Selects | Issue 2

A SELECTION OF RECENT CASE STUDIES

HELLO

In this 2nd edition of Selects we’ve prepared a selection of projects that highlight what we’ve been up to recently.

From continuing our relationship with Southern Cross and moving from Health to Pet CX Strategy, to tackling Fonterra's massive Te Rapa plant visitor experience. Planning and facilitating an innovation design sprint for WEL Networks which in turn led to the birth of We.EV - an exciting new B2B EV business and service offering.

It’s also been a blast working with my old buddy Ryan who moved over to Bakels Edible Oils where we’ve delivered brand strategy (with significant input from employees who helped shape our thinking), brand story and a fresh new visual identity.

And finally we’re delighted to be able to continue to give back to charities and initiatives that need help. Homes of Devonport was one such initiative where we were able to donate significantly to help support Dementia Auckland and Hospice.

As you’re no doubt aware we also donated 5,000 nappies, 1,000 sanitary pads and 100 Xmas day food parcels to those in need at Xmas via Auckland City Mission.

BEST, RUSS AND THE TEAM AT D&CO

P.S. If you missed out on the first Selects tabloid drop us a note and we'll get one posted out to you - info@dandco.nz

EXPERIENCE INNOVATION BRAND TRANSFORMATION

D&CO HELP FAR-SIGHTED ORGANISATIONS BECOME VISIONARY.

We create brand, customer, and employee experiences that make life better for millions of people, every day.

The world as we know it has changed beyond recognition. And with it, traditional ways of thinking have quickly become fossilised. The new landscape is one of tangible experiences. A place where people emotionally respond to brands in ways that are invisible, relevant, and magical.

As you know D&Co is an experience design consultancy that leverages the power of brand, customer experience, innovation, human-centred design, and technology to create a more connected experience between brands, and the human beings who interact with them.

From small start-ups and equity partners to significant global brands, we’re a new breed of creative company, bringing together a network of extraordinary specialists – sharp thinkers with genuine insights to offer – to form a unique team for your project.

EXPERIENCE INNOVATION TRANSFORMATION

CREATING CONNECTED EXPERIENCES THAT ENHANCE THE LIVES OF REAL PEOPLE. BRAND EXPERIENCE

INNOVATION TRANSFORMATION

D&Co creates brands relevant to the experience age. We’re a blend of experienced individuals who combine logic, magic and relentless passion to build new brands, reposition existing ones, and ultimately deliver growth through an enduring business advantage.

+ Brand strategy

+ Positioning

+ Architecture

+ Naming

+ Identity & Expression

+ Visual & Interaction design

+ Pop-up & Spatial design

+ Content strategy & development

Whether it’s aimed at customers, shareholders or employees, your brand is the experience. Truly meaningful experiences don’t come easy, mind you. Yet with vision, insight, and experience we’ll help you create something special using our own proprietary ‘Experience Innovation System’.

+ Customer insight (Ethnography, Walk a Mile, Interviewing, Quant)

+ Customer Experience (CX) strategy & execution

+ Digital Experience (DX) strategy & execution

+ Employee Experience (EX) strategy & execution

+ Service Design

+ Rapid design sprints & prototyping

+ Customer testing and idea validation

+ Experience viability modelling

+ Touchpoint optimisation

+ Pop-up & Spatial design

The best innovations are driven by simple, human insights – sometimes by solving problems people didn’t even know they had. Using proven proprietary methods and fun, engaging processes, we’ll make sure your innovation outputs have the best possible chance of survival in a ‘why would we even bother’ customer world.

+ Customer insight (Ethnography, Walk a Mile, Interviewing, Quant)

+ Growth strategy

+ Customer opportunity modelling

+ Concept development

+ MVP development

+ Prototyping, Testing, Iterating and Piloting

+ Go to market strategy

+ Trend reports (supported by our NYC ‘futures’ agency)

We work alongside you to bring your transformation initiatives to life. We do this in multiple ways from providing specialist talent to supplement your teams, helping you select the right projects to deliver, and leading or supporting you to deliver customer outcomes, business outcomes and transformation outcomes delivering impactful and long-lasting change.

