Clock Limited

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Communications Director of PortalOne

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

PortalOne has invented hybrid games, a new form of entertainment that brings together the best elements from games and TV into one platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Clock Limited to accomplish?

• Build a new website

SOLUTION

How did you find Clock Limited?

• Other

Why did you select Clock Limited over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Other

What was the size of Clock Limited’s team?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

As a startup, our first website was developed solely so that we existed in the digital realm. It had limited information and interactivity As we've grown and as we gear up for full launch, we needed a new website that reflects where we are as a business today, and our ambitions for the future. The brief was to build our new site, which primarily needed to:

• Provide information about our company, what we do, who we are
• Explain the 'hybrid games' proposition
• Enable players to sign up or join our waiting list
• Casting talent to join us on our show Among others items.

We're a consumer product that has a very specific brand. The website needed to resemble our mobile app from a visual and UI/UX standpoint.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• No specific metrics were tracked per se, as the brief was to develop a new website (without any specific trackable metrics for that website as it's a little too early for us as a business to do that).

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Beth our project manager was great: patient, kind and direct. Clock tends to use Basecamp but they were happy to shift to our Slack channel based to enable better visibility from the leadership at PortalOne. As a startup, our internal team is stretched in terms of capacity, which meant we went over our estimated timeline by a fair amount, but Clock supported us through this and helped us to set a new deadline which we were able to reach.

It was the first time we had ever translated our brand into a website format and Clock's design team were patient with us and supported us on evolving our brand through this process. Overall, it was an absolute pleasure to work with, and I'm grateful for their support and empathy.

What was your primary form of communication with Clock Limited?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email
• Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Initially we were draw to Clock given their legacy in working with some of the biggest videogames companies in the world. After completing the project, I'd say what was most impressive was their absolute professionalism, even when things weren't going totally according to plan.

I've worked on website projects before and while this was easily the most complex project, it was also the best management I've seen of such a project, with every single detail considered and covered along the way.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Clock Limited could have done differently?

Not as far as I can remember.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Director of a subscription service. Entertainment/leading digital video company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Clock Limited, and what were your goals?

Design and create new app and website. Goals for increased membership engagement and growth.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We were recommended Clock by another business partner. They had a thorough vision for the design and functionality for the app/website, and also had a good understanding of our business.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Project steps included creating an entirely new website and app from scratch. From design, creation, testing, implementation, and customer support.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Seven members of the Clock team worked with us, including the Commercial Director, Chief Technical Officer, Project Manager, designers, and developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our members love the new app and website. The design has created a refresh for our brand, and it functions much more smoothly than the previous iteration of our website and previous app. We are already seeing more usage on the app/website, which was a goal at the beginning of the project.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The Project Manager, Beth, is incredibly organized, communicates well and in a timely manner, is knowledgeable, and kept us clear on timelines. We communicated through Slack and Google Hangouts, as well as email and Basecamp.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The process was incredibly smooth. The entire team was very prepared at all times. Direct communication access via Slack was great, and the team went above and beyond during launch when they assisted any issues/bugs/questions from our members in real time.

Working asynchronously across the globe was more manageable than one might imagine, so US clients should not be deterred by the location differences.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Some documentation could be more clear (SOWs with technical details/terms explained). The team has updated documents with this feedback.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of consumer revenue (marketing and growth) for Broadsheet Media, an independent media company helping readers explore the cultural life of their city via news, features and event guides.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Clock Limited, and what were your goals?

Up until this project, Broadsheet Media was almost 100% funded by advertising. With the web developed by Clock, and a new B2C membership proposition we were able to diversify Broadsheet's revenue and offer readers a new experience of Broadsheet and an even deeper connection to their cities.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I have had the pleasure of working with Clock on 3 occasions. Once in the UK and twice in Australia. They are very reasonably priced, transparent about what can/can't be done and when and they're a great team to work with. I received 2 comparison quotes from Australian providers and there was no question. Commercially Clock was more competitive and I trusted them to deliver.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The Clock team built a custom CMS membership platform for us which can be seen @ https://access.broadsheet.com.au/. This needed to be integrated with our authentication/payment platform to ensure bespoke member and non-member user journeys and messaging.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

