The Challenge

The International Brewing & Cider Awards are hosted by the Brewing, Food & Beverage Industry Association, or the BFBi as it is better known, and has a long and successful history. Started in 1888, they are often dubbed ‘ the Oscars of the brewing industry’ – and with good reason. An Award is a recognition by fellow professional brewers that a beer is an outstanding commercial example of its style.

The BFBi asked us to help with a problem they had been experiencing with the paper-based award entry forms they had been distributing. The BFBi realised that these traditional forms made the processing of entries difficult as there was so much paperwork, different sets of spreadsheets, and many other needless parameters in a confusing system.

The Solution

On looking through the entry system we realised that a much simpler online system could be created, dispensing with the paper-based forms, and giving a much better data control and tracking system. We created a bespoke website design for the awards entry website, dispensing of the frustrating paper-based system, and allowing entrants to complete a much simpler, online entry process. The entrants would be able to register on the website, then simply select which of the categories they wanted to enter, complete the form that only displayed questions relevant to that category, then add it to their cart. They could then easily repeat the process for as many entries as they wanted. Once complete, they could submit the entries and pay online. We then re-designed and re-built the main website, allowing us to showcase more of the photos, make the information easier to find, and give the most prestigious brewing and cider awards a much more dynamic look and feel than the previously outdated website. The website has a secure content management system allowing easy addition of the winners each year along with photos from the awards events.

Considerations

The new website design had to allow easy access for administrators to add or update the categories as and when needed. They also needed a secure data system that could only be accessed by the BFBi admin team, as GDPR rules and regulations would be enforced on all entry data submitted. The secure content management system allowed this to happen, and also made the processing and tracking of entries much easier. The icing on the cake was the fact that all data would be stored in a secure, GDPR compliant database that can be interrogated to produce a variety of handy reports.

The Results

The BFBi now had everything they needed to ensure the smooth processing of every single entry in an easy to use and intuitive content management system. Life was also made a whole lot easier for the award entrants. No more slow and cumbersome paperwork to fill in, now it was all online in a completely intuitive format that allowed them to quickly and easily complete as many entries as they wanted. The new website designs and online systems we have created have now ultimately future-proofed the process and the BFBi are confident that these historic awards can continue to be successful for many years to come.