Heck Off, Commie!

John Doyle is a prominent political commentator with a following of over 350,000. While his political insight is always on the cutting-edge, his website hadn't been updated since 2018. Knowing that his thousands of supporters deserve the best, John approached Iliad seeking a total brand overhaul.

His old WordPress-based website faced serious performance issues, underwhelming design, and significant latency when delivering benefits to paying subscribers. Over the course of our partnership, we delivered John a cutting-edge ecommerce website, a robust Discord bot to manage subscriber benefits, branded merchandise, and full-service support.

Performance exceeded all expectations. Within two days of launch, our work paid itself off. Countless new subscribers are now able to enjoy John's expanded membership offerings, a bleeding-edge online experience, and a matured brand.

Bringing a Modern Feel to a Classic Theme

Red, white, and blue is a time-tested color combination, loved by graphic designers and revolutionaries alike. We knew it was critical to maintain this patriotic motif from the old site, but giving the brand a sense of maturity was also a priority. We employed a deep, confident Maastricht Blue, contrasted with the eye-catching Deep Carmine Pink to bring this quintessential palette into the 21st century. Alongside Google's Prompt typeface, the revamped brand bridges the gap between confident and playful - a reflection of our client's ethos.

Maximizing engagement through animation

A premium subscription service deserves a premium feel. The site's member's-only section is jam-packed with animations, micro-interactions, and custom artwork to keep members engaged while they enjoy their benefits. Animations were hyper-optimized for performance on any modern device, meaning that nobody is left out of the experience. Additionally, real-time vector animations ensure that animations appear crisp and clean, no matter the scale.

Hitting the Ground Running

The first few days of launch are the most critical. Iliad managed a talented team of artists, composers, and editors to prepare advertisements for launch, boosting day-one conversions dramatically. We wouldn't accept anything less than perfection - our client wanted to make sure that his supporters were as excited as he was for launch. Original music, video, and artwork were combined to make a mixed-media masterpiece for supporters to enjoy.

Iliad's Solutions

Cutting-Edge Web Technologies

The Heck Off, Commie! website needed to be a combination of a statically generated site (for optimal performance) and a full-feature web app (to provide real-time data to members). To accomplish this, we used the Next.js framework, alongside a heavily modified Strapi backend. These technologies, in combination with Stripe's robust ecommerce API, allowed the public facing site to maintain the performance of a static website, therefore maximizing conversion. Members, on the other hand, had access to a fully-featured web app complete with real-time data from Discord, account management tools, and secure video streaming.

Ecommerce Automation

The old website relied on a tedious process to fulfil purchases of membership benefits. Lag time could be as much as a day, and that was prior to the manual authentication required to provide benefits. We automated this entire process, ensuring bulletproof, instantaneous fulfilment of purchases. The last thing you want to do after making an online purchase is wait a day, so we knew this was a crucial part of our user-engagement strategy.

Robust Discord Integration

Much of the member interactions take place on a partnered Discord server. Previously, memberships had to be manually verified, and associating user accounts with Discord profiles could take anywhere from hours to days. Additionally, users maintained many membership benefits even after membership cancellation, unless a time-consuming manual audit of members was performed.

We automated this entire process through a custom built Discord bot. First-class integration with the backend means that members can receive their benefits in seconds, and countless hours of volunteers' time are no longer consumed with tedious audits. Alongside this automated benefit synchronization, a powerful suite of community-specific features were developed to automate the majority of volunteer responsibilities.

Exclusive Memberships and Custom Donations

Through the new website, users can purchase subscriptions that grant access to members-only features, fostering a sense of community and offering exclusive content. Additionally, the site enables hassle-free custom donations, empowering supporters to contribute to John's cause effortlessly. 

Seamless YouTube Integration

The website now incorporates a user-friendly feed of John's YouTube channel, allowing visitors to find all videos directly within the website. This streamlined integration keeps users engaged and encourages exploration of John's content without compromising channel performance.

Enhanced User Authentication and Data Security

Robust user authentication mechanisms ensure the security and privacy of users' data. As a public figure facing frequent cyber-threats, maintaining the utmost data protection is paramount for Heck Off, Media LLC.

Commissioned Media and Art

To enhance the overall experience, the website features commissioned media and art, providing a visually captivating and engaging platform for John Doyle's followers.

The collaboration between John Doyle and our agency led to a remarkable brand transformation and explosive revenue growth. The new website combines striking aesthetics with exceptional performance, ensuring visitors have a memorable experience. Seamless user synchronization, secure authentication, and data protection guarantee peace of mind for both John Doyle and his audience, while a confident brand brings them back for more.

Visit the new website at heckoffcommie.com and see how we transformed a brand!