The July
Rebranding of hospitality platform with service and experience
The July is a growing, award-winning aparthotel chain that combines the most valued aspects of living in an apartment with well-thought-out hotel service. For their international rebranding, Digital Natives created a digital platform that translates their new brand into an outstanding stay experience from exploration to check-out. The July redefines itself with a digital platform that integrates elegant design, high-quality service, and customer orientation.
The Challenge
Platform for Growth and Booking from Experience
In response to the changing needs of modern travelers seeking unique and immersive experiences, The July embarked on a mission to redefine luxury hospitality throughout the entire customer journey and to grow as an aparthotel chain in Europe. The goals are to create the best stay experience by focusing on people and the city, to develop a future-proof platform for growth, and to achieve a strong brand experience. This should lead to more direct bookings through the platform.
The solution
An elegant and scalable hospitality platform
The result is a meticulously designed platform that embodies the essence of The July. It guides and inspires the visitor, emphasizing authenticity, sustainability, and connection with the local culture.
Flexible playground for modern storytelling, within clear brand frameworks
A modern, headless tech stack with Craft CMS 4, Vue 3, and Nuxt 3
The visual interactive design reflects the elegance and sophistication of The July brand, from photography to typography and animation
Functional and contextual custom booking wizard with seamless integration of booking engine NetAffinity
Personalized journeys for audiences from corporate to pleasure and from short stay to long stay
A design system for large international scalability: new locations can be effortlessly launched and 'localized'
Through user research and extensive testing, the layout, content, and interactive elements are optimized for the best user experience
Lightning-fast performance by smart use of Cloudflare R2 as Content Delivery Network.
Visitors can view facilities and practical information prior to their booking
Through stories and “explore the neighbourhood” pages with tips, visitors can immerse themselves in the local culture
Case video of The July
The impact
A catalyst for growth
More than a doubling of engagement (2.4x longer time on site)
Significantly increased efficiency in platform management (2x higher management speed)
A new hotel location can be unlocked in a short time
Doubling of conversion to the booking engine
Doubling in total conversion (from visit to booking)
The Digital Natives Approach
How We Make This Impact Possible
In a discovery phase, we mapped out the essence of The July through KPI workshops, story maps, journey maps, and content mapping workshops. During a CMS safari, we weighed the features and pricing of various CMSs and determined the best match with the client.
In the subsequent ideation phase, we formulated these principles:
Strong branding and smart design choices create a stunning first impression
Clear information structures and hierarchies make the decision cycle as smooth as possible, resulting in a pleasant booking flow
Through interim user tests with real hotel guests, we validate design choices time and again
In the design and development phase, we dot all the i's:
The combination of Craft CMS and Cloudflare R2 ensures fast content creation and optimal performance
A cleverly designed grid based on The July logo forms the basis for all pages and elements
A range of transitions and animations ensures a smooth experience on the platform
Subtle details like parallax scrolling and fade-ins/fade-outs complete this
