Cameco wanted to reach investors, their key audience, through a website designed specifically to meet the information needs of investors. They first came to zu for help in 1995. Recently, Cameco has drawn more top-ranking IR awards. How did they come to be the industry leaders they are today?

All along, Cameco has been committed to making their story easy to understand. They have been willing to create new best practices and are unwilling to copy other companies, who often just mirror their competitors. And because Cameco is so open to new ideas, they inspire those they work with to go above and beyond.

When Cameco identified investors as their primary web audience, they began asking them more targeted questions though their annual perception studies. This helped determine what their investors wanted to see on an IR website. Cameco also recognized that investors would want to understand the basics of their business before they would be comfortable making investment decisions. And, when it came time to ask about company performance, Cameco knew that well-informed investors ask better questions.

When it was launched in December 2008, the redesigned website was strategically reorganized to enhance the flow of information to stakeholders. zu provided a spectrum of skills based on technological innovation, IR experience, design prowess, attentive service and programming expertise. Above all, an overall strategy gave structure and meaning to the new content and architecture. An expansive site design accommodated a wealth of reference materials that included multimedia, financial tables, dynamic charts, and other features, such as:

• Regularly updated CEO messaging, including CEO’s Corner (Q&A feature)
• Updated webcast and audio recordings
• Consistently fresh and relevant site content
• Tools that allows users to easily find historical market and company information
• A library to access documents in one location
• Information architecture focused on usability and easy navigation
• Enhanced environmental assessment content, highlighting:
• 23 key performance indicators
• Topic scorecards, with expandable and contractible information
• Information categorized by workplace, environment, communities and financial performance

Although the goal wasn’t to win awards, that was the result. The goal had been to make the site as useful and usable as possible to the primary target audience—investors—and this goal was achieved. In the annual IR Global Rankings alone Cameco has most recently been awarded:

• Best IR Website in North America (2010)
• Top 5 Ranked IR Website in North America (2009)
• Best Online Annual Report in North America (2008)
• Best IR Website by technical criteria in North America (2008)
• Best IR Website by technical criteria in Canada (2008)

“It’s great to be recognized by our peers in the industry,” commented zu CEO Ryan Lejbak. “These awards reflect the talented people at zu, the valuable partnerships we have developed and the progressive clients we get to work with everyday.”

In the category of website: budget >$50,000 zu and Creative Fire won for the PotashCorp redesign and reengineering. Relaunched in February 2010, the new site boasts a cleaner interface, simpler navigation, more consistency for users, and lower maintenance costs with the integration of an enhanced EasyUpdater^TM content management system.

Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT) was awarded top website budget: $10,000 to $49,999. The new site launched in July 2010 with the objective of showcasing SIIT as a leading education and training centre in Saskatchewan. The captivating new design engages students, staff, employers, funders and the first nations community by delivering key messages in a timely and effective manner.

zu and partner SaskTel were pleased to receive top honours in the mobile services – non-entertainment category for the Rider App. The popular BlackBerry and iPhone application has nearly 35,000 users in 91 countries. It keeps Rider fans constantly in the loop by offering game scores, statistics, schedules and rosters.

24hrAssistant, a zu sister company, experienced rapid growth of 1,500% in 2010 and was consequently named most promising new company of the year. 24hrAssistant is an online appointment scheduling system that allows clients to schedule an appointment any time, from anywhere. The company partnered with TELUS in 2010 to launch the system in 200 locations across Canada.

The SIMA competition is an annual opportunity for those involved in Saskatchewan’s interactive media industry to celebrate successes.

Saskatchewan Interactive Media Association is the professional organization representing interactive media developers in Saskatchewan. As that professional voice, SaskInteractive represents members involved in the development of content-based interactive digital media, as well as consumers and stakeholders.

“We are excited to finally be able to work directly with Tim Hortons on this project,” commented zu CEO Ryan Lejbak. “Their willingness to embrace the TimmyMe concept and smart phone technology shows their leadership in the Canadian market.”

Originally released in August 2008, the TimmyMe iPhone application has received a complete overhaul with a fresh new design and a complete reengineering. The TimmyMe concept is based on built-in GPS functionality that locates the 10 nearest Tim Hortons locations, listing the distance to each. Google Maps integration then leads users to the location of their choice.

