Having a product mindset is helping to drive double digit growth at IWSR, a global provider of data, analytics and insights for the beverage alcohol industry, says IWSR’s Julie Harris.
This product mindset is what led to the launch, in June, of their new Global Database offering, a new platform that brought together all of IWSR’s previously disparate product offerings and datasets into a single place.
When I spoke with Julie and David Leeming of 67 Bricks, a technology and product development consultancy for the specialist information publishing sector, who partnered with IWSR to design, develop and deliver the new platform, it was just six weeks post launch, and they were buzzing!
“The new platform includes an insights dashboard, customisable to give the user the stats most relevant to them and an interactive query database which allows them to drill down into the data and slice and dice it any which way,” says David.
Initial customer feedback has been very exciting. IWSR saw a 30% increase in the number of users logging in from their existing corporate subscribers, suggesting a massive increase in engagement.
Much of the early user feedback focused on the greatly improved usability of the system and the sudden realisation that IWSR’s data offering was so much more extensive than they’d previously thought. The data had always been there, but spread across different databases.
“Wow” was the prevailing mood.
The old system
Increased engagement means increased revenue potential and Julie is already describing the project as “transformational”. So, what led IWSR to undertake the re-engineering of their product offering?
Their previous setup was one that will be familiar to many publishers. Their data assets – all of which relate to the global drinks industry – were split across three different sites, each with their own login and user interface.
Having data siloed in this way made it difficult for users – internal and external – to get a clear view on the entirety of the drinks data they held.
The technology was aging and inflexible. The user interface and experience looked dated and the way the database was structured made the process of developing and launching new products laborious.
Internal decision making was hindered by the difficulty of accessing company-wide information about the depth and breadth of the data they held.
Analytics was rudimentary and, like everything else, siloed, which meant that sales teams didn’t have access to the kind of engagement and usage information that supports subscription renewal negotiations and cross and upselling pitches.
These legacy systems meant that IWSR were not serving the needs of their customers as well as they could and, consequently, were failing to realise their full revenue potential.
The first step in putting that right was to unify their data assets into a single system.
“We wanted to build something that would speed up our delivery, make it easier for clients to access the data via a single platform, and support our growth plans,” Julie said.
Getting help
Handling a project of this size in-house can be problematic. A publisher’s existing IT team will have been assembled to handle day-to-day IT requirements, and is unlikely to have the capacity or specialist knowledge to handle such a project, especially when working to tight deadlines.
“For us,” said Julie, “it was an obvious choice to source the expertise and capability externally. Working with an agency dedicated to the broader publishing space brings benefits – their familiarity with the process and the possible pitfalls and the lessons they’ve learned from other clients. We knew we would benefit from that experience of ‘been there, done that’.”
And, she added, “the reality is that we’re not a tech business. We are a tech-enabled data business.”
For those reasons, IWSR chose 67 Bricks, whose other publishing clients include The Economist Intelligence Unit, the BMJ and BSI.
From the start of the discovery phase to product launch took under twelve months.
When we met in mid-July, the big takeaway was that having a product mindset is what drove this new offering, and it will be this mindset that will unlock future revenue growth.
So, I asked Julie and David, what are the hallmarks of a product mindset?
They came up with ten:
1. Customer focus
“Being customer focused is really the key,” says Julie: “we need to be sure that the data and insight that goes into the platform is not only of the highest quality but also relevant for what our customers’ needs are today and tomorrow and then make it super easy for them to access and use it.”
“Being customer focused means engaging directly with them, not sitting in an ivory tower making assumptions,” added David: “This means facilitating user feedback at every opportunity and taking on board what the users are telling you. User groups and client advisory boards are an important part of that.”
Crucially, this takes time. Julie advises publishers not to “underestimate how much time and discovery work you need to put in,” but, she adds, it’s worth it, “because the answers are all there.”
2. Clear mission statement
Articulating a clear mission for the company, focused on the user, helps give context and direction internally.
“Being really clear around the vision for the organisation and our growth strategy has really helped” says Julie: “Where are we going? What are we doing? Why are we doing it?”
