There’s an old joke about someone asking for directions in a small village in Ireland: “Can you tell me the best way to Cork?” asks the traveller. After a long pause, the grizzled old man replies: “Well the thing is you really wouldn’t want to start from here…”
And that’s the problem facing established organisations as they defend their business from lean startups and agile disrupters. Knowing the ultimate destination is only half the problem – they also need to start where they are today.
The digital challenge goes beyond strategy. Everyone has read the same articles, heard the same pitches, sat through the same presentations. They know that mobile is key. They understand the need to be customer centric. They know that data is a strategic asset. They know that digital is mission critical – the question is how to get there.
Is it about appointing a chief digital officer? Do you bring everything in-house or outsource all your non-core functions? Does cultural change come from the top down, by bringing new blood into the boardroom? Or does the answer come from the bottom up, creating new structures to empower the millennials who are the future of the workforce?
Zone is a digital agency built to help answer these questions. We are experts in strategy, technology and content. We deploy small teams of multidisciplinary specialists in agile, autonomous client groups. We pair strategists with developers, designers with data analysts and writers with testers. We call it Mission Critical Digital. And we deliver it for some of the biggest brands in the country.
For Barratt Homes, Mission Critical Digital means understanding how technology has changed the way people research and buy property. It means providing 24/7 application support, delivering maximum uptime for the websites that generates 80 per cent of leads into the organisation. And it means using data to understand the needs of buyers across a customer journey that results in the most expensive purchase most people will ever make.
Our expertise in strategy, technology and content gives us the tools to deliver real digital transformation
For South West Trains, Mission Critical Digital means reimagining the way customers buy tickets in a mobile-first world. It means creating native and responsive transactional applications. And it means subverting the way the entire industry sells tickets, presenting customers with the best-value fares across the entire UK rail network, rather than hiding behind opaque pricing and obscure ticket restrictions.
For BT, Mission Critical Digital means helping transform a utility into a media business, streaming TV, movies and sport into millions of homes all over the country. It means understanding the way customers behave throughout the duration of an annual subscription, from acquisition and set-up through to reappraisal and recontracting.
In a world where digital has become as ubiquitous as electricity, what does digital transformation actually mean? Mike Bracken, former UK government chief data officer, answers the question like this: “It means applying the culture, practices, processes and technologies of the internet era to respond to people’s raised expectations.”
Our expertise in strategy, technology and content gives us the tools to deliver real digital transformation. We don’t just help our clients work out the destination – we help them get there.
For further information please visit www.zonedigital.com
