WE IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMART, EFFICIENT INNOVATION THAT BENEFITS BOTH YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR CUSTOMERS.

Our deep roots and experience in digital, social & mobile strategy, and product development allow us to combine marketing prowess with smart digital thinking to efficiently solve business challenges and effectively activate customers.

We all know there’s a lot of waste in the traditional client/agency model - our experience with agencies and brands inspired us to emerge from that model to focus on creating something useful, in a way that is fully transparent to our clients and rooted in customer desires and expectations.

We’re part of a new school of thinkers & creators, using smart, efficient and evidence-based methods to create successful brand and product experiences.

WE CREATE BRAND & PRODUCT EXPERIENCES THAT ARE RESPONSIVE TO BUSINESS NEEDS AND CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR.

We create a blueprint for a holistic digital ecosystem that touches on- and off-line engagement channels, and that is easily shared across product and marketing groups.

We streamline a brand’s marketing approach to focus on engaging and activating customers; and we help develop a lean approach to production and management of these platforms - reducing costs while increasing quality.

We find or create tools that are easily deployable, measurable (and we help establish the right set of goals), as well as scalable and repeatable.

Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business has two - and only two - functions: Marketing and Innovation. Marketing and Innovation produce results. All the rest are costs.

PETER DRUCKER

WE BELIEVE IN VALUE CREATION,NOT VALUE EXTRACTION

A brand is not only what it says it is. And it’s not merely what your “target” thinks about your communications.

Today, the brand is a shared asset - it lives in the way people experience your products and services, and what people do with and about you.

The success of your brand depends on where and how we buy your product or use your service, how we feel about the price-value equation, and how we interact with your people and platforms.

Instead of getting people to act, think or feel a particular way, we look for ways to make engaging with the brand a more useful, more rewarding, and more successful experience for customers. We want to help you make it easier for more people to engage your products & services, in more places.

Value can only be defined by the ultimate customer. And it’s only meaningful when expressed in terms of a specific product (a good or a service, and often both at once) which meets the customer’s needs at a specific price at a specific time.

JAMES WOMACK & DANIEL JONES

WE ARE CUSTOMER CENTRIC, NOT BRAND CENTRIC

Brands and agencies spend a lot of time talking about “consumers” and “target audiences”. Too often, these aren’t real people - they’re statistical averages, and they don’t always help managers make decisions.

We focus on customers - real people who expect real value from your products and services. These are the people who spend time, money, or effort in exchange for the value your products and services provide.

We identify your real customers - whether these are your actual end users, or your channel partners - and discover untapped or underserved customers. We learn what they want, need or desire in order to have a successful brand or product experience.

And then we collaborate with you and them to discover opportunities for innovation that creates value.

We always have a vision that is clearly articulated, big enough to matter & shared by the whole team...Our goal is always to discover which aspects of this vision are grounded in reality & adapt those aspects that are not.

ERIC RIES

WE ARE EVIDENCE-BASED,NOT PROCESS-DRIVEN

We make no assumptions - about your business model, your customers, or your value proposition. As a result, we don’t start off knowing where we’ll end up, or try to ‘sell’ you on an outcome.

Rather, we learn what to do. We rely on the rigor of design thinking tools, and collaborate openly with the brand team and with customers, to arrive at hypotheses worth testing.

As a result, we can be nimble in our project planning, flexible in pricing, and responsive to the needs of the business and brand or product teams.

And we stay focused on measurable business outcomes - customer activation and acquisition, as well as customer retention and referral.

discovery Invention

reinvention

vision

What do your customers/ prospects need? What problem

could we solve?

How will the brand (co)create this value for &

with customers?

What are the right platforms, tools & ideas

for value creation?

Is it working? What do we change?How do we improve?

HOW WE ROLL

HOW WE COLLABORATE TO CREATE

Our team can help you get to what you need more efficiently than you’re probably used to. We work to create the conditions for success, connecting brand & product platforms, customer engagement and meaningful metrics.

Our services include:

Business model workshops help identify opportunities for innovation and value creation.

Customer development & discovery work identifies untapped or underserved customer segments and needs.

Blueprints for a product experience that creates value for customers are developed to share across internal teams and outside partners.

Roadmaps for development, deployment, and measurement & revision are created to support always-on engagement programs.

Briefing and vetting potential partners help brands identify the right partners.

Hiring and overseeing the right partners enable us to develop & deploy bespoke solutions.

WHO WE’VE WORKED WITH

Our team honed their skills and perspectives working with clients in many categories, to discover new customer segments, identify opportunities for innovation, and develop programs for creating value in the digital, mobile and social spheres.

