The brief:
Suzumo made the world’s first Sushi Robot. Now, the company has sushi, rice, and other food-making machinery used in restaurants all over the world. Its strong product offerings streamline an otherwise time-consuming process, making food preparation efficient and cost effective.
The challenge: Testimonial pages can be tricky because readers often overlook a simple list of quotes praising the company. They sense redundancy at best—or duplicity, and manipulation, at worst. Suzumo needed a testimonial page that showcased its customers’ successes in the restaurant business as a result of integrating food-making machinery into their food preparation process. The company needed a page that prospective business partners might actually read.
My role:
I was tasked with making a testimonial page that was both engaging and informative. The page had to describe the clear advantages of adopting food-preparation equipment, so customers would immediately understand the product lineup’s utility and effectiveness as beneficial to their bottom line. It also couldn’t be boring or fall into a common testimonial page trap: irrelevancy.
I started interviewing customers and business owners who had purchased machinery from Suzumo and found that the core motivating factor behind the point of sale was not a single moment, but the entire picture—the story—that led them to Suzumo products. So the customers' business journeys became the narrative hook.
The result is a series of testimonials that are personal, engaging, and never inauthentic. The page not only gives positive advertising to Suzumo’s business partners, but also allows them an opportunity to tell their story, personal details and all, and reflect on their journey as a business.
Bonus:
I also did the extremely clever (and cute) 404 page for Suzumo's website.