A project manager and account director and various front and back end devs at different stages of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The launch of a paid membership program was a really exciting moment in Broadsheet’s history and sets the business up for further growth. I can't share numbers but can say that we are very happy with take-up/engagement with the program to date and are on track to deliver our business goals.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We had a kick-off meeting to go through our ad agency designs and scope of work. From there we agreed on a list of deliverables that were tracked basecamp and met weekly to go through progress and discuss priorities until launch. Post-launch we meet monthly to discuss new feature development, feedback and reporting.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The quality of the work and the way that the delivery is project managed.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No. Clock are specialists in media and so the advantage of working with them is you get to learn from other companies' roadmaps. They are constantly challenging me to improve, and I love that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there? 

I'm the group CTO of an ambitious e-commerce startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clock Limited?

We needed an engineering partner to help with custom software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clock Limited is helping us deliver mission-critical systems. They're working on our APIs, web applications, Android and iOS apps, DevOps, IoT, custom software e-commerce and management system, and more. We begin our process by presenting our ideas to them. After that, we listen to their feedback and suggestions for improvement and practicality. We also do the UX design and collaborate with them as they do front- and backend development.

Node.js and MongoDB are two of the main technologies they use along with React Native for mobile development. They also use other technologies such as Python occasionally.

What is the team composition?

Over the course of our engagement, we’ve interacted with roughly 25 people. For each project, there is an account manager and project manager as well as front- and backend developers and DevOps specialists.

How did you come to work with Clock Limited?

I interviewed 27 agencies when I was looking for the right partner for this engagement, and Clock Limited popped up on my radar several years ago. The team was very flexible and knowledgeable regarding technology stacks, and they were willing to try new things.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent £500,000 (approximately $682,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around October 2017, and we continue to collaborate.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They have contributed to the incremental improvements in our business over the last four years such as increases in our revenue and staff size, along with other metrics. They’re an excellent engineering team with deep knowledge of AWS.

We appreciate the quality of their craftsmanship, and we’ll continue to partner with them for the foreseeable future. There has been little downtime, but we’re extremely satisfied with their performance and company culture.

How did Clock Limited perform from a project management standpoint?

Clock Limited is transparent and communicative, and they’re honest about their capabilities. On top of that, they never let us down when it comes to deadlines. One of the project management tools that they use is Pivotal Tracker.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Every Clock Limited team member I’ve interacted with is constructive, open, and caring. More importantly, they're passionate about technology. They articulate why certain things should or shouldn’t be done, and I have found that the more I implement their suggestions — the smoother our projects tend to go. They also have a knack for mentoring and inspiring young talent in the technology industry, training them up in their processes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It takes a fair amount of time when there’s a vacancy to be filled on the team. However, that is understandable due to their extremely high requirements for resources.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Treat Clock Limited as a partner. You can get the most out of them if you insert yourself as part of the team and collaborate with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Head of Subscriber Rewards at The Telegraph and led the internal team on relaunching the loyalty programme, and associated website, as Telegraph Extra.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Clock Limited, and what were your goals?

To develop a website to manage our loyalty programme, remove all pain-points felt by our subscribers on our former site and increase engagement.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Colleagues had worked with Clock previously so they came highly recommended in terms of the quality of their work and how nice they are to work with.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a number of meetings to fully scope out and cost up the project before the business signed off the investment needed to get started - which was delayed because of Covid-19. These included the UX, Design and integrations with our suppliers. Once started, we had weekly virtual meetings to plan/report back on sprints so that everyone knew what they were accountable for.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with a full team including Account Directors, a Project Manager, Developers and Designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Within the first week of launch we'd significantly increased the proportion of subscribers engaging with our loyalty programme and improved our conversion rates.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Clock's project management style is exceptional. They set aside time for regular meetings but are also readily available for quick conversations to make quick decisions. Communication is always light and enjoyable - which makes working together really fun as well as highly effective.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Everyone that I have worked with is exceptionally talented and hugely personable - a brilliant culture.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No - I'm really looking forward to this being the start of a very long-term partnership.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of retail marketing for News UK, the organization behind The Times newspaper in London. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clock Limited?

