Lessons From the Best

What They Did

• • Re-framed themselves as “a technology company that does banking.”
  • Modernised legacy systems, moved to cloud, embedded digital ways of working across every business unit.
  • Shifted operating models to enable faster product development and improved customer journeys.

Benefits Realised

• • 12% increase in productivity and
  • 20% reduction in system downtime.
  • Digital customers were ~2x as profitable as traditional ones.
  • Recognised multiple times as the “World’s Best Digital Bank.”

Pillars in Action

• • Vision & alignment: Bold declaration to be a tech company created clarity.
  • Capability building: Cloud, APIs, agile practices built scale and resilience.
  • Governance & metrics: KPIs tracked digital adoption and productivity.
  • Stakeholder engagement: Change cascaded across business lines.

Process Applied

• • Discovery: Identified legacy bottlenecks.
  • Gap analysis: Skills, infrastructure, culture.
  • Roadmap: Prioritised platform rebuild before scaling digital channels.
  • Adaptation: Regular reviews ensured measurable results.

What They Did

• • Rebuilt enterprise platforms to simplify operations and improve supply chain efficiency.
  • Made digital innovation a strategic priority across products and operations.
  • Established governance structures and cross-functional collaboration networks.

Benefits Realised

• • 15% faster time-to-market for new products.
  • 40% operating profit growth between 2017–2019.
  • Pandemic resilience: digital channels absorbed demand spikes smoothly.

Pillars in Action

• • Strategic alignment: Tech tied directly to growth and innovation.
  • Capability building: Investment in digital design, analytics, supply chain.
  • Clear vision: Digitalisation framed as existential priority.
  • Governance: Decision rights clarified to speed execution.

Process Applied

• • Discovery: Understood consumer behaviour shifts.
  • Gap analysis: Identified fragmented systems and slow cycles.
  • Roadmap: Built platforms first, then scaled customer-facing digital.
  • Continuous improvement: Iterative global feedback loops.

What They Did

• • Built strategy around DHM (Delight, Hard to copy, Monetize).
  • Used advanced analytics and large-scale experimentation (A/B testing, recommendations).
  • Shifted investment to original content, guided by platform data.

Benefits Realised

• • Recommendation engine drives ~80% of viewing activity.
  • 24% YoY revenue growth in 2020.
  • Reduced risk of failed content investments, saving billions.

Pillars in Action

• • Clarity of vision: DHM created focus for decision-making.
  • Capabilities: Data science, experimentation, analytics at scale.
  • Governance: Leadership alignment on content vs tech investment.
  • Stakeholder engagement: Content, tech, and product teams aligned.

Process Applied

• • Discovery: Analysed user behaviour and competitor moves.
  • Gap analysis: Need for defensible IP and better customer retention.
  • Roadmap: Sequenced features, global expansion, and originals.
  • Feedback loops: A/B testing refined experience continuously.

In all three examples, across different industries, these successful digital strategies share common traits that map directly to our pillars and process:

1. 1. Define business outcomes early (e.g. DBS: customer profitability; LEGO: speed to market; Netflix: retention).
   2. Invest in strong foundations (modern platforms, data, cloud) before scaling.
   3. Embed governance and measurement to track real results.
   4. Balance quick wins with long-term bets to sustain growth.
   5. Stay adaptive with agile methods, experimentation, and regular refresh.

Global reviews (e.g. Whatfix, Magenest) show that organisations that adhere to these disciplines consistently outperform peers in key metrics such as

• • profitability,
  • resilience, and
  • customer trust.

Impact Summary

The lesson is clear:

organisations that combine strong pillars with a disciplined, repeatable process turn strategy into measurable outcomes.

Whether in banking, consumer goods, or media, the winners are those who invest in foundations, align leadership, and stay agile.

Want to explore how Trippl can help you design and deliver a technology strategy that creates measurable enterprise value?

Contact our team at hello@trippl.co to start the conversation.