Carhoots

A branding and web design project for a clever, impartial car review portal.

Project Information

Categories: FMCG

Released: 01/01/2012

The internet is awash with car reviews from biased manufacturers and car magazines. Carhoots wanted to put the consumer in the driving seat, empowering car buyers by providing them with an impartial source giving them access to real time consumer reviews pulled from social media.

Zen was presented with the task of developing an ‘on the pulse’ website that would use various social media channels to provide consumers with impartial online car reviews from real people, in real time. The website was to act as a fun and creative portal for car buyers, sellers and enthusiasts, encouraging and facilitating engagement between these groups as part of an online community.

Zen developed an innovative website that incorporated sleek design, distinctive custom imaging and an array of social media feeds to stimulate engagement and give consumers a unique way of making more informed car-related purchase decisions.

Powered by social media, the site pulls automotive information from a number of social networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, presenting the various feeds on one page. The user can then browse each feed, known as ‘Hoots’ and choose which ‘Hoot’ they wish to view, reply to or store on the users own personal ‘Hoot Board’.

The site also allows users to advertise their cars for free and be contacted by potential customers through social media.

By combining real-time, social interaction with simple delivery, the website helps Carhoots to encourage customers to engage with one another as they buy and sell automobiles. Three quarters of potential car buyers spend an average of three months researching a car before they actually make a purchase; Carhoots empowers these consumers by giving them the ability to filter valuable, real time information to suit their needs.

Related Case Studies

Check out some of our other work

Think we can help you?

Have a chat with us

Some kind words from our clients

I worked with Zen to develop a new website for the charity MND Scotland. Our developer Scott and designer John were fantastic. Always extremely helpful, patient and offering solutions when needed. Designing a new website is never easy but they certainly helped make it a much more seamless task. We have received lots of great feedback on the new website and are extremely happy with the finished product.

Niamh Callan

Communications Officer

From the initial pitch, to the scoping and build of our website, through to ongoing maintenance, Zen were great to work with. They understood our requirements from the word go and were able to build a website that is both functional and stylish. Redefine|BDL Hotels had a need to create a weddings platform that our 45+ hotels could sit on. We needed this to be flexible and easy to update, all while standing out and looking great. This is exactly what we got, we’ve received great feedback from our peers and users alike.

Ashleigh Cowan

Marketing Coordinator

“This is now the second iteration of our marketing website that The Zen Agency have partnered GoodPractice on and the results are excellent. We are absolutely delighted with the end product which provides our clients and potential clients with a fabulous view into our products and services. I would highly recommend Zen if you require full-service digital support”

Paul Gray

Marketing Manager

"Zen Agency have managed the Chivas Brothers intranet platform for over one year now and have proved to be a highly responsive, efficient and reliable agency partner. The Zen Team are often required to work to tight deadlines and have consistently delivered exceptional service levels and always within budget."

Clare Wood

International Marketing Manager

The team at Zen have provided excellent service and quality of work since the latter part of 2015 when we got them in to do our first ever SEO campaign. Given it was the first time we had embarked on a project like this at Howden, the team at Zen were in regular contact with us providing us with updates and improvements to make the campaign a success, whilst also ensuring our original budget was put to effective use and never strayed beyond the agreed amount.

Ciaran Donnelly

Marketing Specialist

The Zen Agency have worked hard with us to find a workable solution to help us with on-line applications. This site is our main marketing tool and therefore it is important that we have a reliable web company to support us to achieve our marketing goals. The top priority was to make it easy for applicants to find out information about our courses and to apply - feedback from our students indicates we have achieved this.

Shelagh McLachlan

Marketing and PR manager

"The Zen Agency created exciting internet design concepts, which were perfect for our young audience, blending sport and education. They created a modern look and feel; then carried this design across our social media to bring it all together."