We were looking for a partner to help do some web development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided scoping documentation to them, which they turned into schematics. After collaborating with us on design, they completely redesigned the website, scoping out the work and architecture, UX, Google Analytics, physical build, and more. They also host the site and run it for us.

We mapped out 7,500 retailers that offer a delivery service of newspapers to homes and businesses. The site will identify the retailer closest to the user and allow the opportunity to select which newspaper they would like. They input information to sign up and are given options and promotions at that time. The system captures their information and provides details to them so they select their supply service.

Over the last year, they've been working on upgrading the site. That includes looking at customer flow and journey, making the site more user-friendly based on Google Analytics information, improving reporting, and more. 

What is the team composition?

There are 6–10 people working on the project to cover all aspects of building and maintaining the site, including the company director, a designer, design engineers, developers, and more.

How did you come to work with Clock Limited?

They were recommended to us, and they also hosted another website for our company. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between £150,000–£200,000 (approximately $213,000–$284,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around October 2016, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The changes made over the last 12 months had positive results, which include over 300,000 orders. They quickly and efficiently resolved the only slight issue that arose due to the monitoring of their team.

How did Clock Limited perform from a project management standpoint?

They have delivered according to the time and budget discussed at the beginning of the engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t have a lot of experience, but the engagement with them has gone well. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There isn’t anything that comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you’re looking for and the timelines you’re working toward from the beginning. Take time in the planning stage to get it right from day one.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m on the publishing team for a game company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clock Limited?

We wanted to increase player engagement with a popular game for German-speaking players.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clock was responsible for the design and development of a website. Their team was also responsible for interacting with our key APIs. They hosted and managed live support for the website. Their team also helped with the analytics for a campaign that we ran with the website after its development.

What is the team composition?

We probably connected with 8–10 people in total but mostly collaborated with five people including engineers and designers.

How did you come to work with Clock Limited?

One of my colleagues worked with Clock while at another company and had a positive experience with them. He recommended that we use their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July, and this project wrapped up in September 2020. We started working with them again on another project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Clock met the timelines that their team set after initial rescoping. After moving the initial timelines, they were able to hit them. In general, their team was quick to fix problems when we had issues with the live campaign and website. We had fewer support tickets filed compared to other events, which is a metric we use for quality.

How did Clock Limited perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team was great from a project management perspective. We started with email conversations and occasionally met over Google Meetings. After we received project approval, we regularly communicated via Slack and tracked tasks using Asana. Their team was communicative, and it was easy to work with them. They managed their timelines well.

Although there were a couple of small issues, they were expected because it was our first time working together. There were a few times when communication could’ve been improved. But overall, their project management was strong.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was most impressed by their technical know-how and desire to create high-quality deliverables. Every other agency that I previously engaged only wanted to do the bare minimum to keep the client happy and rarely questioned product-related decisions. Clock asked questions and cared about the success of our campaign even though it didn’t directly help them. Their extra level of care and commitment to the project impressed me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We gave them the following feedback directly. We had feedback on their initial designs and questions about the process. There was radio silence because the designer wasn’t comfortable answering those questions. By the time that we brought up those issues again, it was difficult to make changes. There were also a few issues that led to change requests that weren’t communicated well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re building a website or campaign that involves design services, provide any feedback to the group in a regular way to ensure alignment. That was our only pain point during this project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Gloucester Rugby is a professional rugby Club, competing in the English Premiership. My position with Gloucester Rugby is Marketing Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Clock Limited, and what were your goals?

We had worked with Clock previously in the development of our matchday app, but we needed to upgrade our website. It felt a natural progression to go from matchday app to web provider with Clock following the success of the first project.

Despite Clock being a web provider for other Premiership Clubs, we tasked them with looking at the website with fresh eyes as we didn’t just want a carbon copy of our existing offering. They listened and delivered!

SOLUTION

How did you select Clock Limited and what were the deciding factors?

