Market Problem:
Lakana was the product of three companies in the local television digital space rolled up to achieve dominance in the market sector. As digital platforms, each company operated custom websites for our multitenant clients: content management system, consumer-focused mobile apps, monetization integrations, and third-party partnerships with local media-specific applications.
As a combined customer base, Lakana hosted over 200 digital presences and held ~50% US market share. However, to operate efficiently, we needed to move forward with a single platform and technology stack. Our new combined product team faced a challenge as the leadership team had chosen the platform to move forward with, but it did not have parity functionality with our other platforms.
Who’s it for:
Medium-sized technology company going through a merger while continuing to operate
What we did:
To move to one platform and bring our customers along, we took an approach that would ensure our customers continued to operate with little disruption and then transition to a better solution on our timeline. This required the following steps:
- A comprehensive gap analysis of the platform teamed with customer interviews to understand the importance of key features. One of the outcomes identified was an elections platform that could be integrated and sold separately.
- A clear execution plan to fill gaps that prioritized the customer needs with special attention to the risk of losing strategic clients.
- Ongoing communication strategy that brought clients along and got them excited to transition to a new platform.
- Development of a new product flavor for the smaller station groups once the major clients were satisfied.
- Internal roadmap alignment with the infrastructure, development, and client success teams that made sure each part of the program was in order and everyone was telling the same story.
Success metrics:
- Successful migration of 80% of major clients
- Voluntary conversion of current platform tenants to the new version
- 3 new products were developed and launched: Elections, Small TV Station Groups, and Updated White Label Mobile Apps
