A website created by design and digital agency Bolland & Lowe has been given a prestigious award by the Trade Association Forum.

The SMART website, designed on behalf of the International Cotton Association, scooped Website of the Year at a special ceremony held at Shakespeare’s UnderGlobe in London.

SMART, which stands for Safe, Mobile, Automated, Resourceful, Trade, went live last summer following a six-month development process that sought to deliver a mobile-optimised site to help the ICA engage more effectively with their international members and provide a safe trading platform.

Established in Liverpool in 1841, the ICA is the world’s leading international cotton trade association and arbitral body, with more than 550 members worldwide. The majority of the world’s raw cotton is traded internationally under its bylaws & rules.

The TAF awards recognise, reward and promote best practice amongst trade associations in the UK and the ICA held off competition from four other UK trade associations to claim the prize.

John Lowe, director at Liverpool-based Bolland & Lowe, said: “From day one, we set out to work closely with the ICA to understand exactly what they needed from their new website and to deliver a genuine step-change in their online presence.

“Those discussions gave us a clear roadmap to create a portal that allowed the ICA to have genuine two-way digital interaction with members at every step. It’s gratifying to see our joint endeavours have been recognised by their industry peers and we are thrilled for the ICA.”

Kai Hughes, ICA director, said: “I am delighted that we have won this award for our members. It recognises all the hard work and creativity put in by the ICA team, along with our web partners Bolland & Lowe.
“I was particularly keen that our website should not only be a ‘shop window’and a way to transmit information, but a dynamic platform and resource that adds real value for our members.”
ICA marketing & communications officer, Nicky Simon, added: “Our aim was to develop a mobile friendly website that would enable us to reach, engage and support the global cotton community and provide essential safe trading resources for our members.

“We are already seeing some great results. Page views have risen dramatically, as has time spent on the site and our new safe trading feature now appears as one of the sites most popular pages.”

Bolland & Lowe has also created an animated brand story for the ICA, chronicling the organisation’s history and detailing its range of services across arbitration, networking and regulation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeNCF54rgjo