
‘Don’t launch the wrong product’: An evening with Conversion.com and Amplitude
Brands increasingly understand the importance of experimentation to constantly improve and optimize their digital performance.
However, creating this culture of experimentation, where failure is seen as something to learn from can be difficult. How brands can build this culture and drive improved performance, was the focus of our recent joint event with Kameleoon at Sea Containers House.
Exploring the topic with a packed room were James Gray of Facebook, Marianne Stjernvall of TUI and Conversion’s Stephen Pavlovich. In a wide ranging discussion that moved from the 18th to the 21st centuries, and from finding the cure to scurvy to the Amazon Echo, the speakers explained hints, tips and case studies for building a strong experimentation culture.
Experiments that lose, build a better business case than the ones that win!
Starting the evening, Stephen Pavlovich explained his best practices for experimentation, starting with the importance of recognising and celebrating failure, rather than simply sweeping it under the carpet.
Too many organizations only talk about winning experiments, rather than learning from the losers. This leads to poor practice as losing experiments can often outweigh the value of the winning ones. Take Amazon’s disastrous Fire smartphone, which failed to sell and cost the company $170 million. Much of the technology was repackaged into the Amazon Echo smart speaker, creating an incredibly successful product and channel for the company.
Next Stephen addressed the issue of getting buy-in for experimentation, either by scaling experiments up to address bigger issues (push), or scaling something big down to make it more manageable (pull). This helps spread experimentation across the business and directly supports a culture where more radical ideas are tested. As he concluded, “We shouldn’t just test what we were going to do anyway. We should experiment on our boldest ideas – with a safety net.”
Facebook is often highlighted as a leader in experimentation. However, as James Gray, Growth Marketing Manager in Facebook’s Community Integrity division explained, you still need to follow a structured and sensible process in order to drive optimal results. He highlighted three areas to focus on:
Large, traditional businesses often find it hard to change to a culture of experimentation, held back by organizational structures and a more conservative way of operating. Demonstrating that this doesn’t need to be the case, Marianne Stjernvall, CRO Lead at TUI, outlined six ways to get your culture of experimentation off the ground, based on her experience at the international travel group.
The evening finished with an interactive panel Q&A, covering topics as diverse as “most embarrassing test”, to what to do if your test proves inconclusive.
If you’d like to learn more about how Conversion can help you use experimentation to drive growth in your business, get in touch today. If you’d like to find out more about Kameleoon’s A/B testing and experimentation platform, then visit their website here.