Getting it right: The new Olivine website
Posted inConnectivity

Getting it right: The new Olivine website

32Posted inConnectivity

Recently, Olivine, one of Zimbabwe’s most known brands, launched its website. The website is on www.olivine.co.zw. Now I can hear some of you say “So what, a lot of non-tech companies launch cool websites every!” Yes, they do. But this one is different. It’s one for those few cases when a company just gets it right. More right than most (if not all) of the most known tech companies around.

The message is clear. The technology doesn’t get in the way, it clears the way. The content is rich (videos, pictures, deliberately worded text). The information is accessible. You don’t need to be a techie to understand navigating the site, the information is just there! Management contacts, email alerts of special offers, online order forms and overall corporate information, for example, quality and assurance standards

And because they got it right, we celebrate it here and wish more companies would have such a presence online. Of course, the company getting it right today doesn’t at all mean the website will stay current or that if you subscribe to the email alerts you’ll get responses. Some work will be required to keep everything fresh and the search engines happy. There been a lot of websites locally that are launched and forgotten. We hope this won’t be the case.

For all the ‘getting it right’, the company strangely ignored social media completely. Deliberate or not, we think it’s a mistake. To a lot of Zimbabweans, the web IS Facebook. Not having some kind of presence there means you don’t exist on the web to all those people. I’d have definitely ‘liked’ Olivine on Facebook, and a tweet button would have made tweeting those nostalgic 90s advert videos they have there a lot easier!

The website itself is built using the WordPress content management system by a web development company called Big Law.  If you know other great examples of ‘getting it right’, please share in the comments below!

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32 Comments

  2. Richard Slick Chinyenze
    September 2, 2011,

    Dude you stole this idea from my friend http://www.creativeloop.co.zw/2011/08/top-5-zimbabwean-websites-design-for-august-2011/

    Especially the part you telling people to put suggests of nice sites…
    Not cool dude, considering you rated your site also…

  3. Tichsig
    September 2, 2011,

    I had a look at the site out of curiosity and I must say I was impressed. The site looks good but most important it has the content one would need. After reading through the site one has a good sense of the organization. The one thing Olivine needs to improve on is the branding and  packaging on its products. When viewed against the crisp background of the site, some of their products show a jarring mismatch in quality.

  4. Anonymous
    September 2, 2011,

    Ha ha ha, nyc to see Jade soap. Mis that stuff.

  5. Tichsig
    September 2, 2011,

    @Richard Thats a strong accusation you have made my brother, what does your friend have to say its his idea? Has he patents to his works?, the last part of your comment is more shocking, how old is your friend who has such an encompassing patent

  6. Nikki Kershaw
    September 2, 2011,

    It’s great to see Zimbabwean companies embracing the web and starting to harness its potential to leverage business – and in so doing, providing so much more than just a virtual business card.

    @L.S.M Kabweza – great article, I’d like to see more people celebrating what’s good about the Internet in Zim – and in so doing, hopefully encouraging other web professionals and corporates to raise their game. @Richard Slick Chinyeze – I’m sure Creative Loop don’t have the monopoly on that?

    • Richard Slick Chinyenze
      September 2, 2011,

      Guess you gettin me wrong, i aint hatin on techzim. All those links you sent dont show about creativity of web designers; he is jus merely showing broken sites.

      My friend posts creative/best sites in the country, and this dude does the same thing.

  7. No3more
    September 2, 2011,

    Whoever worked on the website did a marvelous job. this is the way to go guys. I liked the Olivine site.

  8. Clinton D. Mutambo
    September 2, 2011,

    Richard Slick Chinyenze it is unfortunate that you feel my colleague “stole” your buddy’s idea. As far as l can tell creative loop has a very great thing going for it; lve always felt that there’s a need for an online platform for the advertising and design sector to showcase its work. Kinda like an http://www.adsofthisworld.com for Zim but with more depth. Well thats just my thinking. Rather than bicker and point fingers we should all be strengthening the local web ecosystem… Limbikani has been operating Techzim since early 2009 and has in one way or another reviewed websites as afforded by the links provided.

    Creative Loop is a platform that can enter into mutually beneficial synergies with veterans like Techzim and others locally. Have you ever thought of suggesting to your pal that CL can actually run a dedicated column on techzim on this subject. This will not only exponentially grow your traffic but also benefit all parties.have a look at today’s analytics for your site and you’ll see what l mean. There is also no monopoly over basic knowledge in this world (a review is a review…), what would you do if 100 other Creative Loops emerged?

    We come in peace-this country’s ICT sector is simply too small and historically bottle-knecked to start petty brawls.

    • Tapiwanashe
      September 2, 2011,

      he i”m interested in posting a column on your Web whom do i contact

  11. Dev
    September 6, 2011,

    Well done Limbikani, keep doing such reviews! It’s good to give praise wer praise is due. And it encourages other web dev companies to up their game. Plus who said that one cant have multiple website reviewers? The market is big enough for everyone. 🙂 “I Like”

  13. Wonder
    September 6, 2011,

    Thats a nice site for sure, I hope it will help in consolidating their status. As for Richard Slick Chinyenze, please improve your marketing tactics, It looks like you wanted to introduce your brother’s site to us, it worked but I not a fan of how it was introduced to me! get iun touch for some free “Visibility” lessons!

  14. Zimbo
    September 8, 2011,

    Munhu anonzi Richard Slick Chinyenze, chinyadzi pasaiti redu rino. Your first attempt was brilliant; you should have stopped there because we could have all gone to your link then appreciated the work but all we now see in you is a desperate loser. Needless to say, keep polishing your tactic… some day you’ll make it. If you’re zimbo, I love you.

      • Anonymous
        September 10, 2011,

        You have a problem with people using themes? Even when it clearly works for them? There is no question that is a well-executed site, custom or not.

        You don’t seem to have a problem with code-reuse on your own website (unless it’s only anathema when it comes to templates).
        List of components that you used on your own website that is certainly not custom code:
        * Moo Tools
        * Joomla
        * DJ Image Slider  (mod_)
        * AcyMailing (com_)

        Unsurprisingly, you seem to draw the line at design…

        • ★ Byers Design ★
          September 10, 2011,

          Design, not development. Development is a different story. like you said, if it works why not.

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