Assessing the real-life potential of a digital entertainment concept
Telenet is Belgium’s largest provider of cable broadband services, bringing broadband internet, fixed and mobile telephony services and cable television to customers in the Brussels and Flanders regions. As a firm believer in the huge potential of digital, the company is committed to helping people and businesses stay one step ahead in the digital age.
Like many industries, the global telecommunications industry is undergoing a digital transformation. Superior connectivity is becoming commoditised and telcos are diversifying to reach different aspects of their customer’s digital lives with integrated, on-demand experiences.
Building on the long-standing strategic objective to reinforce their presence in living rooms across Flanders and Brussels, Telenet wanted to explore a new entertainment concept: an interactive fitness app, accessible via their set-top box.
But with customer expectations and realities constantly evolving, the challenge was to validate product-market fit in a fast, low-risk and cost-effective way, while at the same time being ready to scale if the concept took off.
To assess whether this concept could move the needle for Telenet – taking into account its intricacies as a large-scale telco provider – we brought together a joint, multidisciplinary team that could drive the project from beginning to end. We mirrored the diverse expertise on both Telenet and November Fives sides of the team so individuals could essentially speak the same language. This meant that questions, concerns and ideas could be shared in the most productive way, without any barriers.
In early 2020, as the project was underway, COVID-19 changed the world overnight. In the digital world, however, change has long been a constant force, and agility is widely recognised as the key to survival. Our genuinely agile approach – which we apply in all our projects – meant that we could launch the MVP at a crucial moment to deliver maximum value: during Belgium’s first COVID-19 lockdown.
While the concept did not prove to be one Telenet should pursue further, we learned this in less than 12 weeks, got valuable insights about customers and the role of the set-top box, and could move on to the next idea with renewed energy and confidence.
from concept to launch
Ivor Micallef, Director Entertainment Product at Telenet
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To be able to deliver a successful digital product that would move the needle and bring real value to both Telenet and its customers, we needed a deep understanding of the challenges at hand.
Strategic workshops with internal stakeholders gave us the chance to listen to and explore Telenet’s business ambitions and goals, ensuring alignment before moving forward. In parallel, to get key insights into consumer mindsets, we adopted a two-pronged approach: on the one hand, consulting the existing literature on sports habits; and on the other, engaging local market research company Buffl, whose fast turnaround gave us insights into the sports attitudes of people living in Flanders.
This foundation let us confidently establish a powerful value proposition that would propel the project forward.
“Be where the customer is” may be cliché, but this is what drove the decision to launch the fitness app on Telenet’s EOS set-top box, already present in customer living rooms across the region.
After analysing the existing infrastructure to better understand the various constraints linked to the TV-box, e.g. navigation using the remote control, performance, memory usage, data privacy, and limited debugging options, we built the app using React.
And although we could have assessed product-market fit by developing a stand-alone app, integrating the concept into the set-top box brought much more value. For example, it gave insights into the role the set-top box could play for future concepts. Also, if the app had been a huge success, scaling it on the set-top box would have been relatively straightforward.
We worked closely with the Telenet team to bring this product to life, and our respective strengths and expertise – as well as a clear focus on results – meant the project gained momentum fast. The entire project, from idea to launch, was delivered in just six sprints of two weeks each.
As a multidisciplinary, end-to-end partner, we were able to strategise, analyse, conceptualise, build and launch this product, keeping accountability from start to finish.