We had previously worked with Clock on our matchday app and knew they were the right company to develop our website given our existing relationship.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Clock developed a bespoke CMS for us. Having worked with Wordpress in the past, this solution has proven so much more user friendly and enabled us to be much more in control of our website.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had a fantastic project manager who helped organise and keep everyone and everything on track as well as offer invaluable advice. In total, there were 10 contacts from Clock that we were aware of working on the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Brilliantly, I couldn’t fault them. We used BaseCamp, and everything was quickly actioned and responded to. It made it really simple to track the progress of elements of the project when needed.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

Slack and Basecamp were used daily. Basecamp helped to keep everything in one place, with key stakeholders having visibility throughout.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Clock are knowledgeable and ready to help wherever they can. They also really saw the value in training the team at Gloucester Rugby to be self-sufficient, which is so important for us with such tight turnarounds. If we had to wait for support tasks to be completed on our behalf, this wouldn’t work for us so the fact we were fully trained, was really impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

n/a

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an IT project manager at the International Tennis Federation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clock Limited?

We had a very old .stx system that was used to enter our various circuits. Over time, it became an inefficient way to carry out what we needed to do, so we needed to overhaul both the system and the design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clock Limited largely delivered everything from a design and UX point of view. I can’t remember the software packages they used, but it was all very easy to use and share among stakeholders. 

Their main delivery to us was a set of React components, which sit on the top of our front end and enable us to develop and push out further elements of the product independently.

What is the team composition?

We worked with about six or seven people from Clock Limited’s team. We had a customer relations point of contact, and we also had a project manager, a technical lead, and various people who would sit in below them. 

How did you come to work with Clock Limited?

We put out an invitation to tender. Clock Limited made a real effort to actually get to know what was happening with the product and who it was going to be delivered to. They were interested in the best way for it to be put across, rather than just following a cookie-cutter methodology. 

How much have you invested with them?

The initial cost was £70,000 (approximately $89,000 USD), and with our changes in additional requirements, it rose to about £80,000 (approximately $101,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2017–October 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Fairly early on, we identified primary and secondary journeys from the fifteen functionalities of the system. We wanted to make sure the new system at least enabled the same number of entries and withdrawals to be completed within the system. Unlike a lot of websites, we wanted people’s time on the site to be less rather than more. 

Essentially, we wanted about 1,000,000 tournaments entered in a six month period, with the time visiting on the site to be half what it was previously. We ended up getting exactly what we were looking for.

How did Clock Limited perform from a project management standpoint?

Clock Limited was very good. We used BaseCamp as a project management tool, which was great. The team always came back with clear questions whenever it was necessary, and if we needed a change that couldn’t take place right away, they communicated it well.

They really understood the pressures we were under, and tried to alleviate that whenever possible.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team was really engaged with what we were trying to do. Steve (Co-Founder) in particular really wanted to understand more about exactly what the players were trying to achieve, what they were doing, and why we couldn’t do something in a certain way. Clock Limited took into account that they needed to understand what we do in order to deliver something worthwhile. It was fantastic.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Off the top of my head, I can’t really pick out anything I would’ve done differently. I’m currently pitching a new project to the board, and I don’t want it to go out to Tender — I just want to work with Clock Limited again.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to and try and understand what Clock Limited is trying to put across. They didn’t come across like a lot of other agencies, but I found that refreshing and beneficial.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the head of subscriptions at a publishing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Clock Limited?

We needed help with building a custom CMS loyalty platform.

What were your goals for this project?

To create a new CMS loyalty website for our subscribers. It needed to have an improved UX and functionality compared to our existing platform and to operate at a lower cost.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They came highly recommended as they’ve built and provided services for a number of our news brands globally.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They built our loyalty CMS to agreed requirements, and then trained local teams on how to use the platform. They also provide ongoing support and develop new features according to a planned roadmap.

What was the team composition?

We work with an account director, a project manager, and a number of developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The new solution is significantly cheaper than our existing solution and has improved features and functionality. Since its launch, all our key engagement metrics have improved, including traffic, redemptions, web NPS, and churn impact.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We had an excellent project manager and account director who managed the project from day one and are still on the account. They provided a brilliant service.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The product is great. They understood our business well and always communicated proactively; nothing was ever too much trouble.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.