The re-launched application also offers users unique new features. A notepad allows orders to be recorded for group coffee runs. Tim Card and drive-thru indicators assist customers with location selection.

Banner advertising allows Tim Hortons to promote seasonal features. zu’s EasyUpdater^TM content management system (CMS) permits new banner advertisements to be published by Tim Hortons quickly and efficiently.

About zu
zu is a Saskatoon-based interactive agency specializing in website strategy, design and development. With a team of more than 50 and 15 years experience in the industry, zu has developed expertise in investor relations, social media integration and mobile applications.

As is the standard approach with this particular client, zu took on a development role in the project. PotashCorp and Creative Fire were on the planning and designing end, and zu offered technical expertise and programming.

“Given the critical importance of our website in excellent stakeholder communications, success or failure in creating a brand new site depended entirely on the strength of the project team,” commented Tim Herrod, Director of Treasury at PotashCorp. “The best websites are a product of the best ideas and execution, and exceptional performance flows only when talented, dedicated people understand, share, and deliver on our vision for excellence. These are the qualities of the zu team, and we have always been fortunate to have such world-class talent locally, working with us.”

About PotashCorp
PotashCorp is the world’s largest fertilizer company and leading potash producer, responsible for approximately 20% of global capacity. With operations in seven countries, PotashCorp is an international enterprise and a key player in meeting the growing challenge of feeding the world.

The goal
Websites go stale quickly. A leader in online investor relations, PotashCorp wanted a website with a cleaner interface, simpler navigation, more consistency for users and lower maintenance costs. From a development perspective, the goal of the project was to reengineer the code to make the site more stable, easier to maintain, and easier to build upon.

Having struggled through cumbersome updates on the site in the past, creating an easy-to-maintain system with lower maintenance costs was a high priority for the development team. The team strived to offer the client a platform in which they could perform updates easily. Part of this involved the integration of zu’s own content management system (CMS), EasyUpdater, which allowed the client to make changes to parts of the site that would require regular updating such as news, career postings, and calendar events.

The challenge
Meeting tight deadlines and coordinating amongst three parties proved to be the greatest challenges during the project. These were addressed in regular meetings between the parties and through enhancing internal systems. zu’s sizable talent base was also used to the team’s advantage, providing the ability to scale up and add additional support as needed.

With a looming deadline and a massive project to tackle, morale was kept high with zu-supplied dinner breaks when working late and the occasional night out after a long day. With some dedicated employees and solid leadership, the team plowed through.

The solution
To achieve the goal of building a system that would be easy to maintain and update, zu expanded the EasyUpdater CMS and modified it to provide needed flexibility while maintaining consistency and reducing costs.

A “flexibly consistent” system was the outcome. It was achieved by using a template-container-block approach to building the pages of the site in which each page was a template with multiple containers. In each container, the user could place any block. A block might be a piece of content, a list, a career posting, a news article, or an upcoming event. The user can create and edit only one block (for consistency), but a block can be placed in any location on the page (for flexibility).

New features
The freshly updated, easy-to-use site, inspired the launch of some additional features:

• DataTool: This allows investors to browse through financial data in the four key areas of financial, sustainability, facilities, and markets. They can select data to graph, export, share, or even save to a personal MyPOT account that can be revisited.
• News: This section has taken on a blog-like approach with all news items, regardless of category, falling into one global news section, allowing visitors to access all company news in one location or filter news postings according to topic.
• Social media: PotashCorp took the opportunity to dive further into the world of social media by linking to two Twitter accounts, @PotashCorp for news and @PotashCorpJobs for career postings; two Facebook pages, one for news and one for careers; and a YouTube page which provides an opportunity for videos to be more widely distributed.

The results
Since the project has launched, PotashCorp has received positive user feedback about the site’s new features. Looking at three month comparative data before and after the launch, site visits increased by 11% and page views grew by 14%.

Overall
The PotashCorp redesign shows how taking care of foundational aspects of websites such as navigation and user interface can transform a site from being merely available to being useful and frequently visited. This philosophy should apply to all web projects, regardless of the project size or budget.

