Portfolio

The client

produxion.com was a joint venture between NetDecisions, broadcaster Channel 5 and media group Emap, created to be the leading website for the UK's TV production community. It brought together exclusive news from Broadcast (the industry's leading trade title, owned by Emap), reviews from Production Solutions, B+ and Broadband, and the working tools freelancers and producers reached for every day.

The numbers arrived fast. By its first birthday in January 2001, the site counted more than 20,000 registered TV professionals, around 22,000 unique users a month, a place on the Sunday Times E-League 100, and the PPA Best Integration of Media Award. It was one of three ventures NetDecisions created that made the e-league, alongside TheFirstResort.com and madaboutwine.com.

Jonathan Porter was lead designer on the brand development and web experience, delivered by our design team at NetDecisions / Agilisys.

The challenge

UK television was a highly fragmented industry: purchasing ran on relationships, information was scattered, and nothing updated daily tied procurement, jobs, ratings and news together. Channel 5 wanted internet-led procurement and operating efficiencies. Emap held the best trade content. The opportunity was a one-stop marketplace: equipment, staff, industry news, BARB ratings and expert advice under one independent operating company.

What we did

We led brand development and web design for produxion.com: the identity and information architecture for a B2B destination that had to feel like the home page of the TV industry, not a static brochure. The design was built around the features professionals used daily: the CV Store (with recruitment partner Production Base), a broadcast jobs database, BARB ratings archives, the Show Reels Gallery, personalised email and daily news.

Our approach

Content and commerce together. NetDecisions formed the partnership with Channel 5, then brought in Emap once the business case was proven. The site launched as a fully independent entity with compelling daily news, contacts, ratings and auctions for production equipment, built to scale internationally once the UK audience was established.

Outcome

produxion.com became the definitive online source for the UK's TV production community, with metrics and awards that put it alongside the strongest dot-com media plays of its year. Emap's involvement said it best: "produxion.com offered us the chance to invest in a leading business-to-business marketplace along with world class media and technology partners."

Awards & recognition

• PPA Best Integration of Media Award, won within the site's first year (January 2001).

Context & coverage

This was peak dot-com ambition for vertical media: not a generic portal, but a trade with real transaction volume and daily habit-forming content. produxion.com sat in the same NetDecisions portfolio as TheFirstResort and madaboutwine, proof that the agency could launch independent brands, not just client sites.

• NetDecisions press release summary, July 2000: 20k registered users, 22k uniques/month, PPA award, Emap/Channel 5 JV, e-league (ingested primary source).

The client

Britannia was Thomson Travel Group's charter airline, historically tied to package holidays. When Easyjet, Go and Ryanair showed flight-only demand, Thomson needed Britannia Direct: a new company selling low fares on the web and through a call centre, using surplus charter capacity priced dynamically.

Jonathan Porter was lead designer on the web experience. We delivered as the design team at NetDecisions / Agilisys, alongside netdecisions' build of the yield management and operations platform.

The challenge

Thomson had four months to deliver a system that could:

• Sell flights via web and call centre from one inventory
• Price dynamically and change availability instantly
• Compete with the new low-cost carriers without abandoning the charter model

What we did

Lead designer on Britannia Direct's web design and development, as part of a netdecisions engagement that also delivered training, unified CRM, yield management and extensive admin tools so staff could alter every element of the offer in real time.

Our approach

Inventory first, interface second. The UX had to make bargain fares easy to find while the back end hunted excess capacity in Thomson's flight stock, priced it and pushed it live. Web and call centre had to feel like one product, not two teams reading different spreadsheets.

Outcome

netdecisions delivered ahead of schedule. The client described the result as:

Britannia Direct joined TheFirstResort.com and SkyDeals in Thomson's netdecisions portfolio, a run of travel ventures built in the same era.

Context & coverage

2000 was the year UK travel went digital and discount at the same time. Britannia Direct was Thomson's structural response: use the airline's existing seats, sell them like a low-cost carrier, and do it before the summer season passed.

• NetDecisions press release summary, July 2000: four-month deadline, yield management, ahead of schedule, client quote (ingested primary source).