If you need specialist expertise in planning and delivering your digital venture / project or you are at the start of your digital transformation journey - then please get in touch.
For the last 20 years I’ve been working with digital technology to transform and disrupt the way we do business. From launching Primelocation.com, designing TV services for Virgin Media through to digital transformation at a FTSE 50 company, I have delivered innovative award-winning digital projects and customer experiences for some of the UK’s leading brands. Highly experienced in start-ups, creative agencies, consultancies, and technology companies, I have worked at the forefront of new customer behaviours and digital advances in web, mobile, social, ecommerce and TV.
Most recently I have been working in strategic advisory roles, focusing on how digital can accelerate growth and transform business activity – specifically in demand generation, customer engagement, digital experience, process optimisation, planning and technology. This started with the initiation of a major digital transformation programme for a top 50 FTSE company. I am currently an associate of an advisory company providing strategic consultancy to Private Equity Companies - evaluating the digital maturity of businesses and identifying opportunities to accelerate growth.
Projects credited in
- WAITROSE TVRed Bee Media blends broadcasting and branding expertise to create an online TV experience for a major UK brand. THE CHALLENGE: Waitrose TV is a new online video channel conceived to help inspire a nation of cooks. It features six channels of content, including how-to guides, cooking tips, interviews and exclusive recipes from Waitrose food experts such as Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal. To convert inspiration into sales, Waitrose wanted their channel to look and feel noticeably different from anything seen before. And, of course, it needed to feel distinctive to Waitrose. So they turned to Red Bee Media with the challenge of packaging and presenting Waitrose TV to make it as gripping and effective as possible. THE SOLUTION: Drawing on our experience in the world of broadcasting, Red Bee Media proposed the application of televisual as well as digital design principles to the user experience. The interactive and social experience now expected when watching video online is catered for with a user experience design that includes buttons that link to recipes, buying options, sharing via social media and even registration for a Waitrose cookery school course. But as audiences have become more accustomed to catch-up TV online, many now want a more classic, indulgent TV viewing experience with minimal interaction. For that occasion there is a full screen viewing mode, and, at channel level, large scale thumbnail images to lead the audience to new content without the need for active searching. We used full screen imagery wherever possible and laid navigation elements over that imagery, in the same way broadcasters overlay their navigation graphics over the full-screen picture. We even created a new logo for Waitrose TV which fuses Waitrose’s existing identity with an icon derived from the world of TV and video. THE RESULT: The result is a TV experience, online. Whichever way the audience decides to consume the content, the whole experience looks and feels unmistakeably Waitrose. It is as involving and enjoyable as watching conventional TV on your big telly, yet not at all like watching just another video player embedded in a standard webpage. The visually-rich TV-inspired design gives Waitrose the perfect environment within which it can share its passion for food with as many viewers as possible, thereby raising awareness, deepening engagement and driving online sales.
- THE WALKING DEADWe created a watermarked companion app to deepen audience engagement and build buzz for The Walking Dead's second season on UK channel FX. THE CHALLENGE The first season of The Walking Dead was a huge hit and Season Two was gearing up to be even bigger, with numerous active fans online. US drama release patterns mean a large break in between seasons. As a result, FX needed to ensure their marketing not only created a big fanfare leading up to TX but ensured a sustained level of interest in the show, reigniting excitement for its return. THE SOLUTION With more than three-quarters of UK viewers now using other devices while watching TV (YouGov poll Oct 2011), it was clear that ‘dual screening’ could be a strong tool in a broadcaster’s weaponry. Making dual-screening work for a narrative driven, immersive drama was the key to solving the problem: audiences are using other devices, but the main screen experience is what makes the genre so successful. We created a ‘companion app’: an application that synchs with the show to deepen engagement and to gather all of the online conversations in one place, full of everything any Zombie lover could ever want. We created a UK first by using audio-watermarking in the app: technology that meant Zombie kills can be tracked to the second with the main -screen experience, whether it’s live, paused or in catch-up. The technical wizardry behind this made use of nearly every department within Red Bee – from playout and watermarking experts, to mobile developers, creatives, and designers. THE RESULT The companion app is available for iPad and iPhone, and the initial response has been overwhelming: Made the Top Ten List in the iTunes App Store during the first week 62,000 downloads in the first 60 days 300,000 gameplays in the first 60 days 37.8% uplift in viewers 65.3% jump in audience share
Skills
- UX Design
- Digital Transformation
- Product Owner
- Advisory Services
- Digital Marketing
- UX Strategy
Awards
Mobile InnovationCannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
The award, in the Mobile Lions category (Use of Multiple Screens or Networked Mobile Technology), recognised the technical and creative ingenuity of the Walkers’ Kill Count app which, in a UK first, synched with the drama’s soundtrack and allowed fans to deepen their involvement. The app has already been rated in the top 5 in New & Noteworthy Apps on iTunes and named as one of the top 50 most innovative apps by UK Trade & Investment