EECA

How do you solve a problem like climate change? A cornerstone objective for the New Zealand government is to reduce carbon emissions and by ratifying the Paris Climate Change agreement, the New Zealand Government committed to having an emissions reduction target and regularly updating it.
 
EECA, NZ’s government agency responsible for promoting energy efficiency and conservation needed to understand the problem through strategic insights – to get to know the barriers and levers and to identify where to focus, what could be achieved and how to go about it. They partnered with TRA to develop insight and strategy to pull together many angles on the problem into a very clear pathway forward. We took a holistic approach employing semiotics, systems thinking, unstructured and structured data, ethnography and cultural analysis. 
 
We would love to say we have solved the problem of climate change, but of course we have not. However, we have solved the problem of where and how to focus resources to achieve significant reduction in carbon emissions. Furthermore, by using multiple data sources we have given confidence, inspiration and direction to the EECA team.

Joylab

In 2016 we partnered with Joylab to transform an existing hospitality location in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour into what is known today as The Lula Inn. Joylab commissioned TRA to develop a strategy on how to transform the location into a commercially successful bar and eatery.

Through a mixture of methodologies including cultural scraping, focus groups and co-creation, TRA were able to uncover the industry trends driving relevance with the core audience, determine elements that would make the location a success and ultimately develop a comprehensive proposition for Joylab. TRA formed the creative concept of a “beautiful collision” and the idea of a garden lounge at the water’s edge; this single-minded idea was the backbone of the location’s redevelopment, and is still evident throughout the establishment today.

In The Lula Inn’s first year of launch, they managed to increase revenue by 27% from the previous baseline, and since launch, has managed to maintain revenue growth by an average of 13% year on year.

Lion

Lion needed to identify the next big thing for their largest brand Steinlager. It had been 10 years since the launch of Steinlager Pure, so ensuring continued brand relevance was key. Through two separate waves of customer co-creation sessions involving the Lion team and Steinlager's target market, an opportunity space emerged for a Japanese-style beer - Steinlager Tokyo Dry.

There was a chance to stand out in the market through packaging, and by communicating to a new beer drinking audience in a way that was not only relevant to, but which differentiated from more traditional green bottle lagers. TRA ran a strategy workshop to set a go to market strategy for the new Steinlager Tokyo Dry offering. The business results from the launch of Tokyo Dry have been outstanding, with $4.9m sales in the first year putting the Steinlager brand back in growth. Tokyo Dry became Lion's fastest new product to reach 1 million litres of sales in over a decade, achieving this in only 10 weeks.

Paymark

Paymark's core business model was under threat from disruption. There was a need to future-proof the organisation by becoming more customer-centric to help build relationships and achieve commercial objectives.

We worked with Paymark to build a data-driven customer segmentation that blended a range of techniques including big data analytics, third party data enrichment, quantitative and qualitative research. The outcome was the largest and most accurate segmentation of the New Zealand retail market, enabling Paymark to become a truly customer obsessed organisation. As a result, Paymark have seen a 40% reduction in customer churn.

Mercury

Two years ago Mercury as we know it today did not exist. There were two brands – Mercury Energy the retailer, and the generation and share market listed brand Mighty River Power. While both were focused on their relevant stakeholders, there was not a single overarching purpose.

We worked with Mercury to define this purpose and choose a single brand to move forward with. We needed to give people a reason why they should value the Mercury brand, that was clearly articulated, transparent and authentic. We helped Mercury define a brand territory that straddled New Zealand’s cultural and social context. The result was Mercury's "Energy Made Wonderful" - a brand transformation that has seen Mercury reduce customer churn by 16%.

Auckland Transport

Increasing pressure on Auckland's roading infrastructure has seen Auckland Transport investigate new ways to reduce the number of peak hour single car journeys. Auckland Transport commissioned TRA to develop a strategy to get Aucklanders using cycling and walking as a mode of transport, as opposed to reaching for the car keys.

The insights gained by TRA enabled Auckland Transport to develop a new marketing strategy that focuses on removing mental barriers to walking and cycling and normalising behaviour. Since then Auckland Transport have seen a 41% increase in cycling in Auckland, with 52,800 new cyclists in 2018 alone.