An employee-focused newsletter redesign
Before working with the Bananatag team, Erica Goodwin (Global Communications Manager) and Chelsey Louzerio (Global Communications Senior Specialist) were already working hard to make their employee newsletter impactful and meaningful for employees. By focusing on just the news employees need to know and presenting it in short snippets of content (with links) in clearly outlined sections, they had set the newsletter (and themselves) up for success.
But Erica and Chelsey also knew their newsletter could be improved. The decision to update the newsletter for Heifer’s 75th anniversary gave both Heifer and Bananatag an opportunity to fine-tune this primary channel for their employees.
Bananatag and Heifer align on a colorful approach
For Erica and Chelsey, the most important priority for the redesign was to create a branded newsletter that was both beautiful and easy-to-read.
In our first meeting, our talented designers and product team chatted with Erica and Chelsey about their goals for the redesign. Inspired by their vision, we got to work. It wasn’t long before we were able to present a few different templates, each with unique assets and a unique approach, for the Heifer team to consider. The listicle approach was a clear winner. This meant fine-tuning Heifer’s existing approach, refining what was already working, and adding more brand assets, colors, and cues for visual delight.
The redesign was ready just in time for Heifer’s 75th-anniversary kick-off.
The Redesign Objectives
- Improve visual hierarchy and readability
- Improve design for mobile users
- Stylized sections incorporating more of Heifer’s brand assets
- Variations of the newsletter with different brand colors
Measurable Goals
- Increase click-throughs to the intranet on key stories
- Increase the average open rate
- Increase read time
- Get positive feedback and engagement through Pulse Surveys
Introducing: The New Top Things
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| New Headers | Custom Top List | Branded Icons | Custom Template Colors |
Heifer’s new Top Things newsletter features a beautiful header block and clean, attractive list structure that gives that allows the team to feature up to seven top stories. Beneath the list, they’re also able to include additional content under strategically branded sections, as necessary.
The design creates a strong visual hierarchy focused on the most important articles, to get employees the information they need to most, first. The custom icons and headers for each regular content section allow employees to easily browse through the content that is most relevant to their work and interests. Using this approach, the template can easily include over 20 links without ever feeling cluttered.
Now Heifer has different versions of the newsletter in Bananatag. Each follows the same structure, but uses different brand colors. By cycling through the templates, Heifer is able to keep the newsletter feeling fresh, while maintaining the familiar structure employees love.
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Thanks to Bananatag, we were able to reach the perfect balance of a no-nonsense format with touches of branded flair for our updated global employee newsletter. -Erica Goodwin, Global Communications Manager, Heifer International |
