Transforming Brands

Venn Life Sciences

From lab to patient, fast.
LOCATION
London
services provided
Information Architecture
Content Strategy
Motion
Front End Development
WordPress CMS
Hosting + Security
"The new site reflects exactly the look and feel we were aiming for."
Sam Van Simaeys, Head of Marketing, hVIVO (part of Open Orphan plc)
01.1
Brief Summary

Craft a new digital home for Venn Life Sciences, moving into an exciting new future of drug development.

02.1
Overview
Part of Open Orphan plc, Venn Life Sciences is an integrated drug development consultancy partner that facilitates new medicines to market fast and efficiently. They are uniquely positioned in the market to provide expertise from start to finish, from early planning phase to clinical trial and final execution.

The Brand & Marketing team at Open Orphan selected Nephew to help them 'raise their online game', to modernise how the Venn site looked, functioned and impacted the world.
02.1
The Problem
Since being founded at the turn of the millennium, Venn has grown through a series of takeovers and acquisitions, significantly in recent years. Due to the consistent changes, Venn's corporate website had lost its spark and purpose. Six years had passed since its last update and was still powered by a restrictive WordPress template.

In 2019, Open Orphan plc completed a takeover of Venn Life Sciences and immediately recognised the need to rethink how they were communicating and how the online experience could be made more satisfying and engaging.  
03.1
The Process
Venn are unique in their marketplace. Their value lies in the ability to help potential customers bring drugs to market quicker and more effectively. Doing so results in more lives being saved or better lives lived. They offer a distinctive combination of services that cover every phase of drug development, from beginning to end, encompassing a massive range of skilled expertise.

Finding these services and understanding how they positively impact potential customers in their journey is critical. Our major challenge was to ensure that critical information was brought to the surface where it had previously been buried deep.  
03.2
Architects of change
We spent time with the Venn team to audit their information, reorganising content and improving architecture, always taking a reductive approach and never taking our eye off the need to demonstrate clarity.
04.1
Design
Our vision for Venn was to make their home feel like a science lab. A place where super intelligent individuals collaborate to anticipate the future of medicine for the betterment of mankind. But we didn't want it to be a place just for scientists. We wanted it to feel more approachable and inclusive; where anyone in drug development could reach out for advice, support and partnership.

Every page is intentionally clean and is underpinned by solid hierarchy so page content doesn't become tl;dr, repetitive or hard to read. In addition, each page has a clear purpose with pre-footers that signpost users to other areas of the site to engage in more valuable content.
04.2
Social proof
When considering a partner like Venn, trust is always at the forefront of the customers mind. Fears need to allayed, objections need to be pivoted. Integrating social proof can be an effective way to reinforce trust. We did this by introducing real-life stories and testimonials of other customers.
Customer testimonial for Venn Life Sciences
05.1
Development
Building on their existing WordPress platform, we completely overhauled the navigation system on the site, introducing a mega menu to make it super easy for every page to be accessed.
We also intelligently integrated articles, research and company news so that they were delivered in context, while the user browsed through the site, as well as through a general archive.
For ongoing management, we utilised the Oxygen editor to make it easy for the Venn marketing team to update every piece of content on the site, and adjust layout and structure as the site evolved in the future.
06.1
The Outcome
The future in their own hands. Finally, Venn have regained control of their online activity. No more reliance on a restrictive 'off-the-shelf' template, the team can adapt and change content quickly and easily, and the site now visually represents their tone and values. The result? Increased engagement, growth in enquiries which has led to valuable contract wins.

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