PotashCorp continues to be a leader in online investor relations by adding new features and improvements on an ongoing basis, acknowledging that in the web world, a site is never finished.

Cameco and PotashCorp were listed as the Best Ranked IR Websites in North America. They were in good company alongside Intel, General Electric Company, Microsoft, Bank of Montreal, Del Monte Foods Company, and Overseas Shipholding Group.

After a complete site redesign and reengineering in 2008, Cameco has worked to enhance their environmental assessment content, regularly update the CEO messaging, add webcast and audio recordings, and consistently keep the site’s content fresh and relevant. In the past Cameco achieved an overall Top 5 ranking for best ranked IR website in North America (2009) and best online annual report in North America (2008), along with best IR website as ranked by technical criteria in North America (2008), and best IR website in Canada by technical criteria (2008).

“We strive to be a leader in our ongoing communication with investors,” says Lyle Krahn, Cameco’s director of external communications. “We rely on zu’s knowledge, advice and expertise to achieve that goal with our website. The awards reflect our combined efforts.”

PotashCorp reloaded and relaunched this year with a complete redesign and reengineering of their website. The new site features a  DataTool that allows users to easily find historical market and company information, and a library to access a range of documents in one convenient location. The focus on ease of navigation and simplified usability was spurred by feedback collected from investors. In past years PotashCorp has taken home IR Global Rankings awards including Best Online Annual Report in North America (2009), Best IR Website in the Basic Materials industry (2006), and Top 4 for Best Earnings Releases and Disclosure Procedures in North America (2006).

“At PotashCorp we focus on clear, transparent and timely disclosure,” says Denita Stann, senior director of investor relations with PotashCorp. “Our website is an important part of our communication strategy, and zu’s expertise and vision has been a key part of our success.”

“It is extremely rewarding for our team at zu to see the accolades our clients receive from everyone’s hard work,” commented Lejbak. “We are very proud of the work Cameco and PotashCorp have done and believe they will remain leaders in online Investor Relations for many years to come.”

About the IR Gobal Rankings
The annual IR Global Rankings and Awards survey is the most comprehensive auditing and ranking system for IR websites, corporate governance practices and financial disclosure procedures – a great opportunity to benchmark IR efforts vis-à-vis peers and industry leaders. Based on extensive proprietary research of publicly held companies and investors, and supported by input from independent audit, corporate governance and legal experts, MZ’s methodology is highly detailed, transparent and fully accessible to all participants.

CN, a North American railway, brings its business closer to its customers by providing live, updated information on every operational facet of customers’ shipments. It is an evolutionary approach in websites for customers who want it all.

About CN
CN is a leader in the North American rail industry. More than just a railroad, CN is a transportation company offering integrated transportation services including rail, intermodal, trucking, freight forwarding, warehousing and distribution.

Situation Analysis
The previous site design and architecture was outdated and cluttered. There was no existing database or content management system (CMS) and all content was built and updated in HTML. A current inventory of 2,500 pages was taxing to manage so content had to be condensed to 1,500 pages while maintaining multilingual communications in four languages. The functionality of the existing online customer tools (eBusiness) also required upgrades to establish a positive customer-centric experience. The CN website was mainly used by customers to carry out tasks regarding their shipments. However, it provided a confusing architecture to find information regarding how, what and where things could be shipped.

A complete redesign, reengineering and implementation of a third party CMS (RedDot) was required.

Goals
Due to the complex nature of the inherited assets in the existing site, the CN project required initiatives to be rolled out in phases. The infrastructure, navigation, appearance and usability of the website required immediate attention. Secondary goals addressed recruiting needs, investor relations reporting, corporate information and news, and customization of relevant target marketing messages. And finally, the eBusiness site required a redesign to better integrate with the new public site design.

Challenges
The true challenge of this project laid in the need for trust and transparency between parties in order to reach a common goal.  The zu team worked diligently with CN on coordinating a seamless project. Because the content was provided by CN, and the CMS integration was done by the CMS vendor, this created a need for zu to develop a strategy that would support third party CMS integration by acting as an intermediary between the CN web team and CMS vendor. zu Systems Analysts developed functional specifications that were  complex in nature and zu Developers had to undergo extensive training in order to clearly define the third party CMS requirements. Converting 5,000 pages of content required editing and proofing resources in four languages.

