Helping a traditional broadcaster return the remote control to the user
People
Year-on-year increase in new customers, boosting engagement and satisfaction
Planet
Tonnes saved through sustainable design, reducing waste and boosting efficiency
Profit
Increased efficiency, driving business growth and profitability
A multi-year, award-winning digital transformation reimagined the subscriber's experience, becoming their fastest-growing product.
Big picture
As Europe’s largest media and broadcast company, and one of the largest globally, our client generates over $15 billion in annual revenue, employs 35,000+ staff, and serves 23 million subscribers. Facing a shifting landscape driven by streaming services, the company recognised that delivering content in a new way was essential to maintaining its competitive edge.
We partnered with them to spearhead a comprehensive digital transformation, fundamentally changing their approach to deliver an award-winning customer experience.
Hurdles
After a decade of use, the company’s existing digital platform was nearing the end of its lifecycle and facing limitations that incremental updates couldn’t fix.
The challenge was to develop a next-generation platform that spanned hardware and software, and could adapt to future advancements and changing consumer preferences. This included the evolution of connected and multi-screen technologies as well as embedding sustainability principles into broadcasting technology.
Game plan
Through a powerful combination of user research, product and industrial design, iterative testing, and change management, we guided the organisation through its transformation.
Our embedded research approach involved long-term research participants who ‘lived with the product’ throughout its maturity phases—one of whom was the CEO. Anonymous feedback was provided directly to delivery teams, enabling them to adapt product strategies, delivery priorities, technologies, and experience design accordingly.
We also initiated a multi-stream approach to align hardware and interface design, focusing on a device-agnostic content delivery system for set-top boxes, web, tablet, and mobile platforms. Additionally, we helped the company up-skill its workforce to effectively support and sell the new platform.
The win
Our strategy of ‘meeting the subscriber where they are’ and adapting to their evolving needs delivered immediate and substantial benefits. Set-top box installations increased by 5% year-on-year, and the new platform’s efficiencies led to a 22% boost in operating profit.
Alongside revenues and profits, our design thinking approach connected us to 23+ million customers (UK & Europe) and included 350+ home and commercial studies, 75 long-term participants, and 380 prototypes.
“It's incredible to see collaboration and innovation in action within an agile environment at this scale. I’m excited to see this ripple through our organisation.”
- Innovation & Engagement Leadership
Hurdles
After a decade of use, the company’s existing digital platform was nearing the end of its lifecycle and facing limitations that incremental updates couldn’t fix.
The challenge was to develop a next-generation platform that spanned hardware and software, and could adapt to future advancements and changing consumer preferences. This included the evolution of connected and multi-screen technologies as well as embedding sustainability principles into broadcasting technology.
Game plan
Through a powerful combination of user research, product and industrial design, iterative testing, and change management, we guided the organisation through its transformation.
Our embedded research approach involved long-term research participants who ‘lived with the product’ throughout its maturity phases—one of whom was the CEO. Anonymous feedback was provided directly to delivery teams, enabling them to adapt product strategies, delivery priorities, technologies, and experience design accordingly.
We also initiated a multi-stream approach to align hardware and interface design, focusing on a device-agnostic content delivery system for set-top boxes, web, tablet, and mobile platforms. Additionally, we helped the company up-skill its workforce to effectively support and sell the new platform.
The win
Our strategy of ‘meeting the subscriber where they are’ and adapting to their evolving needs delivered immediate and substantial benefits. Set-top box installations increased by 5% year-on-year, and the new platform’s efficiencies led to a 22% boost in operating profit.
Alongside revenues and profits, our design thinking approach connected us to 23+ million customers (UK & Europe) and included 350+ home and commercial studies, 75 long-term participants, and 380 prototypes.
