Defining the digital experience for a legendary bowling franchise
Bowling is an American pastime with a loyal community of players, from casual participants to passionate enthusiasts. Our client defines the bowling experience for millions of Americans, operating more than 300 bowling alleys across four distinct entertainment brands. Yet despite offline success, our client’s presence online was fragmented and their booking experience was lacking.
Our client wanted to build greater synergy between its four digital brands, while still paying homage to each brand’s distinct heritage. There was also a need to boost the performance of the client’s digital marketing, while protecting existing search equity.
Centific provided end-to-end agency services, including strategy, development and marketing, all built around a single objective: developing a strong online presence for an established industry leader.
KEY SUCCESSES
- Developed four separate branded websites, united through a custom navigation solution
- Employed SEO preservation and optimization tactics to maintain and then grow search rankings
- Deployed paid search and marketing to drive customers into bowling center locations
4
new websites developed
67%
increase in digital advertising click-through rate
23%
decrease in digital advertising cost per click
UNIFYING THE BRAND
The client’s business structure was complex. Four distinct bowling center brands existed independently, acquired through previous acquisitions. Each had its own audience and personality, ranging from blue-collar alley to big-city nightclub. Though finding unity was a project priority, maintaining the personality and heritage of each brand was also top-of-mind for the client.
The Centific team delivered an innovative design and navigation solution: Four microsites, accessible through a custom navigation bar, allowed users to toggle effortlessly between each brand and easily explore the bowling experiences available to them. Clear distinctions between each microsite allowed the Centific team to create branding faithful to each business persona without confusion or clashing of design systems.
PRESERVING SEARCH VALUE
The client was already established as a leading name in bowling. Client web properties ranked highly for many bowling-related searches, but our search team knew more could be done. Administering an audit, we identified opportunities for optimization that would further bolster the client’s search successes, as well as ensure search equity remained intact as they launched their new site.
This team worked closely with the client to execute several SEO-related tasks, including a first-time optimization of the client’s web properties and backend tweaks to drive rankings not just for bowling centers, but for entertainment in general.
BOOKING BETTER
Event bookings are a critical part of the client’s business, but their website lacked intuitive and customer-centric booking tools. Identifying this as a critical conversion point, the Centific team developed and deployed digital booking infrastructure for a more intuitive booking process.
OPTIMIZING MEDIA
In parallel with the launch of their new website, the Centific team took charge of the client’s paid search, shifting the focus to local-level advertising. Our approach made it easier to prioritize spend according to need, which allowed our team to focus on locations of opportunity while maintaining sales momentum elsewhere.
Simultaneously, the team conceived, developed, and deployed original social campaigns to support rebrands across the network. This drove engagement and offered users new reasons to come to the site, book lanes, and visit locations in person.
RESULTS
By offering access to a market-leading team of experts with agency smarts, Centific was able to confidently execute on a multi-site rebranding and re-platforming project. The client had not one, but four new websites to show for these efforts, and a digital presence that reflected its leading role in the market.