with Gwalia United, with the shirt sleeve activation on home and away shirts, whilst Go.Compare steps up to the front of shirt activation.

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FAW World Cup Hub

World Cup Match Hub

FAW

Data, Strategy, Website Design & Build

The first action of our rethink and reconstruction of Welsh football’s digital home was to deliver a data driven, dynamic World Cup match hub.

With Cymru off to their first World Cup finals for 64 years, can you imagine being given the task of transforming the digital experience for thousands of players throughout Wales, fans (that’s us too!) and volunteers, starting with a hub for all news and game info coming out of Qatar.

Imagine it we did. The match hub is the start of a long-term project to overhaul the Football Association of Wales’ multiple websites, to give users a singular digital entry to all of Welsh football’s programmes and activities.

Our vision was for a content-led, data driven site that would bring users back to the site time and again, increasing opportunities for e-commerce and other commercial streams.

When you have the potential to pull together over a million annual online visitors, it’s essential that the website offers the same, if not better, high quality experience as others who are competing for Welsh eyeballs. Not literally eyeballs, of course.

Having already developed a curated media and streaming platform, we were in a great place to show how our thinking and way of working would create the go-to Welsh football website [Read on below].

Massive thanks. Amazing work
Digital Engagement Officer, FAW

But first the match hub. The goal (pun intended) was to have a dynamic match hub ready for the start of Wales’ campaign. We spent the first few weeks working on some prototype tech; testing match data feeds and manual commentary updates, photo and social media uploads.

With just 4 weeks to go we received access to the live data feed API, had to rebuild a number of the end point calls, work around varying data formats and then tweak server set up for the expected traffic spikes.

We made it to kick-off, and despite the results on the pitch, the client was happy with the results online. You could say it was a game of two halves.

Through 2023 we’ll progress the match hub to cover more of the domestic game, as well as the next National Men’s and Women’s team fixtures.

You can take a look here

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Monroe Homes

Luxury Getaways

Monroe Homes

Brand Development, Website Design & Build

Monroe Homes is a bold start-up, creating a personal and prestigious service for those looking for something a little bit special from their holiday. We did our research, created a bespoke, unique brand, then delivered a luxury booking site that has helped sell out the current properties this year, and driven significant sales for next year too.  

The brand identity has a unique reference back to the owner’s own luxury holiday home which sets the bespoke tone of the holiday experience Monroe Homes offer their clients.

Tamarisk House sits on the Cotswold Water Park and is architecturally unique amongst the other homes situated around it. A key insight from the workshops was the link between the bespoke service from Monroe Homes and the unique nature of the house. We focused our brand identity design on integrating this relationship.

Over six weeks and a multitude of design iterations the client settled on (well, fell in love with) the final identity featuring shapes from the connecting, external spiral staircase. This rigorous design work created a homely yet professional feel. 

The new website has helped them to expand their portfolio of personally managed properties, building a unique Monroe Homes experience for property owners and guests. The application delivers a tailor-made digital solution, with a bespoke property search and booking application, which talks in real-time to external partner engines such as AirBnB.

Website design prototyping ensured the UX and UI would be fully scalable and perform perfectly at the start with just Tamarisk House listed, or with many more.  

An effortless experience for the user was key, and a core functional element of this is the property search process. With the site built on WordPress’ Gutenberg technology, the property search function is a custom-built component that can be adapted to the variety of booking patterns a multi-property site will need. 

Now, time for a break.

A fantastic team, høppstudio have done a great job giving us a beautiful site that is helping us grow the portfolio of properties we will now bring online. What a fantastic team to work with.
Director, Monroe Homes

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The Care Range

Refreshing the Range

Respond Healthcare

3D CGI Design, Brand Development, Website Design & Build

Respond Healthcare provides a prescription and dispensing home delivery service to stoma and continence care patients, along with a range of essential ‘accessories’ products that help patients to manage their health needs. Many of these accessories were acquired brands and retailed under their original (and tired) brand names.

From doing the original Respond brand research and strategy work to creating a whole new brand for the range of products, we future-proofed Respond and The Care Range. For The Care Range we created the product brand, renamed individual products, designed the packaging, designed and built the website, and created all the launch materials.

Aligning the old brands under The Care Range name brought the products into today, creating a look and feel more in keeping with being a part of an individual’s life, and not ‘medical’. The brief was to create a premium brand that encapsulated the trusted and supportive values of the primary brand, Respond. When we established the Respond brand strategy, itself a merger of acquired brands, the way they looked after their patient customers became a primary focus; they really did make life better for them. 

A major challenge of the launch was the tight timeline between product availability and the production deadlines; there was no time for photography.

