BRI boosts credit card program
to meet critical deadline

Background

A Fortune 500 money transfer company launched a business initiative to offer credit cards to existing customers and new markets in Europe and Asia. The multi-year project was designed to gain a foothold in markets abroad and generate new revenue. The launch of the initiative was to be announced at a quarterly analyst briefing.

The effort would require careful coordination between marketing and IT resources, modifications to existing and new IT systems and changes in processes. Several suppliers would be involved at different stages of the global initiative. The date of the analyst briefing dictated that the initiative had no room for slippage; the project had to launch on time to allow the company to declare success during the briefing.

Challenges

As the clock ticked toward the deadline, it became clear that the large and complex initiative could not keep pace to meet the target date. The company tried several internal approaches, but none showed any promise of meeting the deadline. The company clearly needed someone with strong leadership skills and extensive experience in product and program management – someone with a solid track record.

Solution

Initially asked to provide simple senior level consultant staffing, BRI soon assumed a far more significant role that led to a long term engagement with the company.

Our consultant, experienced in product and program management, bridged the gap between IT and business interests. Credit card features were carefully pruned, dropping non-critical features that required time-consuming IT modifications, and stronger features were added.

Our consultant was able to reenergize project managers and complete the project on time and under budget. The company was able to launch its credit cards in Europe and Asia and the results were announced during the analyst briefings as planned.

With the successful turnaround of the credit card program, the company continued to engage Blue River International for other key initiatives, including:

• Product/program management of a new high-profile digital marketing strategy for customer acquisition and online transactions.
• Improvements to IT systems to support credit card launches to new domestic market segments, improving market penetration and revenue.
• Development of criteria for a CMS system, evaluation of RFP responses and ultimate selection of a system vendor. BRI responsibilities included pricing, licensing and working with vendors.
• Participation in the company’s new online customer acquisition division, as well as initiatives for customer behavior-based marketing, CMS and targeted marketing.
• Integration of emerging technologies with newly established online marketing efforts.

By delivering clear and measurable results, Blue River International became a long-term trusted partner whenever the company needed reliable help with IT challenges.