OPERATING MODEL STUDIO

Led by someone who has run the function

Every review is led by a senior digital executive who has built and run digital functions for some of the largest destinations in the Gulf.

16years running digital from the client side, in five Gulf organisations
25m+visitors engaged through the CRM built for Expo 2020 Dubai
7business lines on one shared guest platform at Yas Island
13international awards for the airport websites, two of them Webby honours

The six areas of the review, and where we have done each one ourselves

The review asks six questions of your organisation. For every one of them, this is the work behind the person asking.

Operating model and governance

Who decides, who owns what, and how is work prioritised?

Where we have done it ourselves

  • PIF giga project, todayDefined the experience strategy for the whole function and put it into operation: governance, roadmap, agile delivery and KPI dashboards.
  • PIF giga project, todaySecured agreement between technology, tourism, marketing, operations and guest services on one experience agenda.
  • Expo 2020 DubaiMade the CRM the single route for every direct message to visitors: one contact policy, consent asked at every point where data was captured, and shared templates and checklists so the visitor, schools, volunteer and partner teams all worked the same way.
  • Miral, Yas IslandOwned one guest platform shared by four theme parks, a marina and the island's dining venues, and set the priorities, fixes and roadmap across all of them.
  • Miral, Yas IslandDesigned and proposed a hub and spoke model for digital across the island: one head of digital at the centre, with digital marketing expertise kept inside each attraction.
  • Culture and Tourism, Abu DhabiSet user experience standards for the emirate's tourism digital assets, and advised public and private sector organisations on adopting digital.

The proof

One platform, seven business lines, one roadmap. Deciding between competing owners is the daily work, not a theory.

Team and roles

Is the structure right, and where are the skill gaps?

Where we have done it ourselves

  • PIF giga project, todayDirects a team covering websites, CRM, analytics and experience design, together with a portfolio of external delivery partners.
  • Expo 2020 DubaiBuilt the CRM team of operators and content creators, and trained the marketing teams on the campaign tools through design workshops, training sessions and acceptance testing.
  • Miral, Yas IslandCarried eleven strategic projects across all of the island assets as platform owner, leading a team of product owners from concept through user acceptance testing to business rollout. Before that, led the digital marketing, loyalty and social media teams.
  • Earlier careerSet up the CRM organisation of a mobile operator from nothing, and led the marketing team of a retail group with 62 locations.

The proof

The CRM organisation built from nothing lifted customer satisfaction by 40 percent, tripled acquisition and raised revenue per customer by 25 percent.

Vendors and contracts

What does each vendor deliver, at what cost, and where do they overlap?

Where we have done it ourselves

  • PIF giga project, todayRan the transition of delivery from one group of major vendors to another.
  • Expo 2020 DubaiStood up the campaign platform with the system integrator and the software vendor, the journey flows with a creative agency, and audience growth with outside data suppliers.
  • Abu Dhabi AirportsManaged four agencies at once, for advertising, social media, digital and media, and held the digital budget.
  • Earlier careerFounded and ran a digital agency that was agency of record for four international advertising networks.

The proof

Sixteen years as the client, and two as the agency. We know how an agency prices, staffs and reports, because we have done it.

Platforms

Do the website, app, booking and CRM platforms fit the need?

Where we have done it ourselves

  • PIF giga project, todayLaunched and scaled one digital experience platform for the destination.
  • PIF giga project, todayLed the split of that platform into separate destination brands on a shared foundation covering guest profile, CRM, consent, booking and analytics.
  • Culture and Tourism, Abu DhabiDirected digital service and user experience improvements across the tourism ecosystem of the emirate, and defined its digital visitor journeys and content strategy.
  • Miral, Yas IslandAs platform owner, signed off business acceptance and readiness for every release across the island.
  • Miral, Yas IslandThe delivery partner published the results of the platform: 37 percent of ticket sales passing through it, and 100 million dollars of new ticket sales in its first year.
  • Abu Dhabi AirportsRebuilt the airport group websites as desktop and dedicated mobile sites in English and Arabic, on one content management system, connected to parking, lounge booking, flight status and flight alerts. Also the duty free retail site and four campaign sites.
  • Earlier careerLaunched a global ecommerce platform as a founder.

The proof

Thirteen international awards for the airport websites, including Best Airport Website Worldwide and two Official Honoree recognitions at the Webby Awards.

Customer data and CRM

What is captured about visitors, and is it used?

