CCS has been a staple of the skateboarding scene since 1985. Many may know CCS through their mail-order catalogs, arriving in mailboxes of skateboarders most recognizably during the 90's and early 2000's. In 2008, Foot Locker acquired CCS with hopes of turning it into a competitor to the popular mall brands Zumiez and Pacsun. Under Foot Locker, CCS adapted the same e-commerce and brick and mortar model as their other banner stores like Champs Sports and Footaction. Foot Locker eventually sold CCS in 2014.
My Role
I was hired by Foot Locker in 2011 to work on their CCS banner site. My main resonsibility was to regularly refresh the graphics on the CCS website to merchandise top selling products and to communicate seasonal promotions and sales. I regularly worked with a merchandising manager to update the products we were showcasing across the website. I also frequently collaborated with category buyers to get insight on which products were trending or needed to be promoted to get through their inventory. From time-to-time I would also work with the print team to design magazine spreads and also window signage for brick and mortar stores.
Web Store Graphics
Every week we would refresh the graphics on the main CCS website to promote new products and sales. At the start of the week I would discuss with the merchandising manager which graphics needed to be updated and what SKUs needed to be featured in each graphic. Additonally if there were any limited time promotional sales going in affect I would prepare graphics to promote them across the site. Each week I would design anywhere from 20-30 new graphics that needed to be approved by the Creative Director, Brand Manager, and Managing Director.
Weekly Marketing E-Mails
Every week CCS would send out 3-5 marketing e-mails showcasing new products and promote sales. I was responsible for delivering these designs at the request of the e-mail marketing manager.
I also was responsible for designing regular transactional e-mails. We sometimes had professional skateboards visit our office in NYC and I would work with our photographers to direct and capture photos of them in the studio to utilize in designs.
Magazine Full Page Ads
I conceptualized designs for full page magazine ads promoting CCS using photography of pro skateboarders signed on the CCS skate team provided by our Pro Team Manager. These ads would appear in Thrasher Magazine and Skateboarding Magazine.
On-Model Product Photography
While I was working at CCS, we had conducted a test to see if showing products on-model would help increase conversions. I worked with the photography team in the photo studio to figure out the best angles, lighting, backgrounds and cropping that we could consistently reproduce with different models. For my part I made recommendations on what might look best in the repeated product grids on-site and what additonal detail shots for specific product categories we should include on PDPs.
The test was a success and we saw sales significantly increase of products we added on-model shots for. This led to an effort to get all products photographed on-model using a streamlined photographing process that we conceptualized together.
Site Redesign Initiative
As we underwent an effort to get more than 75% of our website to show on-model photography, we also saw a significant increase in traffic to content on our blog. Furthermore, we recognized that articles on our blog drove higher conversions to specific products that were featured. Using this information, I took on an initiative to redesign the CCS homepage to better highlight products on models and also prominently feature content from the CCS blog.
OOO Advertisements
I would often help out designing graphics to promote CCS' brick and mortar stores. In one instance, we had an opportunity to design a digital billboard along I-87 to promote the CCS store at the Crossgates Mall in Albany.