+ Specialist Programme & Project Management and Agile Delivery Talent

+ Establish and Run Transformation Teams

+ PMO Establishment

+ PMO Uplift

+ Outsourced PMO

+ Project & Project Management Consultancy

+ Programme and Project Rescue

+ Independent Quality Assurance

A ROUND UP OF RECENT CASE STUDIES HAND PICKED JUST FOR YOU.

FONTERRA

Designing the Te Rapa visitor experience.

BAKELS EDIBLE OILS

A people led brand strategy and identity.

WEL NETWORKS

Unpacking our innovation process for WEL Networks leading to We.EV.

We EV

A powerful and game-changing new B2B EV business and service offering.

SOUTHERN CROSS PET INSURANCE

Developing the 'Moments that Matter' CX Toolkit.

HOMES OF DEVONPORT

Gifting our creative time to support causes close to our heart.

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DESIGNING THE TE RAPA VISITOR EXPERIENCE

BACKGROUND

The Te Rapa Milk & Cream plant welcomes Fonterra customers, farmers, government and the general public far and wide to experience the full glory of this magnificent engineering feat and to see how their products are made.

THE CHALLENGE

Fonterra had been exploring a Te Rapa visitor experience for a number of years and when they briefed D&Co there was a certain amount of pressure to deliver an incredible experience to a tight budget and timeline. We relished the challenge and got stuck in!

Checkout the full case study at dandco.nz

OUR SOLUTION

Te Rapa is a significant site spanning a huge area and with visitors being taken to multiple areas across the plant there’s a lot of walking and a lot of wall space and stairs, huge viewing galleries and packing zones. We therefore wanted to ensure visitors understood where they were and what was happening at any given stage of their experience. We spent a significant amount of time with key Te Rapa staff to unpack the end-toend process and then designed a 10 step process diagram that very clearly communicated the main stages of the Milk and Cream plant process.

From there we started work on laying out the overall experience and using our process stages to glue the experience together. Visitors clearly understood where they were and what was next in the experience.

The great news? It’s already going down well.

The experience is already being met with excellent feedback from staff and visitors alike. And we’re delighted that Fonterra have asked D&Co to undertake a number of other site experiences. Fun times ahead!

DELIVERABLES

+ Desktop experience research

+ Site plan

+ Process design

+ Wayfinding

+ Experience design and installation

Designing a better way to welcome people to Te Rapa.

Updated wayfinding.

Bringing the process to life with engaging infographic storytelling.

Connecting the experience with moments of delight.

“The Te Rapa experience was one of those projects that doesn’t turn up every day. The team relished the challenge of designing a cohesive and connected experience that helped visitors through the cavernous site. We’re delighted with the result and the really positive feedback we’ve received.”

RUSS DOUGLAS FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL STRATEGIST AT D&CO

Checkout the full case study at dandco.nz

Engaging ways to help the journey flow.

A PEOPLE LED BRAND STRATEGY AND IDENTITY

BACKGROUND

Bakels Edible Oils (BEO) may not be a name you’ve come across before, but chances are you’ll have experienced their ingredients. That’s because this innovative Kiwi company has been providing ingredients to some of New Zealand’s most progressive brands for over 30 years. Brands like Fonterra, for example, who trust BEO with their infant formula all the way through to Cookietime cookies, Trilogy oils, and many more. But with a new vision and business strategy, they felt it was time to enhance their brand and tell their story.

THE CHALLENGE

The business has experienced continued development and with a new Managing Director and executive team they wanted to signal to the market a fresh, new and exciting chapter in the business' growth story.

