Work

From service proposition to premium prototype in six short weeks

The Opportunity

While it might not be the easiest word to read, ‘premiumisation’ is a strategy that for many businesses adds real revenue for the organisation and real value for users. But when offering a new, premium service it is vital that the value proposition is clearly conveyed and that it is well positioned within an existing portfolio of services, which must still deliver for users whether they adopt the premium service or not.

Bauer Media Audio is one of the world’s largest privately owned media businesses and its UK division is the number one digital commercial audio broadcaster in the country, reaching more than 20million listeners per week across its 120 stations including Jazz FM, Kerrang! Radio and Planet Rock.

BMA brought in Softwire for a six-week sprint to design the user experience for a new premium subscription-based radio service which would give its most dedicated listeners a completely ad-free version of their favourite radio stations - as well as other benefits - breaking new ground in the sector.

Our Approach

In a series of six, week-long sprints we produced design concepts to validate the premium proposition and experience with listeners, refining these into high-fidelity interaction and visual designs.

Working closely with BMA’s product development team we created, tested and iterated designs, validating them with target users and establishing which premium features they found the most compelling. This enabled us to convey the benefits of the new service and maximise the likelihood of sign-up.

After creating a visual identity for the premium service we produced a video walkthrough for Bauer Media Audio’s management team, showcasing the final experience, building internal excitement and helping maintain buy-in.

The Impact

Bauer Media Audio launched their premium service across some of their most prominent brands using the designs we had created and listeners took it up enthusiastically, with more than 80% of those who joined a free-trial becoming paying subscribers, and average listening time of subscribers doubling that of non-members.

As Tobias Nielsen says, “This shows we’ve created a product that resonates with our target audiences, and that they’re highly satisfied with the added value they get. The vision now is to continue to enhance the product and ultimately launch across our full portfolio of radio stations.”

The premium service also caught the attention of Ofcom’s researchers who highlighted it in their Media Nations Report as a key example of a media business using technology in innovative ways to create new revenue streams.

“I really enjoyed working with Softwire. They’ve got a very skilled team and we quickly established great chemistry with them.

Tobias Neilsen, SVP Digital, Bauer Media Audio

Our Work