Solutions
The design and information architecture solutions were developed by zu and applied to the frontend of the new site. In order to create an intuitive user experience, simple and clean design enhancements were implemented and the information architecture was rebuilt to facilitate typical customer tasks and information needs. zu provided CN with the tools to update specific real estate in the website by assisting with the configuration of the CMS. This created more autonomy for CN to craft custom messaging when required and further eliminated HTML updates that once fell on IT. Customization tools were applied to the eBusiness components in order to create a customer-centric website which would enable the CN ecommerce sales channel to better achieve financial targets. zu created a strategy that enabled marketing users to insert tailored banners to communicate key information to investors and analysts.

Solution Summary

• New site design
• New site information architecture
• Technical strategy
• Functional specifications
• Development of cascading style sheets (CSS)
• Integration and support for third party CMS (Red Dot)
• Integration of third party data feeds and components
• Functional programming
• Reintegration of web analytics
• Content editing, proofing and insertion of 1,500 pages in 4 languages
• Integration of Google Search

Result
Despite an economic downturn in 2009, CN’s public website page views increased 25% year-over-year compared to its previous website. A service-oriented site allowing visitors and customers to quickly determine how, what and where they can ship was achieved.

Where You Fit In
The CN case study is an example of what zu values in a client-business relationship. The process of evaluating needs, providing strategic advice and working together to reach collective goals is what zu does best – regardless of a project’s size. With some of the freshest minds in the game, zu will find innovative ways to take your business to new heights. Combining captivating design with effective online tools will give your organization a fresh, new appeal.

“zu’s dedication, flexibility, creativity, and expertise made our project successful.” -Paul Clarke, CN eBusiness

Thursday December 24 – Open 8:30am to 2:00pm
Friday December 25 – Closed
Monday December 28 – Closed
December 29, 30 & 31 – Open 10:00am to 4:00pm
Friday January 1 – Closed
Monday January 4 – Back down to business for 2010. Regular 8:30am to 5:00pm office hours resume.

If we don’t cross paths in the next couple weeks, have a wonderful holiday season and we’ll catch ya next decade!

Happy holidays,
The zuCrew

StampsConnect is a unique social media aggregator site that uses familiar platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. The Calgary Stampeders have successfully enhanced fan engagement by permitting their audience to participate and contribute to the content. Connect is a real-time aggregator of fan-generated photos, comments, blogs and videos that allows them to interact and share with others around the world.

The 2009 Grey Cup Festival also adopted the Connect concept to build anticipation and engagement around their event with Grey Cup Festival Connect. The potential for Connect sites spreads beyond sports, with opportunity for political parties, artists, actors, musicians and many others to enhance stakeholder engagement.

The Interactive Media Awards™ recognize the highest standards of excellence in website design and development, and honour individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievement. The Outstanding Achievement award is the second highest honour bestowed by the IMA and is an extremely challenging award to win.

twitpitch: StampsConnect takes IMA outstanding achievement award in sports for social media site. #calstampeders http://twurl.nl/ihc88p

In addition to the Overall Award of Excellence, PotashCorp walked away with the awards for Excellence in Financial Reporting, Excellence in Electronic Disclosure and an Award of Excellence for the mining sector. In addition, they collected the Honourable Mention for Excellence in Sustainable Development Reporting.

We’re proud to be an interactive provider for PotashCorp, working closely with local communications firm, Creative Fire. Go team!

Also, big shout out to TransCanada for taking home the Award of Excellence in the real estate/utilities and pipelines industry category.

The CICAs
The Chartered Accountants of Canada Corporate Reporting Awards  is the only national awards program that recognizes excellence and best practices in corporate reporting. Now in its 58th year, the CRA presents awards for excellence in financial reporting, corporate governance disclosure, electronic disclosure and sustainable development reporting.

