IE Derby Divas

In 2016, the IE Derby Divas capitalized on an opportunity to update their league website. From a technology standpoint, the website needed to be brought up to speed to comply with current industry standards. From a communications standpoint, the information needed to be updated to more effectively meet the league’s communications goals.

A long-time partner in managing the IEDD’s online presence, we undertook the re-design project with the following communications goals in mind:

• Develop an online presence that showcases the league's athletes, coaches and support staff.
• Inform target markets about the league’s competitive game schedule
• Support the growth of women’s flat track roller derby
• Recruit new athletes and support staff
• Rouse support from other local businesses (buzz-building, fundraising, sponsorships, donations)
• Build and manage reputation as a competitive, local sports league

The scope of this project was the re-design and development of the full IE Derby Divas website. We continue to provide hosting and routine maintenance and support services for the website.

In developing our approach to the website re-design for the IE Derby Divas, we conducted a partial targeted communications analysis to inform the strategic decisions that would go into the design. The documents included:

• a business model canvas, which presents a high-level overview of the league’s business model;
• target market profiles, identifying who the league’s target audiences are on an individual level, and what their needs and interests are with respect to the league;
• a site map, outlining the pages and information hierarchy of the website;
• and page definitions, specifying what copy and assets go into each page of the website.

This process qualified several improvements that could be made to the website from a communications level, such as adding prominent buttons to the league’s social media channels, and developing a more robust Media section.

We came up with a design that would put the brand and the hard-hitting action of roller derby in focus right from the homepage. The “star” theme incorporated into the header, navigation bar and footer represents both the brand and the iconic Jammer position, the sport’s designated point-scorer. The color scheme matches the overarching brand color scheme – red, black and white (with grey navigation bar and accents) – and is representative of the strength, boldness and intensity of the sport.

The homepage rotator features striking moments of actual athletes in action. Visitors can find a current schedule for upcoming games as well the archive of game scores for the current and past competitive seasons so that they can follow the league’s progress each year. The Our Team section features league photos as well as individual photos and profiles for athletes, coaches and support staff. Recruitment is one of the league’s primary activities, making both the Roller Derby 101 and Become a Diva sections key informational pages for “fresh meat” (new skaters). The league’s sponsors and supporters are also key partners in its success, which is why the logos can be found displayed prominently on the Sponsors page.

The website was built on our proprietary Blue Core CMS™, which greatly simplifies and streamlines the process for performing routine maintenance and updates to the game schedule, game score archive and member profiles. We are proud to provide continuing service to the IE Derby Divas with their online presence and to watch the league continue to grow each competitive season.