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 Shell Oil Company, one of America's leading producers, manufacturers, transporters, and marketers of oil and chemical products. Under the supervision of Robb Capielo, president of CP Communications, a communications consulting firm in San Ramon, California, the site underwent a major redesign in August 1998. "As the site designer, webmaster, and administrator, I decided to use NetObjects Fusion to make life much easier," says Capielo. "I have used NetObjects Fusion since version 1.0 for other clients and knew that for Shell, it would be a perfect fit."
The goal of the site is to provide information and services to the public. To that end, the site provides detailed product information, company background, television and radio commercials using RealAudio, consolidated access to industry-related information and links, and a distributor locator. The site also provides one-on-one help for visitors with special needs.
"In the past, when a customer wanted information about lubricants, there was no place to get answers other than retail gas stations," explained Capielo. "Customers of Shell lubricants needed a place to go to find information, as well as a way to ask the right person." Capielo and his team created a section on the site called Ask Shell to accommodate these users and to immediately respond to their questions.
More recently, the site has grown to include more advanced functionality. The Shell Store, for example, provides a place for visitors to browse and purchase Shell gifts and accessories. In the Automotive section, an automated oil-change reminder service helps users calculate the next scheduled oil change for their automobile, and then sends them an email reminder as the date for scheduled maintenance approaches. Visitors can also sign up for one or all of the Shell email newsletters.
Before switching to NetObjects Fusion, Capielo hand-coded his Web sites using Notepad. However, as the challenge of maintaining a 100-page corporate Web site grew, Capielo realized that he needed a more powerful solution. "I could write a Web site using Notepad, but why should I?" says Capielo. "NetObjects let the process flow from a creative perspective versus a time-constraining programming process."
NetObjects Fusion makes Capielo's job easier on a daily basis. For example, Shell recently made a slight change to the corporate logo. It was up to Capielo and his team to make certain that every page on the Web site represented the new logo correctly. Because of the unique way in which NetObjects Fusion stores Web site assets and data, Capielo was able to make the change on over 60 pages in minutes.
"The Shell site has already received over 4 million hits and generates a stream of countless emails," says Capielo. "I know I don't have time to mess around. Time is money, and that's the reason I use NetObjects Fusion."
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