Building an experimentation culture at TPG Telecom with Optimizely

TPG Telecom, a leader in telecom, has been evolving its experimentation practices to better understand customer behavior and improve their digital offerings. In our next edition of 'Customer Confidential', Rikard Stolz, Head of Design & Digital Labs at TPG Telecom and Senior Customer Success Manager at Optimizely, Andrea Cuiffreda, discuss how using Optimizely Web Experimentation, TPG Telecom has scaled its experimentation framework across multiple teams, ensuring data-backed decision-making and continuous learning. The company has integrated experimentation into everyday work, focused on gathering both qualitative and quantitative insights, and emphasized testing to learn from both successes and failures. Looking forward, TPG Telecom plans to further mature its experimentation practices and automate processes for greater efficiency.

Improving digital experiences at TPG Telecom

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Key Points

  • Rikard Stolz, of TPG Telecom has been in digital for 18 years in, giving him experience in understanding customers and driving growth through digital.
  • Rikard leads digital labs to make data accessible and improve customer experiences through experimentation.
  • TPG Telecom is bringing together design, data, and experimentation teams to better understand customer behavior.
  • They are taking a data-driven approach, combining different types of data to create better digital experiences for customers.

Building an experimentation culture at TPG Telecom: Overcoming initial challenges

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Key Points

  • Rikard benefited from having a centralized team focused on experimentation when they started at TPG Telecom.
  • The central team played a key role in showing the value of experimentation to get buy-in.
  • Success was driven by support from both champions within the experience teams and senior management, making it easier to focus on improving the craft rather than convincing others of its value.

Why TPG Telecom chose Optimizely to scale experimentation

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Key Points

  • TPG Telecom was consolidating after a merger with Vodafone, leading to a need for simpler, unified processes.
  • Both companies had experimented with different methods, but efforts were inconsistent.
  • Optimizely Web Experimentation was chosen to provide a single platform to scale experimentation and improve maturity.
  • Optimizely was easier to implement compared to other platforms, thanks to its design and the support provided by the team behind it.

Building a culture of experimentation at TPG Telecom

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Key Points

  • TPG Telecom began with a central function to demonstrate the value of experimentation, gaining necessary buy-in.
  • They moved to a hybrid approach, empowering different squads to run their own experiments while being supported by a central function.
  • The central team provides standards, training, and ensures good communication between teams, sharing learnings and guiding the overall direction.
  • A strong framework was put in place to help squads experiment effectively and maximize the chances of success.

TPG Telecom's real-time testing with messaging

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Key Points

  • Results from experiments often surprised even experienced team members.
  • TPG Telecom used Optimizely to do an iPhone launch test and finalize messaging based on customer behavior.
  • Taking a data-driven approach, the company plans to apply the same testing method for future events like Black Friday.

TPG Telecom's experimentation goals for the next year

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Key Points

  • TPG Telecom plans to grow experimentation across more teams and brands.
  • They aim to combine experiment results with user feedback to better understand customer behavior.
  • TPG Telecom wants to automate processes like merchandising and personalization for ongoing improvements.

Ensuring data-driven experimentation at TPG Telecom

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Key Points

  • TPG Telecom follows a structured framework to ensure every experiment is focused and measurable.
  • Before running experiments, TPG Telecom analyzes site behavior, sizes the opportunity, and defines success metrics.
  • TPG Telecom aims to reduce bottlenecks by providing tools and resources for teams, while still consulting with data experts for accuracy.

TPG Telecom's advice for starting an experimentation practice

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Key Points

  • Begin with a simple approach and view experimentation as a learning process.
  • Establish a strong framework and integrate experimentation into daily workflows to make it a natural part of the process.
  • Treat all tests as valuable, even if they don’t succeed, as they provide insights into customer behavior and can help de-risk future decisions.

Conclusion

TPG Telecom’s journey with Optimizely Web Experimentation has transformed its approach to digital decision-making, embedding a culture of testing, learning, and continuous improvement. By scaling experimentation across teams and integrating qualitative and quantitative insights, TPG Telecom ensures data-driven strategies that enhance customer experiences.

With a strong framework in place, the company has successfully shifted from a centralized model to a hybrid approach, empowering teams to run their own experiments while maintaining alignment through shared learnings and best practices. Looking ahead, TPG Telecom plans to further automate personalization and experimentation, enabling even greater efficiency and innovation in their digital offerings. Their success demonstrates the power of structured experimentation in driving business growth and customer-centric decision-making.

Industry

Telecom

Products used

Customer's website

https://www.tpg.com.au/