The Difference Engine is live - and this is the overview of what we do, who we are, and how we roll. We discover new ways for brands to create value in digital, social and mobile environments. And we identify opportunities for smart, efficient, evidence-based innovation that benefits both the business and its customers. We'd love to work with you.

2. WE IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMART,
EFFICIENT INNOVATION THAT BENEFITS BOTH
YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR CUSTOMERS.
Our deep roots and experience in digital, social & mobile strategy, and product
development allow us to combine marketing prowess with smart digital thinking
to efficiently solve business challenges and effectively activate customers.
We all know there’s a lot of waste in the traditional client/agency model - our
experience with agencies and brands inspired us to emerge from that model to
focus on creating something useful, in a way that is fully transparent to our
clients and rooted in customer desires and expectations.
We’re part of a new school of thinkers & creators, using smart, efficient and
evidence-based methods to create successful brand and product experiences.

3. WE CREATE BRAND & PRODUCT EXPERIENCES
THAT ARE RESPONSIVE TO BUSINESS NEEDS AND
CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR.
We create a blueprint for a holistic digital ecosystem that touches on- and off-line
engagement channels, and that is easily shared across product and marketing
groups.
We streamline a brand’s marketing approach to focus on engaging and activating
customers; and we help develop a lean approach to production and management
of these platforms - reducing costs while increasing quality.
We find or create tools that are easily deployable, measurable (and we help
establish the right set of goals), as well as scalable and repeatable.

4. Because its purpose is to create a customer,
the business has two - and only two - functions:
Marketing and Innovation.
Marketing and Innovation produce results.
All the rest are costs.
PETER DRUCKER

5. WE BELIEVE IN VALUE CREATION,
NOT VALUE EXTRACTION
A brand is not only what it says it is. And it’s not merely what your “target” thinks
about your communications.
Today, the brand is a shared asset - it lives in the way people experience your
products and services, and what people do with and about you.
The success of your brand depends on where and how we buy your product or
use your service, how we feel about the price-value equation, and how we
interact with your people and platforms.
Instead of getting people to act, think or feel a particular way, we look for ways to
make engaging with the brand a more useful, more rewarding, and more
successful experience for customers. We want to help you make it easier for
more people to engage your products & services, in more places.

6. Value can only be defined by the ultimate customer. And it’s
only meaningful when expressed in terms of a specific product
(a good or a service, and often both at once) which meets the
customer’s needs at a specific price at a specific time.
JAMES WOMACK & DANIEL JONES

7. WE ARE CUSTOMER CENTRIC,
NOT BRAND CENTRIC
Brands and agencies spend a lot of time talking about “consumers” and “target
audiences”. Too often, these aren’t real people - they’re statistical averages, and
they don’t always help managers make decisions.
We focus on customers - real people who expect real value from your products
and services. These are the people who spend time, money, or effort in exchange
for the value your products and services provide.
We identify your real customers - whether these are your actual end users, or
your channel partners - and discover untapped or underserved customers. We
learn what they want, need or desire in order to have a successful brand or
product experience.
And then we collaborate with you and them to discover opportunities for
innovation that creates value.

8. We always have a vision that is clearly articulated, big enough to
matter & shared by the whole team...Our goal is always to
discover which aspects of this vision are grounded in reality &
adapt those aspects that are not.
ERIC RIES

9. WE ARE EVIDENCE-BASED,
NOT PROCESS-DRIVEN
We make no assumptions - about your business model, your customers, or your
value proposition. As a result, we don’t start off knowing where we’ll end up, or
try to ‘sell’ you on an outcome.
Rather, we learn what to do. We rely on the rigor of design thinking tools, and
collaborate openly with the brand team and with customers, to arrive at
hypotheses worth testing.
As a result, we can be nimble in our project planning, flexible in pricing, and
responsive to the needs of the business and brand or product teams.
And we stay focused on measurable business outcomes - customer activation
and acquisition, as well as customer retention and referral.

10. HOW WE ROLL
vision
How will the brand
(co)create this value for &
with customers?
discovery Invention
What do your What are the right
customers/ prospects platforms, tools & ideas
need? What problem for value creation?
could we solve?
reinvention
Is it working?
What do we change?
How do we improve?

11. HOW WE COLLABORATE TO CREATE
Our team can help you get to what you need more efficiently than you’re
probably used to. We work to create the conditions for success, connecting brand
& product platforms, customer engagement and meaningful metrics.
Our services include:
Business model workshops help identify opportunities for innovation and value creation.
Customer development & discovery work identifies untapped or underserved customer
segments and needs.
Blueprints for a product experience that creates value for customers are developed to share
across internal teams and outside partners.
Roadmaps for development, deployment, and measurement & revision are created to support
always-on engagement programs.
Briefing and vetting potential partners help brands identify the right partners.
Hiring and overseeing the right partners enable us to develop & deploy bespoke solutions.

