I used Pokerstars Boom! as a case study for an internal education piece on Developing a Digital Strategy at Integrated Communications Agency Merciecs.

1. DEVELOPING A DIGITAL STRATEGY:
A CASE STUDY IN SOCIAL SERVICE DESIGN
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2. SOCIAL BY DESIGN:
POKERSTARS BOOM!
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3. STEP 1:
IDENTIFY THE CHALLENGE
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4. POKERSTARS
THE WORLD’S LARGEST ONLINE POKER CLIENT
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5. CHALLENGE:
MAKE POKERSTARS
A SOCIAL PLATFORM
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6. CHALLENGE:
SHIFT PERCEPTION,
FROM ISOLATED “GRINDER”
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7. CHALLENGE:
TO CONNECTED
“SUPERSTAR”
ALIGNED WITH NEW
“WE ARE POKER” TVC
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8. STEP 2:
ALIGN WITH BUSINESS PROBLEM
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9. BUSINESS
PROBLEM
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10. BUSINESS PROBLEM:
LIVE POKER IS
“INNATELY SOCIAL”
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11. BUSINESS PROBLEM:
AND PERCEIVED AS
GLAMOROUS/COOL
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12. BUSINESS PROBLEM:
THE REALITY OF
ONLINE POKER HOWEVER
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13. BUSINESS PROBLEM:
IS LONLEY NIGHTS
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14. BUSINESS PROBLEM:
AND CAN BE THE
OPPOSITE OF SOCIAL
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15. BUSINESS PROBLEM:
BUT POKERSTARS
MAIN REVENUE IS ONLINE
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16. BUSINESS PROBLEM:
AND BIG SPENDERS PRAY
ON NEW “FISH” ONLINE
OR WILL PLAY ELSEWHERE...
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17. BUSINESS PROBLEM:
SO POKERSTARS BUSINESS
MODEL RELIES HEAVILY...
ON A CONSTANT STREAM
OF NEW PLAYERS
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18. STEP 3:
DEFINE THE KEY BRIEF TAKEAWAY
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19. KEY BRIEF
WE WANT TO BE THE NIKE+
OF ONLINE POKER
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20. STEP 4:
DEFINE STRATEGIC AND
CREATIVE CONSTRAINTS
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21. CREATIVE/STRATEGIC
CONSTRAINTS
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22. FULL TILT’S
COMMUNICATION “HERO’S”
STAR POKER PLAYERS
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23. WITH THE LINE
“PLAY WITH THE PROS”
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24. SO FULL TILT IS
ASPIRATIONAL
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25. WHILE POKERSTARS’ “WE
ARE POKER” STRAPLINE
IS MORE INCLUSIVE AND
COMMUNAL
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26. SO ANY COMMUNICATION
HAS TO BE HORIZONTAL
NOT VERTICAL
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27. HAS TO ORGANICALLY FIT
INTO USER FOOTPRINT
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28. HAS TO BE MOBILE CENTRIC,
EMPLOYING “ONE CLICK” UX RULE
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29. MUST BE “SOCIAL-BY-DESIGN”
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30. DRIVEN “BY THE PLAYER”
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31. AND “MEASURABLE-BY-NATURE” SO
ROOTED IN ACTION
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32. STEP 5:
SEARCH OUT STRATEGIC INSIGHT
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33. STRATEGIC INSIGHT:
THE PROCESS
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34. STRATEGIC INSIGHT:
IMMERSE
LISTEN
UNDERSTAND
ACTION
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35. STRATEGIC INSIGHT:
IMMERSE
WE TRACKED FIVE ONLINE
POKER PLAYERS FOR 1 MONTH
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36. IMMERSE
AND TRACKED THEIR EVERY MOVE
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37. IMMERSE
AND THE STRATEGY TEAM HAD
TO “START GRINDING”
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38. STRATEGIC INSIGHT:
LISTEN
WE USED RADIAN6 TO TRACK EVERY
ONLINE POKER CONVERSATION
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39. LISTEN
AND EVEN CREATED OUR OWN TOOL TO
MEASURE INTERNAL CHATS ON POKERSTARS
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40. STRATEGIC INSIGHT:
UNDERSTAND
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41. UNDERSTAND
WE GOT A LOT OF DATA!
