Arsenal signs Rippleffect

Edited by the Marketingservicestalk editorial team Apr 23, 2008

Arsenal Football Club has commissioned award-winning digital agency Rippleffect to relaunch its official website.

Arsenal.com receives close to 40 million page visits per month from fans across the globe and ranks as one of the world's most visited sporting websites.

The Premier League club has signed Rippleffect on a four-year deal to become its official web partner with initial responsibilities including the redevelopment of the back and front-end of its website, provision of a new content management system (CMS) and the improvement of site usability and data capture.

The new website is due for launch in the summer of 2008 and will be hosted by NTT Europe Online, part of leading hosting company NTT Communications.

Richard Glover, operations manager at Arsenal Broadband, said: "Over the last five years Arsenal has continually embraced new digital technologies to communicate with fans, drive revenues and promote the club's brand.

"The partnership with Rippleffect gives us the opportunity to continue this growth online.

"The new Arsenal.com website will retain the elements that have made it one of world's biggest football club sites, but it will be streamlined to offer a more compelling user experience.

"We have been collaborating with Rippleffect on the project for a number of months and have been very impressed with both their knowledge and spirit of innovation".

To help improve usability, Rippleffect is developing and testing the new website in full accordance with Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines and Disability Discrimination Act legislation.

The new website embraces a variety of web 2.0 features including Podcasts, Vodcasts, RSS feeds, social bookmarking, multi-media and user-generated content services.

Craig Johnson, commercial director at Rippleffect, said: "Arsenal's target demographic is spread across the globe and comprises a range of mixed-ability users.

"It's imperative that the new website is engaging and offers them quick access to the various different parts of the club.

"The new CMS will increase website running and page-loading speeds, while making it easy for users to navigate among the club's vast array of news, information and services.

"We'll be working in close partnership with Arsenal over the next four years to help the club continually deliver an online presence that not only accurately represents its brand, but also focuses on meeting user requirements".