Royal Navy Battle of the Atlantic

Brainstorm27th February 2013

“The Battle of the Atlantic was the only thing that ever frightened me.”

Winston Churchill

Agenda• Overview• Audience• Best practice• Post-it note blitz• Grouping & rating• Next steps

1. Overview

What we need from todayTwo ideas to develop into a

compelling proposition.

The two ideas should:

1 – Inspire people to attend the events

2 – Help people understand the parallels with today

= To show how the Royal Navy is relevant today

Schedule?Research & plan

Feb March April

Release 1

Develop concept

Prototype concept

Release 2

Considerations• Life of delivery is potentially short.• Budget and timescale is tight.• Need to use existing content and data assets.• Marketing spend may be limited – so needs to PR

itself.• Needs to be a simple project with known

technology used.

2. Audience Profile

John – 57History Enthusiast

• Lives in Kent with his wife.• Has two sons aged 22 and 27, and one granddaughter

aged 2.• Works as a civil servant.• Reads non-fiction books on his Kindle while

commuting.• Enjoys finding out new things and sharing knowledge

with others.• Friends value his opinion and consider him an

influential character.

Brands

• Uses a Blackberry• Has a Sony TV with surround sound• Has a Dyson Vacuum cleaner.• Buys clothes from Marks and

Spencer• Shops for food at Sainsbury’s

Interest in the Royal Navy

• Uncle was in the Royal Navy during WW2

• Up to date on current affairs and abreast of UK military action.

• Interested in all kinds of military history• Watches history documentaries and

subscribes to BBC History magazine• Enjoys visiting cultural sites and

attractions at weekends and on holidays, including ships.

Web habits

• Uses email regularly for work and personal communications.

• Browses on desktop.• Does not see the value in social

media• Watches videos when they are

embedded in sites he is viewing, but would not search for videos on Youtube.

• Emails articles he finds interesting to his friends and family.

• Often contributes reviews online following a purchase.

Adam – 20History Student

• History undergraduate student – final year• Lives in Bristol with three male house mates• Watches action films and historical documentaries• Enjoys playing computer games• Likes travelling during university holidays• Independent thinker, only follows trends if they

genuinely appeal to him

Brands

• Uses an Apple Macbook• Communicates using Skype• Buys technology through Amazon• Eats Dominos pizza• Buys food from Asda

Interest in the Royal Navy

• Studying 20th century history• Has friends who are planning on joining

the Royal Navy as Officers• Interested in military strategy and

foreign affairs

Web habits

• Uses twitter and Facebook to keep in touch with friends, share photos and posts interesting/amusing articles to his wall

• Uses MacBook for university work, and tablet and smart phone for recreational browsing, watching films etc.

• Enjoys watching videos online• Member of online gaming sites.

BBC History Magazine• Readership 262,000 (Circulation: 71, 403)• 64.5% Men, 35.5% Women• Average age 52• 41% have a degree• On average, BBC History is read for over 80 minutes a month

Online Engagement...• Podcast weekly Downloads: 100,000• Facebook followers: 3,351• Twitter followers: 25,272• E-newsletter Subscribers: 25,254• Quizzes, galleries and interactive games are often more successful than longer

articles, blogs and reviews• The audio podcast is always very popular• Readers use email and are fairly active on social media, much more Twitter than

Facebook

History Channel Audience• 63% Men, 37% Women• 19% 16 – 34 years old• 49% are 45 – 64 years old• Median age 57

History channel viewers are more likely to... • Have curious minds, reflected in their wide-ranging choice of

factual programmes• Be made to think and feel mentally stimulated• Avoid light entertainment because they cannot take something

away from it

3. Empathy Map

Thinking and Feeling

Hearing

Seeing

Pains Gains

What does the audience’s environment look like?

What is important to the audience?

What influences the audience?

What does the audience want to achieve?

What obstacles does the audience have?

4. Visualising Best Practice

• Keep it clean and simple• Let the design follow the data• Aggregate and cap the amount you’re

showing• Tell a story • Use analogy, comparison and

relationships

Do

• Have too much information• Forget the story you are trying to tell• Make it look noisy or over-animated• Make it inconsistent by “variety for

variety’s sake”

Don’t

5. Post-it Note Blitz

• Get it off your chest – pet ideas• Ask why, what, who, where and when• Look at others and combine• Repurpose

Steps

6. Grouping & rating

• Develop the two concepts further.• Present illustrations for selection.• Start working up technical prototype.• Provide production estimate: scope.

Next

Questions