DELIVERABLES

+ Brand strategy

+ Brand story

+ Identity development

+ Brand activations

+ Vehicle livery

+ Brand photography

+ Website architecture, design and development

+ Spacial design

Checkout the full case study at dandco.nz

OUR SOLUTION

Working alongside the BEO team, we helped create a refreshed brand strategy and brand story and a new visual identity which could reflect the incredible passion, integrity and family spirit of the people at BEO.

The brand strategy is designed from within, literally ‘by the team, for the team’. That’s why we spent days interviewing staff from all areas of the business to truly understand how the business ticks, and why so many individuals have chosen to stay for 10, 15, 20 and even 25 years plus. We delved into their culture, the dedication to each other, and spoke to their customers to analyse their levels of service. We then explored their future ambition for the business and defined a clear path for the team to follow.

It’s been incredibly rewarding to see the whole business embrace the new brand and start to live it in their day to day.

The brand received very positive feedback at the internal launch and we're delighted with the external expression from head office design we've undettaken to the website and truck livery.

“It's been an incredible journey working with Russ and his team on our brand strategy, our internal launch and the powerful new visual identity. Russ really got us and spent days interviewing our team. What surprised me is that ‘We’re In This For Good’ really captured how our people feel. Our people genuinely care about each other and about looking after our customers. It’s who we are, and Russ, somehow, managed to capture that and it really resonated with the team. D&Co brought our business to life in a way I didn't think possible and we are looking forward to continuing our exciting journey with them.”

ANTONY MOESS MANAGING DIRECTOR AT BAKELS EDIBLE OILS (NZ) LTD

UNPACKING OUR INNOVATION PROCESS FOR WEL NETWORKS LEADING TO WE.EV

BACKGROUND

Innovation is a messy business but we have a formula that we've used time and time again to help organisations arrive at new product and service breakthroughs.

This case study journeys through our work with WEL Networks to realise the first innovative product to exit our innovation pathway for WEL - We.EV. A new offering that helps organisations save time, and money, on transitioning their fleet to EV using We.EV’s handson innovation. We.EV is a smarter EV charging and management infrastructure solution that helps businesses get future-ready.

THE CHALLENGE

Helping businesses to arrive at new break-through ideas leading to viable products and services isn't easy but having supported the WEL Networks executive in landing an innovation fund we were then tasked with designing and facilitating an innovation design sprint in the hope of realising new, desirable, feasible and viable products and services.

OUR SOLUTION

Define

The first step was to help the WEL Exec with their future state energy strategy positioning to raise innovation funding. In typical D&Co storytelling fashion we unpacked a series of papers, and through a multi-workshop format with the WEL team, we pulled together a powerfully engaging and strategically strong Board paper. We never underestimate the power of storytelling when helping our clients to raise funds, pitch new ideas, or win new business. It’s in D&Co’s DNA and we love helping our clients with storytelling.

Ideate

After this initial piece of strategic consultancy we deployed key tools from the Experience Innovation System to help teams from across WEL arrive at new ideas for exploration. The Experience Innovation System is packed with simple yet effective design thinking tools that get the creative juices flowing. For this design sprint we used 5 key design thinking methods across 4 cross-functional ideation workshops to arrive at a multitude of new product and service ideas.

Validate

Synthesising outputs from our ideation workshops was the next step and in doing so we were able to create multiple prototypes. This led to a test and learn cycle as we explored what was desirable to our target customers. One territory for exploration became clear which led us to develop a more comprehensive service design plan and assumed customer journey for this concept. The journey was then tested with potential customers to validate our thinking.

As sure as night follows day a number of key changes were made to the service proposition

based on insights from our qualitative customer research. We then worked up a draft customer value proposition (CVP) and minimum viable product (MVP) which was again tested with potential customers.

With universal support from potential customers the decision was made to progress with the service proposition and other partners were brought in to work on the operational side of the business. D&Co shifted modes from our innovation led function to brand strategy, visual identity and go-to-market activations.

