In 2019, Boone Group was called upon to revitalize and automate a nationally renowned internship campaign. At the time, the organization was largely relying on a manual process - manual application capture, manual data entry, etc. Boone was tasked with increasing the campaign’s reach (drawing more applications), effectiveness (quality of applicants), and efficiency (speed of application processing) through our technology enabled services. As Boone approaches year three of supporting this campaign, we took some time to reflect on the major themes of each year and to find the similarities in the repeated success through our tech-enabled services. Our lessons learned led us to the three crucial stages of implementing disruptive technology – a reactive approach stage, a triaged approach stage, and a modernized approach stage. Let's dive in to those lessons below!
REACTIVE APPROACH – YEAR 1
In year one (2019), Boone was introduced to the program just a few weeks prior to the launch date. The shortened timeframe was only emphasized by the new digital tactics approach. So, even with more time to prepare, we were certain that we’d be running into previously unencountered problems. These “unknown unknowns” forced Boone to take a reactive approach in year 1. Instead of a well-oiled machine, this resembled a firefighting squadron – devoting 100% focus to each new obstacle before addressing the next. While it was a hectic phase of improvement, it was necessary to gain a 360-degree view of what the digital version of the campaign looked like. Overall, year 1 was a success as Boone increased applications by over 250% while significantly decreasing the manual input previously required for sorting.
TRIAGED APPROACH – Year 2
In year 2 (2020), “unknown unknowns” became “known unknowns,” and Boone was able to plan more effectively. We conducted a post-mortem to outline what went right or wrong and why. The post-mortem findings led to a marketing playbook that included “pivots” if portions of the campaign were underperforming. We knew that we’d run into unforeseen difficulties again, but this time we could categorize and prioritize them based on the previous year’s experience. This was the beginning of the triaged approach stage. The triaged approach requires baseline information that gives the problem solver an understanding of which areas are crucial to success, allowing them to prioritize tasks quickly and accurately while a campaign is taking place. The program flourished under the triaged approach, once again doubling the applicant pool. More importantly, the program became much more efficient – with a conversion rate over 1000% better than year 1.
MODERNIZED APPROACH – YEAR 3
As year 3 approaches, Boone’s successful improvement of the campaign no longer hinges on extensive planning. Instead, we’ve modernized our plans from year 2 and spent the extra time further improving the application and sorting processes for our client. This is the beginning of the modernized approach stage. The modernized approach involves a deep understanding of the entire landscape that the problem set exists in – giving the problem solver the confidence to not just solve effectively, but to imagine new possibilities for where the project can go.
We look forward to improving the campaign even further this year!