A family-owned business that pioneered high-end winemaking in BC’s Okanagan Valley, the Mark Anthony Group was founded in 1972 and is the force behind iconic brands like White Claw Hard Seltzer, Mission Hill, and Cedar Creek. Their internationally recognized businesses include Artisan Wine Shop (with a collection of small-batch, organic wines from across BC), Red Barn Winery (offering wines from Jagged Rock Vineyard), and Liquidity Wines in the heart of Okanagan Falls.
The Challenge
With their contract expiring, the Mark Anthony Group had just four months to migrate the sites for not one but three of their smaller wine brands (Artisan Wine Shop, Red Barn Winery, and Liquidity Wines), moving them from ecomm provider Wine Direct to the more robust Commerce7. A tight timeline and limited budget meant they needed an efficient plan to launch the new sites — while still delivering on the level of polish and refinement expected from each winery.
Our Approach
The project demanded flexibility as we worked to adapt the proven process behind other Mark Anthony Group sites to better design, develop, and migrate three brands in tandem. Hitting our deadline would mean finding common elements and efficiencies across all three websites — helping our teams work faster while maintaining the refined look and feel of each winery’s unique brand. A rolling approach would move each site, in turn, from design to front end dev, allowing for continuous, phased work across our teams. We dubbed this process “Lift and Shift.”
Our team began by digging into the existing sites, auditing their structure and content to identify commonalities and differences before wireframing core components. This was our foundation for all future content. We then built a shared winery theme that could be reused to streamline each site’s development while still supporting a unique design system for each winery. Beyond just swapping colors and fonts, the design team used the theme to build truly unique brand experiences that you’d struggle to recognize as sharing the same backend.
We’re impressed by your team’s ability to deliver three stunning, impactful websites in our ambitious timeline. The seamless collaboration, innovative thinking, and exceptional project management brought our vision to life, exceeding all expectations and deadlines.
Zoë Venter, Mark Anthony Group
Web/E-Commerce Specialist
I want to extend a huge THANK YOU for getting the website up and running so smoothly. We've received a lot of great feedback on the site, and the leadership team is very happy with the result.
Charlene Rowan, CORIX
Communications & Public Relations
The Major Tom experts have all been professional, responsive, and great at understanding our challenges and needs. They always provide extraordinary client experiences, and they feel like an extension of our team.
