How do you communicate to an undecided nation the benefits of significant investment and a superior technological infrastructure? You’d better start with a sophisticated website.

When NBN approached Reborn they were looking for a digital partner to redesign, redevelop and re-launch their flagship website, based on extensive audience research and communications planning. We were so thrilled by the opportunity to throw our hat into the ring, we nearly overlooked the required launch date: 31 May.

In six short weeks, the NBN needed to deliver a modern and sophisticated website to support Senator Stephen Conroy’s public launch of the National Digital Economy Strategy at CeBIT.

The new website had to demonstrate the positive impact of an NBN-enabled digital economy, one of the highest-profile government undertakings in recent memory, deliver tailored and relevant information to a broad range of consumer segments, and serve as a centrepiece of information, dialogue and storytelling.

Throwing the dice

Reborn responded quickly to the NBN brief, capitalising on the wealth of audience information they had provided, building on their ideas for social media integration and user engagement, and daring to include creative ‘conversation starters’ well in advance of a design brief or a proper hello.

Our pitch worked, and we won the NBN’s business. More importantly, the care with which we treated and pushed their brand beyond government comfort zones earned us the NBN’s trust, and this is what would ultimately allow for our mutual success.

"Being able to create a site like this—where the final product looks so close to our original design concepts—that’s significant," says Reborn Senior Designer Adrian. "A lot of government projects get pulled back in the end because of the level of bureaucracy and amount of changes."

Eight weeks, but who’s counting?

Reborn assembled a nimble core project team, and these five people stayed at the heart of activity over the full course of the engagement. At its lead, our project manager Kate interfaced daily with the NBN and its public relations agency partner Weber Shandwick to employ a methodical approach to requirements gathering, definition and prioritisation.

Continued work with NBN

Our work with the NBN continues, both in developing and further enhancing NBN.gov.au. This relationship has opened doors for Reborn to other government agencies, as our track record for understanding government policies, procedures, dynamics and nuances is proven. For this, we are most grateful and genuinely quite proud.

"This is definitely a project you can be proud of in terms of professionalism and organisational ability," says Adrian. "We put in the hard yards. At some point, I think everyone in the studio was working on this project. This is front and centre in my portfolio."