Rentokil Initial have been a market leader in business services for decades. To maintain this position, they need to keep a keen eye on competition, including awareness of where market disruptors are likely to come from. To help them do this, we carried out an innovation review and created a unique startup proposition.

Assessing disruption risk

What we did

Innovation review

Taking a depth look at the broader innovations happening across the world, we created a thorough report of those relevant to Rentokil Initial’s businesses. Amongst other topics, the report covered:

  • Internet of Things

  • Blockchain

  • Sensors

  • VR/AR

  • Gaming and social networks

  • Social good

Creating the disruption

New ideas can feel nebulous until you see them for real. To bring the potentially disruptive scenarios to life, we chose the most viable elements from the report to explore further. I then “stole” a couple of key members from the digital team with deep sector experience for a week of working in startup mode to create a whole new company operating in the same space.

Together, we created a startup with a working platform that leveraged the latest technology, tested it within the market and created a strong business case for launch that showed clear market viability.

Bringing it to life

The end-to end experiences across the service lifecycle were mapped in detail, alongside marketing efforts and the underlying tech stack which created a clear overview of what each step of the new offer entails.

Taking it a step further

We didn’t stop there. To really showcase the company, we created a strong brand proposition for the new company, defining the brand values, brand experience principles across both digital and physical experiences, potential collaboration partner selection and the visual identity.

Project outcomes

Whilst Isidore sadly never launched, parts of her live on, as key elements of the customer experience and marketing strategy were rolled into the organisation’s own experience.

The proposition and underlying research were also used to ensure senior leadership were aware of the state of the market and potential future disruptions.

The core team members that worked on this project gained valuable experience in innovative thinking and a fresh perspective which they carried with them into their day to day tasks. (And they got to meet a pig in London whilst on a break from all the thinking)