An intimate venue on a picturesque Michigan farm
Cornman Farms is a culinary event and wedding venue founded by Kieron Hales, a prodigious English chef. Located in Dexter just ten miles northwest of Ann Arbor, the farm belongs to the renowned Zingerman’s Community of Businesses.
Wallop kicked off the project in September 2019, and the new website launched three months later. To this day our team continues to drive impressive results for the property, leading and implementing cross-channel campaigns, reporting on performance, and working proactively on their online platforms.
I was lacking in telling you all quickly how much Kieron and I appreciate the work Wallop did with Jamie and Liza to roll out our new beautiful, functional website... I love what you all created, and I am deeply grateful we have entered into this relationship with you. Thank you thank you--would you share this with everyone else?
The Challenge
The team from Cornman Farms thought it was time for a fresh start when they reached out to Wallop looking for help in building a new home on the web. “Guest feedback,” they told us “is that their real life experience invariably exceeds any expectations created by our website”.
Wallop began by leading a brand discovery process on the property. From the outset the first steps were obvious: not only did the site’s architecture need reworking but the brand story had to be totally rewritten.
We quickly learned how central food was to the Cornman Farms experience (it was pretty hard to miss actually.) We’d barely arrived when Chef Kieron began feeding us like royalty. Two days later he sent us off with a personal assortment of jam, honey, and chutney from his private collection. It left no doubt in our minds: if you book your wedding here, it’s because you’re a lover of food.
Capturing this essence of this story, we told the Cornman Farms team, would be vital to increasing online inquiries and conversions via the website. Equally important, the paid online ad strategy and tracking had to be revamped to improve budget efficiency and to facilitate targeting of more granular audiences.
On top of that, we knew it all had to be in perfect alignment with the Zingerman’s brand standards.
The Results
Pardon the pun but we blew the doors off the barn.
We built the new site with a fresh design system and palette which perfectly conveyed the warmth and hospitality of Cornman Farms. As a nod to Chef Kieron’s British countryside roots, we integrated softer shades of blue. We paired fonts that blended a lighter-touch editorial style with playful elements wherever possible. Hand-drawn illustrations can be seen animating subtly in the background.
Our digital marketing team followed through with pitch-perfect SEO techniques, comprehensive tracking and customized analytics, all in support of highly targeted campaigns.
Since the new website launched with the rebuilt campaigns, the number of phone calls, website inquiries, and Facebook form submissions has increased significantly.
And if that doesn’t convince you, we recommend you try the pie.
Increase in phone calls from Google Ads
Increase in Facebook Leads forms
Decrease in bounce rate
I want to sincerely thank you for your continued efforts, support and delivery of our incredible website - we are so excited to show it off! I feel truly honored to have worked with all of you. Our experience with Wallop has been nothing short of AMAZING. I have to say, from my experience, that is rare when working with an agency. You far exceeded our expectations. Wallop is truly something special.