AGL

Having no prior connection to AGL, I was able to develop relationships that led to multiple commercial opportunities for the Bec Brideson - Gender Intelligence consultancy including advising on creative that was being used to enter into a new market, internal speakership opportunities around gender intelligence and eventually our ongoing work with their Insights Team. 

Regarding the insights work, we were originally tasked with deep-diving into their data and ferreting out interesting recommendations around gender. This was the brief. However, in going over their research, and having deeply understood their commercial objectives – I was able to produce a completely new and creative insights piece outside the brief that truly delighted and wowed their Insights team.

AGL, like many businesses, is keen to move towards a customer-centric culture and though their research pieces are informative and in-depth – they lack connectivity and practical application. Many businesses use Customer Personas which often look like a one-page Tinder profile listing general attributes, skills, values etc about a customer. They are easy to read, scan and take in but like reading a ‘To-Do"' list - also very easy to forget, and put away in a drawer. They lack true consumption and engagement with the consumer. For example, while it’s interesting to read that millennials enjoy using their digital devices, it doesn’t tell me in what context they do it in, why they enjoy it and what hinders them from utilising AGL’s digital options such as an app to monitor their energy usage.

In order to achieve this “bridge” between insight and execution, I used each data point to bring to life a customer “character” with a believable, authentic story tied to why and how they lived. By bringing them to life, internal staff can see a fully realised person instead of a disparate statistic. The stories also engage staff to relate, interact and immerse themselves in a “customer” and thereby better understand them and how it can improve their work remit in relation to a said customer.

Externally, by immersing the personas heavily in data, it is easy for partner agencies (comms, creatives, PR, media etc) to utilise the personas to create brand campaigns, social media content stories, more effective media placement and so much more. The marketing team including the CMO is interested in continually using the personas alongside a cultural national customer-centric pivot.

This innovative piece has led to ongoing work for our gender intelligence consultancy, added a new revenue stream to our business and enhanced my reputation as a human-insights and creative storyteller innovator.

Download the full piece here.