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42. UNDERSTAND
LIKE POKER PLAYERS LOVE
BBC IPLAYER
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43. UNDERSTAND
AND POKER PLAYERS
LOVE TO HATE!
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44. FROM LOTS OF DATA
UNDERSTAND
CAME LOTS OF IDEAS...
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45. UNDERSTAND
BUT LITTLE ACTIONABLE INSIGHT
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46. WE GOT IT!
PLAYERS ONLY SHARE WHEN
THEY LOSE!
UNDERSTAND
THEY CALL IT A “SICK BRAG”
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47. BUT “SICK BRAGS” ARE
CONFUSING TO NONE PLAYERS
UNDERSTAND
AND MAKE NO REFERENCE TO
BRAND
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48. STEP 6:
DEVELOP THE STRATEGY
(PROPOSITION, CREATIVE, UX)
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49. STRATEGY
ACTION
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50. STRATEGY
FROM CONFUSING, ACTION
EXCLUSIVE “SICK BRAGS”
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51. STRATEGY s
TO SHARABLE, VISUAL CALLS ACTION
TO ACTION
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52. STRATEGY
AN IN-GAME BUTTON THAT SHARES ACTION
YOUR MISERY AUTOMATICALLY
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53. STRATEGY
AND LETS OTHERS DISCUSS HOW ACTION
YOU COULD PLAY IT BETTER
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54. SUPPORTED BY PROMOTIONS, FILM
CONTENT AND USED LIVE ON CHANNEL 4
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55. STEP 7:
MEASURE RESULTS
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56. RESULTS
FROM 20% SHARE OF ONLINE POKER
CONVERSATION TO 92%
OVER 1 MILLION BOOM HANDS
SHARED
650% INCREASE OF SOCIAL
TRAFFIC TO POKERSTARS.COM
RECOGNISED AS THE “NIKE+”
OF POKER
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57. STEP 8:
SELF-CONGRATULATE
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58. KEY ONE WORD
IN TAKEAWAYS
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59. DIGITAL STRATEGY FOLLOWS
IN ONE WORD
SIMILAR PROCESSES TO
TRADITIONAL STRATEGY
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60. BUT IS MORE ABOUT ACTION,
IN ONE WORD
USER JOURNEYS AND INTERFACE
DESIGN
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61. STRATEGIES THEREFORE HAVE
TO BE INNATELY SOCIAL, UX
IN ONE WORD
DRIVEN AND ORIENTATED IN
ACTION
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62. CONCEPTUALLY, YOUR
IN ONE WORD
STRATEGY SHOULD START WITH
THE BEHAVIOR OF YOUR USER
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63. NOT YOUR BRANDS CONCEPT OF
IN ONE WORD
ITSELF
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64. WE NEED TO MOVE FROM BRAND
IN ONE WORD
AS BROADCASTER TO BRAND AS
ENABLER
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65. DOES YOURONE WORD SOCIAL,
IN IDEA HAVE
ACTION BASED EXECUTIONS
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66. IN ONE WORD
IF NOT, START AGAIN
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67. INTEGRATION IS THE INTER-
OPERATION ONE WORDNOT ONE
IN OF PARTS.
IDEA IN MANY PLACES
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68. UNDERSTAND THE OPERATION,
THE WAY THINGS WORK, AND
IN ONE WORD
ALIGN THAT WITH CONSUMER
INSIGHT
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69. PROVIDE A USEFUL SERVICE,
IN ONE WORD
AND YOUR USER WILL KEEP
COMING BACK.
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70. REMEMBER, NOW THEIR IN
CONTROL. THE BIGGEST DIGITAL
IN ONE WORD
SUCCESSES HAVE BEEN ABOUT
PROVIDING USEFUL SERVICE
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71. NEXT STEP:
HOW WOULD YOU DEVELOP A DIGITAL
STRATEGY?
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72. CHALLENGE:
PAIR UP. I’LL BE PUTTING TOGETHER A
DUMMY BRIEF FOR YOUR TEAMS TO ANSWER IN
THE NEAR FUTURE.
THE BEST WILL WIN SOME AWESOME PRIZE.
POSSIBLY A HUG. FROM ROD
(HE GIVES GREAT HUGS)
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73. BOOM
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