CASE STUDY OF

HOSHINO RESORTS
CORPORATE WEBSITE

ROLE: Branding, Creative Direction, UX/UI Design, Web Design, Front-end Developing

DELIVERABLE: Creative Direction, Art Direction, Responsive Website

DATE: JAN 2022

Established in 1914, Hoshino Resorts is one of Japan's leading hotel management companies. From its signature luxury resort: Hoshinoya, to the popular city tourist hotel chain: OMO, Hoshino Resorts operates across brand lines offering a unique experience on every level. The global corporate website was redesigned to cater to future inbound demand; mainly targeting Australia, the US and European markets.
monopo Tokyo is proud to have been in charge of the overall concept development, information design and production and have versions available in four languages.

CLIENT BRIEF

  • Renewal the corporate website to be a global site attracting overseas users.
  • Increase the number of accommodation bookings by transforming the site into an information hub for the overseas market.

OUR PROPOSAL

  • A design for a corporate site designed to "make people become fans of Hoshino Resorts."
  • Implementation of SEO to increase the inflow of visitors from search engines.
  • A website design that is easy for overseas users to understand, encourages exploration and makes them want to learn more about Hoshino Resorts.

Clarify the role of the site and design it to communicate the message better

In addition to its corporate website, Hoshino Resort has numerous in-house websites for each of its brands and hotels. Therefore, we began this renewal by first discussing the role of the corporate site.
The corporate site was positioned as "a place for people to become fans of Hoshino Resorts." By clarifying the role of the site and selecting information accordingly, the information we want to convey will reach users more easily.

Designed to function as a guidebook that serves as a gateway to Hoshino Resorts

We made it possible to search for hotels by region, user interest, offered activities, etc. We also carefully examined the site from an SEO perspective and designed a basic page structure that serves as a template throughout the site including the title page. The corporate site was designed to be a guidebook for international users who are unfamiliar with Hoshino Resort and Japan and to create opportunities for them to make reservations.

CMS designed to reduce the burden of multilingual operation

This site needed to be developed in multiple languages, resulting in a large operational burden for the brand. To minimize the time and effort required for the updating process, we devised a CMS management screen. For example, we designed it so that each piece of information linked to various facilities can be selected during data entry. This makes it possible to link information without needing it for each facility. Based on information gathered from detailed interviews, we have combined the most appropriate plug-ins and original customization.

A design with a balance of intuitive simplicity and attention to detail

To make the site friendly to those unfamiliar with Hoshino Resort and Japan, we created a design allowing users to interact with many images and photos of the facilities. Facilities located throughout Japan are displayed alongside images of a map of Japan, and other detailed touches were added throughout the site to appeal to users without a knowledge of Japanese geography. The site's structure is simple in design and highlights the rich content program page, "Activities,” one of Hoshino Resort's greatest appeals. Each brand and facility are presented clearly in the layout, with articles introducing possible "Activities" formatted to convey its appeal and focus on the main points of each program.

Art Direction expressing distinctive brands within a single universe

In the design, we emphasized that Hoshino Resort has a wide range of distinctive brands and facilities that meet the diverse needs of various travelers. Monotone is used throughout the site, with each brand having its color allowing them to be easily highlighted in the facility listings and other areas of the site. In addition, we used facility photos consistently to convey each facility more straightforwardly and concretely. We paid extra attention to incorporating layouts and interactions that showcase the photos most appealingly. Brand logos are placed throughout the "Activities" and "News" pages, which are linked to the brands. The design makes it easy to distinguish the brands at a glance and helps users remember them.

Credits

Client: Hoshino Resorts

Our role: Branding, Creative Direction, UX/UI Design, Web Design, Front-end Developing

THE TEAM

Account Executive & Producer: Daisuke Shiga (monopo Tokyo)

Director: Kensuke Tanaka (monopo Tokyo)

Project Manager & Planner: Tsubasa Kamioka (monopo Tokyo)

Project Manager: Maho Kamagami (monopo Tokyo)

Art Director & Designer: Takayuki Yokoyama (monopo Tokyo)

Designer: Shigure Miyagawa (monopo Tokyo)

Technical Director: Shun Okada (monopo Tokyo)

Front & Back-end developer: PRMO

SEO Consulting: Digital Identity

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