We overcame this by creating a full set of photo realistic 3D CGI images for the full product set. Producing these in-house gave the client a cost effective, scalable and flexible set of assets which could be manipulated and output for all marketing needs, for launch and beyond. 

Having the ability to be able to offer 3D CGI and animation helps solve creative challenges, and push the boundaries of the client’s imagination, as well as ours. 

Our latest work included the product naming and packaging design of Refresh, the latest product added to The Care Range.

These look amazing.
UK Marketing Manager, Respond Healthcare

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National Coaches Conference

International Coach Education

FAW Trust

Graphic Design, Website Design & Build

Following on from the successful client response to the Clwb.Cymru site we were briefed to develop a more accessible, easier to navigate website to host the online elements of the 2022 FAW National Coaches Conference.

This joined up thinking, having both sites built on the same theme meant synergy and harmony between the two, something vital for a brand as big as FAW. Crucially code was shared where it needed to be but also divergence when it was needed, done in a scalable, maintainable way.

Stage one of the brief was to design and build a landing page where attendees could purchase a ticket to attend at Wales’ leading conference centre, The Celtic Manor Resort.

As soon as the landing site to purchase tickets was live it was full steam ahead to design, develop and build the main site which would be a one stop shop for the attendees who could access key information via log-in access to the weekends schedule and online elements to support the key speakers.

A simple but powerful video carousel that was designed to prioritise mobile viewing offered an elegant way to tailor videos that users would see on login. With the addition of an advanced video library with filtering that allows users to seamlessly navigate through a large library of videos from the weekend and also for the future.

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Clwb Cymru

Grassroots Growth

FAW Trust

Brand Development, Graphic Design, Website Design & Build

Clwb Cymru is a Football Association of Wales Trust programme created to educate and develop key club volunteers and facilitate them to grow their grassroots club within their local Welsh community.

We created the Clwb Cymru brand and a broad suite of information resources and built a new digital platform to support the clubs.

Our vision for Clwb Cymru was to create a solution that was scalable, easy to use and extensible, ensuring that ease of use was at the heart of everything we designed and developed. 

The website will grow massively over time, so creating a design that works with minimal and maximal content was very important. We planned this through thorough testing of the UX and UI, internally and externally with stakeholders to identify the strongest route to future-proofing this build.

The site contains an easy-to-search multilingual resource library with over 130 resources, and growing, for clubs to download in both English and Welsh. A unique ‘pack’ functionality that combines multiple resources into a single zip file with the zip created programmatically on the fly, saves hours of administration time.

At høppstudio they truly care! The team have taken the time to understand me, my project and the needs of our volunteers who sit at the heart of Clwb Cymru.
Football Development Manager, FAW Trust

Having never worked on this type of project before they have provided some incredible insight and suggestions that I would have never even considered.
Football Development Manager, FAW Trust

The logo was designed to represent the many hands of volunteers within the community, linking together to support one another in making their club the best that it can be within ‘The Welsh Way’ FAW Trust brand vision. The circular graphic of the logo and the volunteer ecosystem formed the basis of the design and navigation for the site. 

From approval of the UX, prototyping commenced, with a serious focus on implementing technologies that provided the user with an easy and informative way to navigate through the site, such as the circular navigation device and carousel, which makes it easy to find information and reinforces the function and form of the logo. 

The whole site is what’s known as a “Single Page App”, meaning when a user navigates to a new page, instead of loading all of the site assets again (css and js), only the content is updated, offering near instant loading, and making the site feel snappier, and easier to navigate and use. Single Page Apps can be difficult to pull off because the sites’ javascript has to be loaded a different way, which is why lots of sites don’t do it. But we felt that the benefits to the user outweighed the technical overhead in doing it. For example, getting the resource library working with the Single Page App effect took a really sharp focus from a solution finding perspective and some creative ways of loading the code when we needed it.

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Female Demographic Character Development

FAW Trust

Brand Development, Graphic Design, Website Design & Build

The Football of Wales Trust looks after numerous areas of the grassroots game, including encouraging more young girls and women to get involved, as players, volunteers, coaches and supporting the running of local clubs.

At the core of the campaign to engage directly with people not usually involved with the game was the idea to show ‘this game is for people like me’.

Research-led character profiles inform six individual personalities that included names, ages, the football programme that they would be suitable for, along with outlining their physical appearance and personality traits and clothing.

We brought Amira, Ffion, Izzy, Polly, Seren and Mia to life through illustration, and the characters used to promote the growth of female participation at grassroots clubs as players and volunteers, or to attend their workshops and programmes.

The illustrations were presented on by a very happy client; forming part of a major presentation showcasing Wales’ work to promote the female game.

Thanks so much for the final versions and for your collaboration on them. I presented to UEFA yesterday and they went down very well for the interactive task we used them for.
Football Development Manager, FAW Trust

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