Ladbrokes

Election Lab (Content Ideas, Timings & Budget)

Site Content Ideas
Site Content Ideas

We recommend that we split the site content (30 widgets) in the following way:

1) 1/3 widgets dedicated to live feeds from social media

2) 2/3 widgets dedicated to static data (from government statistics etc)

We will try to mirror the content ideas with the Ladbrokes betting card so that the
widget showcases the diversity of the markets on offer.

All widgets will be designed to provoke interest and encourage site dwell time.
Site Content Ideas

‘Live’ Feeds
Our live feeds will populate widgets with real-time data taken from social media.
1) The Swingometer
The sites main feature will be populated with data supplied by Ladbrokes from the
polling kiosks located in-store. We will build a CMS that allows Ladbrokes to upload
a dedicated CSV file that in turn drives the graphical output on the swingometer
widget.

Alternatively, we can automatically update the widget using an XML feed from
Ladbrokes.

2) Twitter feeds from all 3 major party leaders

A widget that displays the latest tweets from all of the party leaders. This will pull
from @conservatives, @downingstreet and @nick_clegg. Users can flip between
feeds using the tabs provided for this widget.
Site Content Ideas
3) Tweetpoll
We will pull in and display the volume of mentions for each of the parties and
populate the data in graphical format (showing a percentage split). Users will be able
to track buzz over time as well as a snapshot of the current share.

4) Hot Tweets
This widget will pull in popular retweets from within Twitter that relate to the election.
We can do this via retweets of popular #hashtag subjects as well as specific
mentions of ‘election’ within the tweet. The most retweeted post will be displayed on
the widget with a count of how many times the post has been retweeted.

5) Sun Online
A Sun Online politics newsfeed that displays the latest headlines from thesun.co.uk.

5) BBC
A dedicated widget for the politics newsfeed from the BBC.
Site Content Ideas
6) Party YouTube material
This widget will pull in the latest videos from the YouTube accounts belonging to the
3 parties. This will provide visitors with the most up to date interviews, political
broadcasts and policy announcements.

7) Latest Ladbrokes odds

A dedicated widget to communicate the latest odds in the various markets.

8) Parliament Cam
A dedicated widget that pulls in a video feed from a publicly available source/camera
located within parliament square - the camera feed/image updates every 5 seconds.
Site Content Ideas

Static Data

We will look to utilise the newly created data.gov.uk website to generate the
statistics required to power some of our static widgets. The government are actively
encouraging agencies to use the platform and display the data in fun and interesting
ways.

About data.gov.uk:

“Advised by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Professor Nigel Shadbolt and others, government are
opening up data for reuse. This site seeks to give a way into the wealth of government data and is
under constant development. We want to work with you to make it better.

We’re very aware that there are more people like you outside of government who have the skills
and abilities to make wonderful things out of public data. These are our first steps in building a
collaborative relationship with you.”
Site Content Ideas
1) NHS Spend
A widget in the form of a ticker that displays the latest daily cost of the NHS to the
UK government/taxpayer.

2) Current War Expenditure

A widget that shows the accumulative costs of the war in the Middle East (ticker).

3) Speed Camera Revenue

Another widget that displays the national revenue generated by speed cameras to
date (using 2009 data).

4) Seats in Parliament
A timeline based widget that displays the number of seats held by each party over
the years. A slider allows the user to navigate through the years - seeing the shift in
dominance and the majority. A very visual widget that displays the information in a
fun and engaging way.
Site Content Ideas
5) Election history
A timeline based widget that allows the user to select and de-select items on the X
axis including: GDP, unemployment, NHS spend and Armed Forces expenditure.
The user has the ability to turn off/on these items and then scroll through time to see
the shift in levels (with a colour coded key in the timeline which represents each
party)

6) Income tax over the years

Users can select the year from a dropdown list to see how much of their pound is
taken by the government in income tax. A chunk is taken out of the pound to
represent the level of income tax.

7) Play your headlines right

A headline generator that challenges users to guess which party the headline refers
to. Successful guesses result in progress to the next headline.

8) Countdown to election
A countdown clock to polling day.
Site Content Ideas
9) City Battlegrounds
Upon arrival the Election Hub will log the location of your IP. For example, “We see
you’re from the district of York” and then the visitor will be asked to take part in a poll
for that region. Once the user has stated their intention, they will see the result of the
poll to date and have the chance to see the latest odds for their region.

11) Unemployment Levels

A ticker based widget that shows the current levels of unemployment in the UK
(based on 2009 stats).

12) Tie Rack

A tie rack will enable the user to scroll through a selection of colored ties (in a rack)
and then they are presented with the odds of each party leader wearing the selected
tie.
Site Content Ideas
13) Audience Share
This widget showcases the odds for the elections share of audience on TV.
Alongside the odds we will compare estimated numbers against other key/famous
televised events - such as; the Diana and Charles wedding, Obama’s inauguration,
England Euro 96 semi final, men's Wimbledon final in 2009, 9/11, UK snow, X
Factor etc

14) Weather on Election Day

This widget will promote the odds for weather on election day with a scroll option to
look back to previous elections and the weather on that day. Was it raining when
Margaret Thatcher was elected? Probably.

15) Prime Ministers Questions Classics

This widget will display classic video clips from Prime Ministers questions - pulled
from and embedded from YouTube. The video archive will include clips of previous
leaders but will predominantly feature the current front runners David Cameron and
Gordon Brown (e.g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iPaiylUYW0).
Game Development
Game Development

Party Fruit Machine

The party fruit machine will be a dedicated game that is hosted within the Election
Lab. The game will feature a fruit machine with pictures of each of the party leaders
as the elements on the reel.

Visitors are able to play and win prizes/offers from Ladbrokes based on their play.
This can be redeemable vouchers, reduced odds on various bets or even claim their
party rosette. Users are prompted to enter their demographics at the point of
claiming their prize.

The game is portable - so we are able to place it within other digital environments.
Timeline
Timeline

w/c 25 Jan w/c 1 Feb w/c 8 Feb w/c 15 Feb w/c 22 Feb w/c 1 Mar

Election Lab
Planning
Plan sign off
Research & Uploading Data Feeds
Design
Flash Development
Back End Development
Game Development
Testing
Status Reports
Site Live

Key:
Denotes Activity
Report Sent
Important event
Budget
Budget

Site & Game Design and Build

Design £ 4,250
Flash Development £ 8,500
Back End £ 9,500
Game Development £ 5,950
Planning Fee £ 2,500
Research and Uploading of Data Feeds £ 1,250
Account & Project Management £ 5,750
Total Fee Excl. VAT £ 37,700

Monthly Support

Updates and CMS management £ 2,250