BUSINESS NEEDS: Moonit was just an initial concept when the client approached us. The idea was to create a dating and social site that relied on astrology to define how compatible two users were with each other based on if they were involved in a romantic, business or platonic relationship. They engaged us to help them develop their business idea and provide the research and strategy to create a foundation to execute from.
SOLUTION/STRATEGY: We approached the project via 3 major phases – Strategy, Branding and Execution.
Strategy – During the first phase, we developed the business idea, examined a cross section of competitors in and adjacent to the space then provided marketing and brand strategy based on our findings. Our goal was to create from the ground up what this brand was about, who it would target and how we could effectively reach that target.
Branding – In our next phase, we relied on our findings to bring the brand to life. We had to take into consideration who the target audience was as well as the values and attributes defined in the vision for the brand. Our first step was naming. Though the business concept was based on astrology, the client didn’t want a name that would pigeonhole the application in people’s mind as another spaced out unicorns and stars offering. We landed on Moonit (haha) because while it gave a nod to the astrological foundation, it did so using a name that appealed to the fun, mischievous and cheeky attributes we had defined for the brand. Next, we moved onto developing a brandmark for Moonit. Through a number of rounds of brand exploration, we developed a brand that was young, modern, tech savvy and also hinted at the astrological roots the application would be based on.
Execution – The last phase of work included developing specifications, creating design and then developing the application. Our specifications mapped out the features and developed all of the use cases we would have to address. This included everything from high level work flows, to wireframes, content strategy and taxonomy. Once we had laid the foundation elements, we moved into design and development. We realized we needed to create an appropriate brand experience that would help tell the Moonit story to new users. More than that we also had to confront the challenges of developing an application; including front end and back end interface design, reporting and transactional emails and notifications. Included in our marketing plan was creating 2 blogs and branded FB and Twitter pages. Another development challenges was integrating a brand new Facebook Connect api that allowed users to invite friends in FB to run compatibility tests with. We also had to content with integrating the database that would provide the astrological compatibility rating results based on a age, birthdate and place of birth.
RESULTS: We successfully beta launched the site to a great reception at the TechCrunch 50 Conference. Later that same year we officially launched the site at SXSW with coverage in some national media outlets. In the ensuing years, Moonit has grown and created a number of successful integration points and partnerships and continues to grow it’s unique offering to users.