Desktop Richie

Overview
 
Desktop Richie is a desktop news service produced by Turtlez for Channel 4.  It features a caricature of commentator Richie Benaud, whose presence on the user’s desktop relates directly to the news he delivers, which is of course all things cricket.  Richie is also fun.  He makes wry comments, drinks cups of tea, eats his lunch and generally busies himself when he’s not responding to the score line.

Client Brief

Channel 4 had a two-fold requirement.  The first was to increase awareness, interest and ultimately viewing figures for their coverage of the cricket, particularly the Test Matches.  The second was to drive traffic to their website.

Eight weeks before the start of the season, C4 approached Turtlez with the requirement for a desktop toy which would be Dennis Richie on users’ PCs.  Dennis was to deliver up-to-date cricket news, results and commentary in near real-time, directly to the users’ desktops in an automated fashion.  Desktop Dennis would respond with an appropriate animation and sound bite if the action warranted it, but the user would always have the option to make him operate quietly, delivering stories unobtrusively if so desired.

In the background, Richie would plug directly into Channel 4’s internal news delivery service.  All aspects of his behaviour could easily be controlled remotely by the C4 news team.

Richie would download directly from the Channel4 website, and could be readily installed and uninstalled by the user.  It would run with complete reliability and encourage users to click through the stories he presented, back to the main website for more details.

Design & Development

Turtlez promptly commissioned and received approval for the animations, worked in tandem with Channel 4’s IT department to develop a format for news delivery and produced a final product that more than met the specifications several weeks before the deadline.

This left ample time for tweaking product features to fit in precisely with the client’s requirements before it was due to launch.  Turtlez’ years of experience of developing similar products means that we can produce a reliable, customised and full-featured product, generally in 2-4 weeks.

The User Experience

User response was almost entirely positive.  Although downloads were far higher than anticipated, the design of the product was such that the load on the Channel 4 news delivery servers kept to a manageable level, so that delivery of blow-by-blow commentary remained  prompt throughout the life of the service.

For a user tied to his desk at work, Richie proved to be a vital way to keep up-to-date with the test match throughout the day.  This, along with the general affection for Richie Benaud, the appropriateness of the character’s behaviour , the reliability of the software and the speedy delivery of content made Desktop Richie the cricket news delivery service of choice for many enthusiasts.

Market Penetration

Richie was downloaded more than 150,000 times, and during peak times was active on up to 75,000 desktops.   He remained popular throughout his lifespan, and was reluctantly withdrawn with the ending of Channel 4’s cricket coverage to the disappointment of many users.

Lifespan

Despite being designed to last for one summer.  Richie was successful enough for Channel 4 to retain support for two years.

Client Response

Channel 4 were delighted with response and feedback they received.  They maintain a strong and ongoing relationship with Turtlez and we continue to do business together.

Conclusion

As a promotional tool, and as a news delivery service, Desktop Richie was a complete success.  He generated a great deal of enthusiasm, drove traffic to the Channel 4 site, and generated massive awareness of Channel 4 coverage of Test Matches.