In my CV I refer to my time as Project Producer in the Customer Experience Team at ?What If!
As this was such a valuable learning experience with a significant impact on my role as innovation designer I have picked an example to illustrate what a typical Custex project would look like.
As this was such a valuable learning experience with a significant impact on my role as innovation designer I have picked an example to illustrate what a typical Custex project would look like.
EMAP / SAINSBURY’S WOMEN’S WEEKLIES
Having worked on both Checkers and Ackermans accounts at BBDO, I was no stranger to retail; however, being part of small project teams conducting global innovation and brand strategy projects for a range of clients gave me a wider breadth of experience in this field.
When Emap Publishers teamed up with Sainsbury’s in a quest to sell more Women’s Weekly magazines within Sainsbury’s stores, they partnered with ?What If! to facilitate the innovation process. After completing the Insight and Idea Generation stages, the strongest ideas were selected and we conducted a Go Live! - the process of trialling concepts in-store. We tested a suite of new magazine merchandising solutions to make the fixture easier to shop and drive conversion.
During this iterative process we closely observed how shoppers react and interact with our experiments. We did some on-the-spot interviews and followed this up with tweaks to our tests over a period of 3 days.
Once the trial was over the team agreed six recommended ideas to take forward.
The impact of the trial was a 54.4% increase in volume sales and a 61.4% increase in value sales of Grazia, Heat, First and Closer when compared to the average sales in the last month.
MY ROLE:
When Emap Publishers teamed up with Sainsbury’s in a quest to sell more Women’s Weekly magazines within Sainsbury’s stores, they partnered with ?What If! to facilitate the innovation process. After completing the Insight and Idea Generation stages, the strongest ideas were selected and we conducted a Go Live! - the process of trialling concepts in-store. We tested a suite of new magazine merchandising solutions to make the fixture easier to shop and drive conversion.
During this iterative process we closely observed how shoppers react and interact with our experiments. We did some on-the-spot interviews and followed this up with tweaks to our tests over a period of 3 days.
Once the trial was over the team agreed six recommended ideas to take forward.
The impact of the trial was a 54.4% increase in volume sales and a 61.4% increase in value sales of Grazia, Heat, First and Closer when compared to the average sales in the last month.
MY ROLE:
- Researching and creating stimulus for the Idea Generation stage.
- Recruiting and co-ordinating consumers for a ‘Customer Shoes’ exercise. This is a tool used to gain first-hand consumer insight.
- Coordinating and managing planning for the Go Live! event.
- Working with designers and suppliers to create POS materials for testing in-store, as well as managing the iteration process.
- Interviewing consumers and distilling our research findings.
- Assisting the creation of a short movie showcasing the final recommendation and serving as a tool for sharing to the output.