REINVENTING A NETWORK.the challenge

In 2003, USA Network suffered from low ratings, audiences and content that failed to attract advertisers, and a programming and brand heritage that hindered growth. They saw their viewers as “less-than-average Joes” and wanted to reposition the channel, the content and as a result, the audience.

THE APPROACH

An iterative customer discovery and development approach was used to find out who USA’s viewers really were, what made them tune in, what made them flip to another channel, and what caused confusion, as well as to understand the context of viewing choices made across an increasingly cluttered spectrum. They had a question for us, “What gives USA the right to call itself USA?”

THE RESULT

We collaborated with the USA team to translate these gaps, obstacles and opportunities into a new network mission, ‘Characters Welcome’, that led to a fresh curatorial perspective based on an appreciation of the diversity of people and places in America, which in turn informed a new approach to developing and licensing shows that are all about great American characters. These choices greatly improved the viewer experience - and ultimately the network’s ratings.

THE #1 SHOE IN GOLF, FOR EVERYONE.the challenge

The most-worn golf shoe brand on the PGA tour, FootJoy is a highly respected, high quality manufacturer of golf shoes for men and women. Facing threats from Nike, Puma, Ecco and other, newer entrants to the golf category, FootJoy commissioned a segmentation study and strategic exploration of how the brand could evolve both its products and its marketing to appeal to a broader, and likely younger, golf customer.

THE APPROACH

We workshopped a series of hypotheses about how avid and frequent golfers shop, think about the category, and select the right shoes for them. We took these hypotheses into the field to test with actual golfers - men and women, younger as well as more seasoned golfers. We explored the line of products as well as sponsorships, spokespeople and other marketing with customers, and learned what drives golfers.

THE RESULT

After validating what we discovered in face-to-face meetings with golfers in a quantitative segmentation study, we identified product development opportunities that would reach younger golfers, more tech-savvy golfers, and more diverse golfers (women, less frequent golfers). We also streamlined the marketing approach, focusing on technology and innovation, and a more limited line of shoes, letting these act as flagships for the broader catalog; we relied on the brand’s heritage and standing as the #1 shoe in golf to demonstrate quality & comfort.

REIMAGINING DAYTIME DRAMA.the challenge

In 2006, TeleNext Media, the producers of Guiding Light and As the World Turns (America’s two longest running soap operas) were faced with a crisis: where had millions of daytime viewers, so loyal in the 1980s and 1990s, gone - and how could we get them back?

THE APPROACH

We met with writers and producers of the shows, visited sets, met with viewers, and dug deep into the challenges the shows faced in production and storytelling, and the role soaps played in both the television industry and the lives of viewers. We looked at how styles, formats and subject matter had changed over time, and uncovered opportunities for each show to improve the quality of its writing and production.

THE RESULT

We worked with the showrunners to develop a lean approach to production - reducing costs while improving quality by switching to handheld digital cameras, permanent sets and outdoor staging. We helped each show develop a unique take on storytelling - As the World Turns moved to ‘real time’ stories, where each day in Springfield was a day in the real world; Guiding Light focused on a single character or couple each Wednesday. We helped TeleNext develop online communities for established viewers to introduce new viewers and mentor them on story and character. Prior to cancellation, they were regarded as the most innovative shows in daytime, influencing the entire genre.

DISCOVERING NEW CUSTOMERS.the challenge

A major food marketer, a staple brand of American pantries and refrigerators, lacked a clear connection to two emerging groups of consumers - Foodies and people concerned about sustainability. They wanted to develop products or services that could connect these consumers to the brand, and provide good reasons to think of the brand as a partner in a more discerning kitchen.

THE APPROACH

We observed foodies and sustainability-concerned shoppers over several days - their shopping habits, their lifestyles, the way they organize their kitchens, the way they prepare food and organize their homes. We discovered a variety of opportunities for Kraft to bring its experience and expertise in food preparation and packaging into these consumers homes in a useful, authentic way.

THE RESULT

We created a digital blueprint - literally a internal website designed like the blueprints of a home - to share across product and marketing groups the lifestyle, pain points and need states of these customers. A combination of user-created photography and video clips, as well as our recommendations for innovation opportunities were mapped to the different rooms of the home. Each room outlined product or service innovation ideas: small space storage solutions, shopping & recipe apps, sustainable packaging, food games for kids, and content ideas to support budding chefs and emerging environmentalists.

CONTACT US

@DifferenceNGN

thedifferenceengine.co

info@thedifferenceengine.co

+1.718.915.5061

Brooklyn, USA