The Gruffalo has been one of the UK's best-loved children's books for 25 years. But ahead of its 15th anniversary as an animated brand, Pan Macmillan had a problem: the website did not come close to matching the magic of the books.
The existing site was outdated and offered little for its core audience - children aged 3 to 8. There were no interactive features, no activities, and nothing that kept young visitors engaged for more than a few seconds. For parents and educators looking for resources, it was equally thin.
Pan Macmillan wanted a digital presence that reflected the richness of the brand - something that felt genuinely exciting for children to use, and gave adults a reason to share it. The 15th anniversary was the natural moment to do it.
"Distinction's team worked with us from the very conception of the project. This highly collaborative approach meant a wide range of people from inside and outside the business were able to feed into the project. The result has been a huge success not only for adults, children, Julia Donaldson and the Gruffalo team, but in the wider Macmillan global group."
We started by spending time with children in the target age group, watching how they actually used devices and interacted with digital content. The findings shaped everything that followed.
Young children are more capable than most digital products give them credit for. They want to feel in control. They respond to sound, movement, and the sense that the world they are in is alive. They do not want to be talked at. They want to play.
With that in mind, we designed and built The Deep Dark Woods - an immersive digital environment that put children inside the world of The Gruffalo. The experience included interactive games, stories, and singalongs with author Julia Donaldson. Every element was built for mobile first, which is how the vast majority of children in this age group access content.
For parents and educators, we built a separate layer: downloadable teaching materials, activity sheets, and links to merchandise. The same platform served both audiences without either experience feeling like an afterthought.
Page load was engineered to stay under two seconds. In a world where a child's attention is measured in moments, that was not a nice-to-have.
The platform launched to immediate results. Monthly visitors increased by more than 35,000, and 70% of those were new to the site - people who had not engaged with The Gruffalo online before.
Visitors came from over 160 countries, reflecting the global reach of the brand and the appetite for an experience that did not previously exist. Children spent an average of more than 10 minutes per session - a strong indicator that the content was doing what it was designed to do.
The feedback from Pan Macmillan's wider team was equally positive. The collaborative approach meant that people from across the business - and outside it - had fed into the project. That showed in the result.
