Portfolio
The History Channel
Microsite Builder
Overview
The History Channel U.K. has been one of World Archipelago's longest standing clients. In 2005, they asked us to find a fast, inexpensive solution for repackaging, promoting and publishing showcase programming content on their web sites; and they wanted it incorporate a variety of the main site's components all in one place.
They also asked us to look at ways it could add value for their advertisers and distribution partners, as well as extending its use to international affiliates who wanted to use local content in local languages.
The Result
We came up with a multi-component tool that did all of this and more, saved them lots of time and money, and freed them from agency dependency because it was a tool that they could build with themselves giving them complete in-house editorial control. Its functionality made it easy to use, completely scalable, and easily integrated into the broadcaster's main web site. Last year The History Channel built 12 microsites at an average cost of just £3k per site - an estimated saving of £144k.
The Microsite builder has now been adapted as well for other digital publishers. It's a tool that easily allows producers to drop a variety of componentized elements - timeline, quiz, competition, broadband player and image gallery - onto different template layouts. The individual components all feed off xml data and configuration parameters to edit styles and design assets produced from a CMS with a page builder wizard. It also provides robust analytics, and formats that work for sponsors and affiliates in many different languages.
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