Descartes - BB Agency

Descartes MacroPoint

Descartes MacroPoint™ is a multimodal freight visibility platform for shippers, brokers and 3PLs to get real-time visibility and predictive analytics of their in-transit freight.

Visit website

Headquarters

Waterloo, Ontario

Industry

Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain

Company size

2,000 employees

Funding

Public company

Services we provided

Market research
Customer research
Website design
Design system
Front-end development
CMS integration

The client

Descartes is a global leader in uniting businesses in commerce by providing cloud-based logistics and supply chain solutions.

Descartes MacroPoint™ is a real-time global freight visibility platform that provides customers with status and location information so they can see all their goods in transit in real time, at the same time. This data is combined into a single integrated platform that addresses two growing challenges: real-time freight visibility and automated freight matching.

The challenge

By their own account, the website needed to be updated. It lacked space for the features the company wanted to develop, and it wasn’t properly appealing to potential customers. The company wanted a website that targeted the corporate shipper community, better communicated its value proposition, increased conversion rates, and offered a tangible sales opportunity.

As a publicly traded company, it had to be careful with the information and “promises” in its communications. This has proven to be an advantage, as security standards are much higher.

Descartes wanted to appeal to enterprise prospects and emphasize that Descartes MacroPoint is secure and can combine a complete supply chain picture with a reputable corporate presence.

Not only did we need to target European shippers, but we also needed to show MacroPoint’s global reach by introducing its network of carriers, since shippers themselves have only a small carrier base.

This is a selling point, as shippers can easily connect with carriers even if they don’t currently work with them. However, their network can potentially be expanded if they choose MacroPoint.

The solution

We developed a modern and professional brand identity and website that provides a complete picture of the supply chain and offers an experience tailored to all audiences through the use of industry-specific cases.

The new visual language and targeted messaging fit within Descartes’ framework and provide visitors with a sense of comfort, confidence, and security.

In addition to the dedicated pages and messaging for the 3 main target groups, we’ve added a calculator for the Broker and Shipper segment to show the potential savings of using the MacroPoint solution, both in terms of money and time.

Since MacroPoint’s solutions are frequently updated, we’ve created a dedicated product update announcement section to inform potential customers about platform improvements.

In addition to the solution pages, we’ve also added industry-specific pages to map specific product features and connect them to the industry niche.

Since the implementation process is long and complex, we created a page that explains the steps and requirements and links them to the desired user flows.

We emphasized support and seamless integration with Descartes’ solutions for any customer looking to extend their logistics or supply chain solutions beyond MacroPoint’s offering.

Smart product, clear vision

During the UI process, we wanted to update the brand identity to present a modern, smart product with a clear vision. To appeal to new potential corporate shippers, the more serious, darker blue tones suggested trustworthiness, while lighter shades of blue emphasized the modern side of the brand. In turn, we used shades of green and orange in the product presentation.

Creating an entire library of product images helped us showcase the product’s capabilities, so customers would know what to expect when they requested a demonstration. The complete list consists of more than 20 product visuals.

We also introduced new brand elements in the form of shapes that incorporate elements of direction and freight transportation to create a sense of movement throughout the site. We created a simple guide to ensure consistency of use and to help our development team implement the new shapes.

In the UI phase, we developed a systematic, consistent design language to emphasize the seriousness and trustworthiness of the brand. We worked with a clean layout, a geometric sans font typeface inspired by classic fonts but with edgier elements, and added the new brand shapes to make the website more engaging.

BB Agency is a partner you want on your team.
Simply put, our experience with the BB Agency was delivered as promised. They listened to our challenges, asked great questions, worked with our unique corporate processes and produced high quality, high performance results. Our project launch was smooth and the budget stayed within the lines. We will back for more!