November 20, 2009. SaskTel, zu and the Saskatchewan Roughriders are pleased to announce that Rider Priders from around the world are downloading the Rider App at an astonishing pace.  Since the public launch of the Rider App on October 8, 2009, it has been downloaded over 11,000 times in 64 countries and with the excitement of the Riders hosting the Western Final on Sunday downloads are growing every day. SaskTel estimates that over 8,000 unique users have downloaded the Rider App.

The Rider App is an innovative mobile phone application that delivers game scores, statistics and schedule information to members of the Rider Nation wherever they go. The Roughriders were the first team in the Canadian Football League to introduce a dedicated mobile app.

“This is a success story that demonstrates both Saskatchewan innovation and the passion Rider fans feel for their team,” Minister Responsible for SaskTel Don Morgan said. “Congratulations to SaskTel, the Saskatchewan Roughriders and zu for helping Rider fans around the world stay in touch with Saskatchewan’s team.”

“The Rider App is SaskTel’s first mobile application and the response has exceeded our expectations,” SaskTel President and CEO Robert Watson said. “We’re grateful to Rider fans as well as our partners, the Saskatchewan Roughriders and zu, for their contributions to a successful project.”

“The positive reaction to the Rider App demonstrates that Rider fans are everywhere,” Riders President/CEO Jim Hopson said. “This has already been a great football season and now Rider fans around the world can follow our progress quickly and easily.”

“We are excited not only to be bringing fans closer to the local fan favourite, but also to be helping move technology forward in our province,” commented zu CEO Ryan Lejbak. “Mobile is the future of the Internet and we are proud to be working with the Roughriders and SaskTel to lead the CFL in this new technology.”

The Rider App, developed by SaskTel in partnership with Saskatoon-based zu, is a free download for compatible mobile devices. Fans can download the Rider App now.

About SaskTel
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation (SaskTel) is the leading full service communications provider in Saskatchewan, with $1.138 billion in annual revenue and over 1.3 million customer connections including over 510,000 wireless accesses, 555,000 wireline network accesses, 216,000 internet accesses and 70,000 Max™ (TV) subscribers.  SaskTel offers a wide range of communications products and services including competitive voice, data, internet, entertainment, national security, messaging, cellular, wireless data and directory services. In addition, SaskTel International offers software solutions and project consulting in countries around the world.  In 2008, SaskTel contributed over $610 million to the Saskatchewan economy through dollars spent with Saskatchewan-based suppliers and sponsorships to non-profit organizations.  SaskTel and its wholly-owned subsidiaries have a workforce of approximately 5,000 employees.

About the Saskatchewan Roughrider Football Club
Since 1910, no other team has been a part of the provincial fabric as has the Saskatchewan Roughrider Football Club. With three Grey Cup championships to its credit, the Riders are synonymous with Prairie football and are one of the flagship franchises of the Canadian Football League. The Roughriders continue to provide quality sports entertainment to their fans, and as a community-owned team, excel in reaching out and giving back to those who support the organization.

About zu
zu is an interactive agency specializing in web strategy, design and development. They are experts in online Investor Relations, social media and mobile applications. zu offers extensive experience in building complex websites, from concept to launch; a proven track record consisting of award winning and nationally recognized websites; 15 years of experience in the interactive industry; and a team of over 50 skilled in strategy, design, and programming. Headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan zu’s client list includes globally-recognized brands such as the Calgary Stampeders, Rogers, Areva, PotashCorp, Cameco and CN Rail.

For media inquiries only, please contact:

Andy Tate, SaskTel Corporate Communications
Phone: (306) 777-4548
Email: andy.tate@sasktel.sk.ca

Albert Jame, Creative Director, zu
Phone: (306) 653-4747
Email: albert.jame@zu.com

The complete article is available in the online July/August 2009 issue of SaskBusiness magazine.

On Friday, June 26, we will be closed at noon for the big move. Production services will be down during this time, but in the event of an urgent request, clients should email their Project Manager. We will be checking for messages regularly.

On Monday, June 29, we will reopen the zu headquarters at our new location:
303 Pacific Ave
Saskatoon SK
S7K 1P2
Canada

Same phone (306 635 4747). Same fax (306 653 4774). Same zuCrew.

We look forward to touring you through our new space this summer.

Cheers,
The zuCrew