Execute

With the service proposition green lit to move into pilot we shifted gears and started work on the brand strategy, positioning, naming, story and the visual identity system. We landed on the name We.EV which is all about the ‘we’ being 100% owned by the community. The brand strategy and visual identity system have been well received as we now take We.EV to market. It’s early days but interest is high and We.EV already have a number of cornerstone clients on board!

DELIVERABLES

+ Strategic storytellingBoard presentation

+ Design sprint planning and facilitation

+ Workshop synthesis

+ Prototype design

+ Evaluative research

+ Research synthesis

+ MVP development

+ Brand strategy, brand story, naming and visual identity

+ Go-to-market

Checkout the full case study at dandco.nz

POP UP EXPERIENCE

We developed an installation at WEL’s head office for employees to explore the outputs of the sprint. From outlining the strategy, delving into the voice of the business, our sprint concepts and prototypes, and taking our concepts to pilot.

“D&Co's broad offering not only helped us with strategy positioning and storytelling, and facilitating an innovation design sprint but also extended to service design and a draft MVP for our new We.EV product. On top of that they then ran a rapid CX programme concluding in customer validation of our new We.EV service offering. They then went on to develop the brand strategy, visual identity and go-to-market! We're delighted with the level of engagement, creativity and programme support from D&Co. They've been an incredible partner and we continue our relationship as we explore and develop new energy service innovations.”

“It's been an incredible opportunity to work with the WEL Networks Exec on strategy development and to take that through our Innovation Delivery Pathway to the realisation of a go-to-market product in We.EV. We've leveraged all 3 of our core capabilities; Brand, Experience, and Innovation throughout this engagement as well as our latest Transformation offering that ensures ideas become reality through PMO and worldclass programme management.”

RUSS DOUGLAS FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL STRATEGIST, D&CO

A POWERFUL AND GAME-CHANGING NEW B2B EV BUSINESS AND SERVICE OFFERING

BACKGROUND

We’ve been supporting WEL Networks with their innovation journey for a while now. From helping to firm up their E3 Innovation Strategy with the Exec to facilitating an innovation design sprint that resulted in multiple product and service opportunities.

THE CHALLENGE

With clarity on strategy and multiple ideas resulting from our innovation design sprint behind us now was the time to prioritise and accelerate one of those opportunities into a market ready minimum viable product.

Checkout the full case study at dandco.nz

OUR SOLUTION

D&Co helped WEL Networks develop their E3 Innovation Strategy and ran a subsequent innovation design sprint that resulted in multiple energy solution opportunities to explore.

We focussed on a particularly strong idea that aligned to latent internal capability. This idea was then developed into more detail using our assumed customer journey modelling workshop. The experience was then tested with potential customers and refined ahead of developing the draft MVP and CVP.

From there it was into developing the brand strategy, naming, a powerful brand story, a visually stunning and unique identity system and the brand activations required to support our go-to-market strategy. Alongside this the team have also been busy with programme management to support the new We.EV team in delivering product critical digital management tools. We're delighted with the new offer and the level of engagement and desirability it's already getting across the market.

Find out more at www.we-ev.co.nz

DELIVERABLES

+ Assumed customer journey mapping

+ Customer validation research

+ MVP design

+ CVP design

+ Brand strategy

+ Naming

+ Visual Identity

+ Programme Management

+ Brand activations and support material

+ Animated ident

+ Website architecture design and development

“We’d been working with Russ and the D&Co team on our innovation strategy and in helping us to explore energy service innovation opportunities. When we landed on an exciting opportunity in the EV space we continued to leverage D&Co’s experience to develop the MVP and validate our thinking with potential customers. This led to We.EV and we're incredibly excited at the potential this exciting new offering has. And the good news, we’ve already got multiple customers - and that was before we even formally launched We.EV! We’re delighted with the level of engagement, creativity and programme support from D&Co. They’ve been an incredible partner and we continue our relationship as we explore and develop new energy service innovations.”

