Case Study

The Arena - Speed Building Challenge

Speed Meets Creativity: Crafting “The Arena” Website

Exposition

When Fri3nds Agency reconnected with Josh Loh, an accomplished UX designer and former engineering consultant, he was preparing to launch something bold - “The Arena: Speed Building Challenge.”

After years balancing analytics and creativity across industries from mining to architecture, Josh had turned his focus toward building community-driven, design-forward events for the Webflow ecosystem.

Now running The Arena, a fast-paced, global design competition, Josh faced the realities every startup founder knows well - limited time, many moving parts, and the need for a reliable partner who could own execution end-to-end.

With sponsors, hosts, and competitors worldwide, he needed a polished, high-performing website and coordinated marketing campaign to anchor the event’s rebrand and reach a growing audience.

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VERTICAL:

E-Sport

Services:

Web Development, Marketing Strategy

partners:

Josh Loh

VISIT WEBSITE

compelling event

Josh came to Fri3nds with a clear mission but limited capacity:

“I need a sleek, functional site that looks world-class, works flawlessly, and can launch fast.”

After Webflow stepped back from hosting the original Speed Building Challenge, Josh took ownership of the event’s future - managing creative, logistics, and sponsor relationships himself.

What he needed was a dependable team that could execute under pressure, freeing him to focus on the competition itself.

Our goal:

Build a dynamic, Webflow-based platform showcasing matches, schedules, prizes, and sponsors.
Design a marketing campaign that preserved the event’s legacy while generating excitement for its independent relaunch.
Deliver everything on a compressed timeline - without cutting corners on quality, design, or interactivity.

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the process

Working alongside Josh’s team and design collaborators from Benten, we translated their Figma designs into a production-ready experience within days. They trusted Fri3nds to bridge vision and delivery, handling the technical details while maintaining creative integrity.

Our approach emphasized speed, clarity, and measurable outcomes:

Rapid Webflow development with modular, editable components for easy updates.
Interactive animations and engagement features to mirror the competition’s energy.
Integrated marketing systems (Outseta for email capture, social sync, and automated updates).
Campaign planning that aligned launch timing, social rollouts, and email sequences four weeks pre-event for maximum impact.

Fri3nds handled full QA and launch coordination so Josh could stay focused on logistics and partnerships - not troubleshooting.

the outcome

The result was a visually striking, high-performance website that became the digital centerpiece of The Arena’s first independent competition. Visitors could:

Explore match lineups, results, and host bios
Access event schedules, prizes, and sponsor spotlights
Download assets to practice and participate themselves

To deepen engagement, Fri3nds built a real-time audience feature allowing users to submit “last-minute client requests” during live streams — adding unpredictable, crowd-driven twists to each match.

Metrics from launch:

1K+ unique visits in the first weeks
130+ new subscribers via Outseta integration
Up to 198 concurrent live viewers and 9.4K total views
15% increase in social followers across channels‍
63% open rate / 11% CTR - outperforming industry benchmarks

the impact

For Josh, the collaboration meant peace of mind and measurable return.

By offloading site build, integrations, and campaign management, he gained the bandwidth to focus on event execution and sponsor growth - knowing Fri3nds had the digital foundation covered.

The Arena’s relaunch exceeded expectations:

The Webflow community responded with overwhelming positive feedback.
Sponsors gained visibility and new leads.
The event reclaimed its reputation as the must-watch competition for no-code creators.

For Fri3nds, the project reinforced our role as a plug-in marketing and development partner for founders who need precision, reliability, and fast turnaround - without the overhead of a full-scale agency.

This wasn’t just a website launch; it was a startup-style partnership - one built on trust, clarity, and execution that delivers real business results.

“Fri3nds Agency was instrumental in launching The Arena, helping me transition from Webflow to building my brand from scratch. They delivered an amazing website, executed a seamless marketing strategy, and provided unwavering support with professionalism and heart, allowing me to focus on bringing my vision to life.”