It's fresh, simple to use, but underpinned by some savvy technology and its there for serious buyers in the residential property market.
It is the new SA Home Loans Web site, designed and manufactured by Durban technology leader pilotfish digital.
pilotfish was approached by the mortgage lender in June to redesign its Web site to coincide with the launch of a new corporate branding strategy formulated by well known, dynamic local advertising agency The Hardy Boys.
And so started a series of intense discussions around which Web offering would best suit SA Home Loans.
Established by entrepreneurs nine years ago, SA Home Loans is a R30+ billion business which employs 750 people around the country and provides home loans, often at rates lower than the banks.
Janey Griffiths, the Account Executive at pilotfish said SA Home Loans wanted a site developed in the open source Web application framework DotNetNuke to ensure it integrated with the company's back-end and origination systems.
“DotNetNuke presented its own development challenges, and also placed constraints on basic design elements,” said Griffiths.
“But, the resulting Web site met essential functionality requirements, reinforced SA Home Loans' bold new branding and provided the new look for a company with 'a fresh approach to home finance'.”
Guy Saville, the Director of IT, Systems and Credit applauded pilotfish for “going all the way” to reinforce SA Home Loans' brand message.
“Our Internet site is a key pillar of our marketing platform to appeal to the ever-increasing population of information hungry and Internet-savvy homeowners.
“Our previous Web site, which was developed entirely in-house on a shoestring budget, was astoundingly successful in generating substantial volumes of high quality loan applications.
“It was measurably our most effective marketing channel, even though the technology and style had become a bit dated.”
Saville said SA Home Loans' brand re-launch was the catalyst for a long-overdue, professional make-over of the company's Web site.
Enter the pilotfish team, under the guidance of Griffiths and including Creative Director Tom Schwarer and Senior Developer Darryn Geldenhuys.
Schwarer designed the new look and feel of the site and the fresh ideas, balancing functionality and design with the extensive detail required on the site.
Geldenhuys turned the creation into reality on the Web, an outstanding achievement that met all the complexity challenges of the site without sacrificing any of the design elements.
Saville said the new site needed to convey a more up-market, professional and contemporary brand positioning; and importantly reinforce SA Home Loans' credibility as a serious player in the home loan and financial services arena.
“The Internet space has become cluttered with small bond brokers and originators who are able to leverage attractive Web pages to create an image of a larger service provider.”
Saville said the challenge for SA Home Loans was to set itself apart from the small players.
“We needed to balance an attractive and fresh look with sufficient high-quality content to appeal to Internet users seeking meaningful comparisons and information, not just advertising blurb.”
Saville said pilotfish succeeded in putting across SA Home Loans' value proposition to people who aren't complacent and who are looking for choice and control, as well as better value from a financial service provider.
“We believe the style and structure of our new Web site will go a long way towards that,” Saville said.
Michele Bovet, SA Home Loans Marketing Manager, remarked on pilotfish's dedication to the project in the company's internal magazine “They worked long, hard hours, going backwards and forwards with our tweaks and adjustments, fine-tuning and re-designing, inserting some great graphics and flash animations and showing just why they are Durban's (and maybe even SA's) top Web site developers.”
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