KERRY GREEN GM ENERGY SERVICES, WEL NETWORKS

WE.EV BRAND STORY

As the world’s energy focus shifts to renewables and long-term sustainability – it’s good to know looking ahead is already a big part of what drives us in the first place.

Backed by WEL Networks, a local company with world-class energy expertise and over 100 years of experience, We.EV is helping businesses get futureready with their Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure.

From early-adopters to EV newbies, We.EV will help you save time, and money, on transitioning your fleet using our hands-on innovation.

Whatever your vision, it's people that drive us to do better. Community owned, our vision is simple; to help businesses shape a better, more renewable future. For your people. Your business. And the communities you live and work in.

We.EV

Powering businesses on the road to a brighter future.

“It's been an incredible opportunity to work with the WEL Networks Exec on strategy development and to take that through our Innovation Delivery Pathway to the realisation of a go-to-market product in We.EV. We've leveraged all 3 of our core capabilities; Brand, Experience, and Innovation throughout this engagement as well as our latest Transformation offering that ensures ideas become reality through PMO and world-class programme management.”

RUSS DOUGLAS FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL STRATEGIST, D&CO

DEVELOPING THE ‘MOMENTS THAT MATTER’ CX TOOLKIT

BACKGROUND

After delivering the Southern Cross Health Insurance Moments that Matter CX Toolkit, D&Co were then asked to deliver a similar body of work for their pet insurance business (a project we honestly relished given we’re pet owners too!).

THE CHALLENGE

When considering any customer experience, knowing where to focus and what to focus on, is fast becoming the only way to differentiate yourself from the competition. And when your customer is a pet, that presents all kinds of new opportunities!

Checkout the full case study at dandco.nz

OUR SOLUTION

Using D&Co’s proprietary tools, we developed a comprehensive set of customer insights and a range of practical tools to help teams to focus on what truly matters most. Pet insurance is an emotive space – nobody wants their beloved pets to come to any harm, but owners also want to avoid massive vet fees if and when they do. To understand this headspace, we worked with internal teams at SCPI to get a feel for their processes and perspectives. We then interviewed frontline staff to understand their ‘gain points’ and ‘pain points’ – especially when supporting customers.

Next, we spoke with real customers and vets for an honest understanding of their experience with Southern Cross Pet Insurance. These interviews highlighted a number of important insights which were then used to frame key ‘needs’ statements, which we then collared with quantitative research to assess and validate.

DELIVERABLES

+ Desktop research

+ Journey mapping

+ Ethnographic research

+ Voice of the Business, Voice of the Team, Voice of Vet and Voice of the Customer reports

+ Customer and Vet stories

+ Quantitative research

+ Synthesis

+ CX Strategy formation

THE MOMENTS THAT MATTER

This thorough approach and analysis led to the delivery of a practical CX resource for the team – one which provides absolute clarity on the things that are most important to pet owners at every stage of their experience with Southern Cross. The resource is now being used by internal teams to help differentiate the insurer from others in the market, and deliver what matters most to the customer. Whether they're human or fur-babies!

“D&Co came

highly recommend having undertaken a great piece of CX business for our friends at Southern Cross Health Insurance. Russ and his team were great to work with and have a knack at turning raw insight into actionable benefit statements that help our teams to accelerate product and service design.”

BRIDGETTE MUIR HEAD OF PRODUCT & MARKETING

INSURANCE

GIFTING OUR CREATIVE TIME TO SUPPORT CAUSES CLOSE TO OUR HEART

BACKGROUND

The Homes of Devonport tour (Previously Fine Homes of Devonport) is a fund raising initiative that provides an opportunity for ticket holders to take a look around 10 interesting homes in Devonport on Auckland's north shore.

Purchasing a ticket allows access to the 10 designated homes and is a great day out as well as helping to raise significant funds for the likes of Devonport Rotary Charitable Trust, Dementia Auckland and Hospice.

THE CHALLENGE

Fine Homes of Devonport had been running for a number of years raising money for local charities but the name felt a little elitist and the visual identity was tired and in need of a refresh.