3. Strong internal communications
A mission and vision is only of use if it is well communicated and properly understood by the whole organisation.
“It’s really important to have everyone’s buy-in,” says Julie: “We have done a lot of communication and continue to do a lot of communication, so that our teams are part of the journey.”
4. Collaboration
The successful delivery of a publisher’s services and the rollout of new products requires strong collaboration between departments.
“We really encourage collaboration across teams, breaking down silos, to make sure that everyone is focused on the end user experience, and there’s no friction between any of the teams,” says Julie.
5. Unified data assets
“By unifying all your data assets into a single place,” says David, “you power your product, you meet your customers where (and when) they are, make yourself more sticky, open up opportunities for widening access points to different levels of the customer companies, and add more value to your customers.”
A single platform, that is scalable, future proof and flexible is a prerequisite.
However well you know your customers’ needs, if the technology and database structure you use makes it hard to interrogate and manipulate the data and roll out new products to meet those needs, then you will be seriously underperforming.
6. Test & learn culture
Not everything you do will succeed, but meeting customers’ needs requires trying new things. So, says Julie, “being prepared to test and learn and iterate is super important and to have that culture permeate through the whole organisation. Some things won’t work, that’s fine, as long as learnings are made.”
This approach applies, of course, to artificial intelligence. Julie says: “AI will definitely be an important part of our future enhancements, so we’re doing lots of testing and learning. We will only introduce those enhancements to customers at the point at which we are sure that there’s no compromise to accuracy.”
7. Continuous learning
“A product mindset fosters a culture of continuous learning and improvement and being focused on developing a solution that solves a customer’s problem or meets their needs, or an unmet need, and adds tangible value to their business,” says Julie.
As customer needs evolve, so should your learning.
8. Measuring the right things
“When you adopt a product mindset, focused on solving customer problems, you start thinking about what you’re measuring in different ways,” says Julie; “so, rather than page views, for instance, you’re measuring user engagement, user acquisition, conversion rates and customer satisfaction. What you’re doing is very focused on solving particular problems across different use cases and that requires you to really understand your customers and how they use your product in a meaningful way.”
9. Data-driven decision making
“Making decisions based on knowledge rather than gut-feel ensures that the company remains customer focused,” says David: “Product decisions need to be based on data and discovery work, as opposed to intuition or what any particular member of your team might find interesting.”
10. Focused on future growth
Being customer focused enables you to anticipate changing customer needs and develop new products to meet those needs. Having a unified data structure means you can respond rapidly to those evolving needs to roll out new products and features.
“Product development is not a ‘nice to have’ activity – it is intrinsically tied to the future viability of a company, by protecting, growing and diversifying revenue streams,” says David.
According to Julie, IWSR has an exciting product roadmap, which includes enhanced forecasting capabilities, integrating scenario planning tools into the platform, expanding data sets and looking at potential new verticals and acquisitions, all of which will be significantly easier to achieve using the new platform developed by 67 Bricks.
If you can successfully meet customer needs, you can build profitable revenue streams. If you are unsure about what those needs are, then viability, let alone growth, becomes challenging.
“For information companies, who previously might have thought in a more ‘content’ than ‘product’ way, it’s vital to make the shift,” says David, “and it’s better to get started, gathering feedback and working in an agile fashion, so you can start making progress sooner and realise benefits faster, bringing your time-to-value down.”
But, I ask him, for hard pressed publishers with over stretched IT teams, and who aren’t used to thinking in this way, what do they do?
“Working with a partner like 67 Bricks, who have done this successfully for other companies, can help you make the shift. You can benefit from their breadth of expertise without hiring all new people to deliver. You also benefit from the lessons they’ve learned from others.”
“Get in touch with us to see how we can help you transition into a fully product-focused, and hence more profitable, organisation,” says David Leeming, CTO of 67 Bricks.
67 Bricks provides technology consultancy and full-service product development for information companies.
Email: david.leeming@67bricks.com
Web: www.67bricks.com
In the September / October issue of InPublishing magazine: Putting the customer first – how do you ensure you are developing your products with the customer in mind?