Where we have done it ourselves

  • Expo 2020 DubaiConceived and built the digital CRM for the event. Brought contacts scattered across social media, a mailing tool and old databases into one customer record, then mapped the journey before, during and after a visit into automated email, SMS and app messages. The same CRM served ticketing, volunteers and VIP guests.
  • Expo 2020 DubaiGrew the contact database from about 100,000 contacts to more than 700,000 before the event closed.
  • PIF giga project, todayRuns CRM, consent and the single guest profile for the destination, on enterprise marketing and customer data platforms.
  • Culture and Tourism, Abu DhabiDeveloped and managed the destination CRM of the tourism authority.
  • Miral, Yas IslandManaged CRM for the island and launched its email and mobile push programmes. Before the platform, the island held fewer than 180,000 customer records for 10 million visitors.
  • Abu Dhabi AirportsPersonalised the airport website by passenger type. Arriving, departing and transferring passengers each saw their own flight details, offers and quick links, and marketing could target each group.
  • Abu Dhabi AirportsRan a flight auction for the thirtieth anniversary of the airport, 60 tickets to 30 destinations, built on registration, database, SMS and paid search. Half the proceeds went to student support at Zayed University.
  • Earlier careerBuilt a loyalty programme for a detergent brand on 300,000 personalised coupons and a purchase database. Market share rose from 10 to 14 percent in two years.

The proof

More than 25 million visitors engaged through the CRM built for Expo 2020 Dubai.

Reporting

Does leadership see numbers it can trust and act on?

Where we have done it ourselves

  • PIF giga project, todayBuilt the KPI dashboards that sit inside the function's governance, with satisfaction measured by NPS, CSAT and CES.
  • Culture and Tourism, Abu DhabiRan a mystery shopper programme covering all Abu Dhabi hotels, to measure an experience delivered by independent operators.
  • Expo 2020 DubaiSet the CRM targets for response, click through and database growth, and reviewed campaigns against industry benchmarks. One review of event invitations found that the form and the timing were costing registrations, and replaced them with a planned email sequence.
  • Abu Dhabi AirportsSet yearly targets for the airport group and reported against them. In 2014 the airport website passed 3.1 million visits against a 10 percent growth target, social audiences grew by 55 percent and engagement by 79 percent, and every complaint and enquiry was answered against a target of 95 percent.

The proof

Experience measured where it is hardest: across every hotel of an emirate that the tourism body does not own.

Where that work was done

  1. 2023 to today

    A Public Investment Fund giga project, Saudi Arabia

    Head of the digital function for a luxury destination developer on the Saudi Red Sea coast: destination websites, the connected visitor programme, CRM, analytics, experience design and the platforms beneath them.

    A turquoise lagoon and white sand on the Saudi Red Sea coast
  2. 2022 to 2023

    Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi

    Section head for digital experience development: customer experience digital products, visitor journeys and content strategy, user experience standards, the destination CRM, and a mystery shopper programme across the hotels of the emirate.

    The dome of Louvre Abu Dhabi over the water
  3. 2018 to 2022

    Expo 2020 Dubai

    Senior manager for customer relationship management, from the build to the close of the event.

    The Sustainability Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai at night
  4. 2016 to 2018

    Miral, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi

    Owner of the guest platform for the island, after leading its digital marketing, loyalty and social media teams.

    Flamingos in an indoor lagoon at SeaWorld Abu Dhabi on Yas Island
  5. 2010 to 2016

    Abu Dhabi Airports Company

    Responsible for the airport group's websites, digital campaigns and electronic communications.

    The terminal hall of Zayed International Airport

Photos: Louvre Abu Dhabi by Nazar Skalatsky, Expo 2020 Dubai by Shuxin Wu and flamingos by Jack Sparrow, all on Unsplash. Zayed International Airport by Oleg Yunakov (CC BY SA 4.0). All cropped.

Before the Gulf

Twenty five years in commercial and marketing leadership in Greece, for international consumer goods, telecom and retail companies, and as founder of a digital agency and an ecommerce business. An MBA from the University of Strathclyde. It is why the review reads a digital function as a commercial leader would, not as a technologist.

What that experience means for you

We have been the client

The review is led by someone who has spent a career on the buying side, hiring and managing agencies and vendors. We know what a client is not told.

We have nothing to build or resell

No development team, no platform, no commissions. A recommendation from us is not a sales pitch for more work.

We know this sector at scale

Digital functions built and run for a world expo, a theme park island, a tourism authority and an international airport, over sixteen years.

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