DELIVERABLES

+ Brand strategy

+ Naming

+ Brand story

+ Identity development

+ Brand activations

+ Magazine

+ Advertising

+ Website

Checkout the full case study at dandco.nz

OUR SOLUTION

We were approached to enter our home into the tour as LeGrand (a smart electrical company) wanted to sponsor our home due to the smart tech they had installed. We agreed and went one step further by offering to provide re-positioning, a strong word mark and visual identity to be used across all marketing collateral and the supporting magazine.

On a more personal note my grandfather suffered from dementia and I watched his demise and the cruel reality of the disease taking hold. The love, compassion and commitment my grandmother gave to look after him and the gifting of her time to Dementia in Scotland was recognised when Edinburgh’s Lord Provist awarded her with a medal of honour.

So it was decided that we would gift D&Co's time to help support Dementia Auckland and the other beneficiaries, in the end gifting more than $65k of our time.

We renamed the tour to Homes of Devonport which opened the net wider and allowed for a greater mix of homes. From classic villas with the latest technology to architectural gems, award winning homes to eclectic explorations. Then it was onto the creation of a new word mark and a refreshed visual identity system that would last the test of time. We conducted desktop research and landed on a clever twist for the word mark and associated key elements. For example, we designed a key with the H and D at either end helping to give the design system a bit of a fun, clever and approachable personality.

We went on to design a range of marketing activations from the website, social media creative, advertising billboards and printed ads to the accompanying magazine for visitors on the day.

We're absolutely delighted to say that tickets sold out in record time and Homes of Devonport raised more money than ever before.

The word mark, design system and supporting collateral can now be used for years to come to support these wonderful causes and we're happy to have played our part. Although over 800 people rinsing through our home was a bit daunting!

“We're delighted to have been able to gift our time in support of Dementia Auckland and the other beneficiaries. My grandfather suffered from dementia and I watched his demise and the cruel reality of the disease taking hold. The love, compassion and commitment my grandmother gave to look after him and the gifting of her time to Dementia in Scotland was recognised when Edinburgh’s Lord Provist awarded her with a medal of honour.”

RUSS DOUGLAS

BUT THERE’S MORE...

+ KiwiRail brand strategy, story, and visual identity.

+ KiwiRail head office design.

+ Sealink new vessel experience design.

+ Anchor Food Professionals Domino's Connect engagement platform.

THERE’S MORE...

A ROUND UP OF SOME OF THE OTHER PROJECTS WE’VE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO WORK ON SINCE THE PREVIOUS ISSUE OF SELECTS.

+ Anchor Food Professionals sustainability positioning and toolkit

+ Anchor Food Professionals Malaysian sustainability campaign.

+ The Superyacht Gathering brand strategy, story and visual identity.

+ The Ted Manson Foundation website.

+ Skintel brand strategy, story and visual identity.

+ TSB EPMO Programme Management.

+ TSB Customer Data Integrity Uplift programme.

+ Fonterra Research & Development Centre visitor experience.

+ Fonterra COO Brand story.

+ WEL Networks We.EV business support.

+ WEL Networks PMO.

+ Legrand roadshow experience design.

+ Bakels Edible Oils tanker design.

D&CO IS A NEW BREED OF CREATIVE COMPANY THAT IS DESIGNED FOR THE EXPERIENCE AGE. WE ARE A COLLECTIVE OF SPECIALISTS THAT HELP TRANSFORM CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES FOR THE BETTER AND ACCELERATE BUSINESS SUCCESS FOR OUR CLIENTS.

We leverage the power of innovation, brand, human-centred design and technology to create experiences that enhance the lives of real people. We create tailored teams from our extensive collective to deliver the greatest impact for our clients. We deliver this through a networked approach to building the right team for the right task.

We passionately believe that our pursuit of customer experience excellence for our clients is a critical component to delivering business growth as we enter an era where experience innovation will drive successful business transformation.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EXCELLENCE