Sky benefits from customer based innovation

By David Bomphrey

One of our key clients, Sky, has been working hard over the past year to package up what is a complex product offering (pay TV, broadband and phone products) in a customer friendly way and it now looks as if that work is paying off.

News broke in the last couple of weeks that they signed up an additional 171,000 brand new customers (link opens in new window) in the run up to Christmas. Many of these will have taken all 3 services in some variety or other. This is in no way coincidental. Users seek simplicity and by providing an easy way of “getting all 3″ Sky have made it easier for people to buy. This of course also results in taking a larger share of this type of spend from each and every customer.

They are also now signing up HD customers (High Definition) at a much higher rate and Sky+ (their personal video recorder) is the default product of choice on the TV side. This shows how identifying where users are struggling with tasks they face in daily life, in this case setting their video, can create markets for new products. Similarly the provision of digital HD broadcasting has created a demand for better pictures from consumers and Sky has invested heavily in being the first to provide user friendly ways of getting it. Innovation is creating a new demand and the payoff on this investment is now arriving.

What does all of this demonstrate? That, even with a sophisticated proposition, it is possible, with a customer-centric approach, to reap significant rewards commercially.