KALAMAZOO, Mich. - LKF Marketing recently received a Standard of Excellence WebAward for its work on michiganwines.com, the official website of Michigan's wine industry. Sponsored by the Web Marketing Association, the international contest names the best websites in 96 industries and more than 45 countries and sets the standard of excellence for web developers and marketers worldwide.
The new Michigan Wines website launched in April of 2013 and has a host of new features and benefits. In addition to using a responsive design to display properly on a variety of devices from tablets to smartphones to desktops, it also has e-commerce integration for users to purchase Vintage Michigan memberships, a customized winery tour search/planning tool that interfaces with Google Maps, a sophisticated back-end content management system, a comprehensive events calendar, and much more.
Karel Bush, Promotion Specialist for the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council, stated, "Our original goals for the site redesign were to bring it in line with today's technology and make it user friendly. Having the ability to plan a wine tour trip through the website has been an outstanding way to promote agritourism through our 100+ wineries in the state."
The award-winning website was designed and developed by LKF's web development team including:
- Carol Fricke - President
- Heather Isch - Vice President
- Sarah Morgan - Senior Account Executive & User Experience Specialist
- Lisa Moore - Account Executive & SEO Specialist
- Travis Mather - Graphic Designer
- Brian McWilliams - Lead Programmer
More than 1,500 sites from 40 countries participating in 96 industry categories entered this year's competition. Entries were judged on design, copywriting, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation, and use of technology. The judges represent various relevant disciplines and are distinguished experts in their fields, including the media, advertising executives, site designers, creative directors, corporate marketing executives, content providers, and webmasters.
LKF Marketing is a full-service marketing communications agency located in downtown Kalamazoo. Since 1989, LKF has helped businesses and organizations achieve their marketing goals through strategic planning, results-driven creative execution, and communication tactics.