12. WHO WE’VE WORKED WITH
Our team honed their skills and perspectives working with clients
in many categories, to discover new customer segments,
identify opportunities for innovation, and develop programs
for creating value in the digital, mobile and social spheres.

13. REINVENTING A NETWORK.
the challenge
In 2003, USA Network suffered from low ratings, audiences and content that failed to attract advertisers, and a
programming and brand heritage that hindered growth. They saw their viewers as “less-than-average Joes”
and wanted to reposition the channel, the content and as a result, the audience.
THE APPROACH
An iterative customer discovery and development approach was used to find out who USA’s viewers really
were, what made them tune in, what made them flip to another channel, and what caused confusion, as well
as to understand the context of viewing choices made across an increasingly cluttered spectrum. They had a
question for us, “What gives USA the right to call itself USA?”
THE RESULT
We collaborated with the USA team to translate these gaps, obstacles and opportunities into a new network
mission, ‘Characters Welcome’, that led to a fresh curatorial perspective based on an appreciation of the
diversity of people and places in America, which in turn informed a new approach to developing and licensing
shows that are all about great American characters. These choices greatly improved the viewer experience -
and ultimately the network’s ratings.

14. THE #1 SHOE IN GOLF, FOR EVERYONE.
the challenge
The most-worn golf shoe brand on the PGA tour, FootJoy is a highly respected, high quality manufacturer of
golf shoes for men and women. Facing threats from Nike, Puma, Ecco and other, newer entrants to the golf
category, FootJoy commissioned a segmentation study and strategic exploration of how the brand could
evolve both its products and its marketing to appeal to a broader, and likely younger, golf customer.
THE APPROACH
We workshopped a series of hypotheses about how avid and frequent golfers shop, think about the category,
and select the right shoes for them. We took these hypotheses into the field to test with actual golfers - men
and women, younger as well as more seasoned golfers. We explored the line of products as well as
sponsorships, spokespeople and other marketing with customers, and learned what drives golfers.
THE RESULT
After validating what we discovered in face-to-face meetings with golfers in a quantitative segmentation
study, we identified product development opportunities that would reach younger golfers, more tech-savvy
golfers, and more diverse golfers (women, less frequent golfers). We also streamlined the marketing approach,
focusing on technology and innovation, and a more limited line of shoes, letting these act as flagships for the
broader catalog; we relied on the brand’s heritage and standing as the #1 shoe in golf to demonstrate quality &
comfort.

15. REIMAGINING DAYTIME DRAMA.
the challenge
In 2006, TeleNext Media, the producers of Guiding Light and As the World Turns (America’s two longest
running soap operas) were faced with a crisis: where had millions of daytime viewers, so loyal in the 1980s and
1990s, gone - and how could we get them back?
THE APPROACH
We met with writers and producers of the shows, visited sets, met with viewers, and dug deep into the
challenges the shows faced in production and storytelling, and the role soaps played in both the television
industry and the lives of viewers. We looked at how styles, formats and subject matter had changed over time,
and uncovered opportunities for each show to improve the quality of its writing and production.
THE RESULT
We worked with the showrunners to develop a lean approach to production - reducing costs while improving
quality by switching to handheld digital cameras, permanent sets and outdoor staging. We helped each show
develop a unique take on storytelling - As the World Turns moved to ‘real time’ stories, where each day in
Springfield was a day in the real world; Guiding Light focused on a single character or couple each Wednesday.
We helped TeleNext develop online communities for established viewers to introduce new viewers and
mentor them on story and character. Prior to cancellation, they were regarded as the most innovative shows in
daytime, influencing the entire genre.

16. DISCOVERING NEW CUSTOMERS.
the challenge
A major food marketer, a staple brand of American pantries and refrigerators, lacked a clear connection to two
emerging groups of consumers - Foodies and people concerned about sustainability. They wanted to develop
products or services that could connect these consumers to the brand, and provide good reasons to think of
the brand as a partner in a more discerning kitchen.
THE APPROACH
We observed foodies and sustainability-concerned shoppers over several days - their shopping habits, their
lifestyles, the way they organize their kitchens, the way they prepare food and organize their homes. We
discovered a variety of opportunities for Kraft to bring its experience and expertise in food preparation and
packaging into these consumers homes in a useful, authentic way.
THE RESULT
We created a digital blueprint - literally a internal website designed like the blueprints of a home - to share
across product and marketing groups the lifestyle, pain points and need states of these customers. A
combination of user-created photography and video clips, as well as our recommendations for innovation
opportunities were mapped to the different rooms of the home. Each room outlined product or service
innovation ideas: small space storage solutions, shopping & recipe apps, sustainable packaging, food games for
kids, and content ideas to support budding chefs and emerging environmentalists.

17. CONTACT US
@DifferenceNGN
thedifferenceengine.co
info@thedifferenceengine.co
+1.718.915.5061
Brooklyn, USA