Doug Lockyer
David Papworth

At the end of the first quarter of '97 Riptide pitched successfully for the interactive agency account for the new interactive division of Condé Nast', called Condé Net. The first property Riptide developed was Suze Orman's CN Currency, an advice community site targeting upwardly mobile women.

Doug pitched the account and conceived of a streamed navigation experience which would differentiate content based on the age group of the browsing market. A gen X visitor would get promotions for savings plans and relationship-related finance issues, while a Baby Boomer would get portfolio advice and and a mature visitor would get REIT's, trust tips etc.

After CN Currency, and in partnership with Condé Net Riptide developed interactive promotions sites for Philips, Toyota and Robert Mondavi Wines.

Doug then pitched VISA USA to provide internet strategy to their Merchant Support group, and beat out giant Interactive agency CKS to acquire the VISA account.

Riptide developed a model for secure electronic commerce and began partnering VISA with other industry leaders to create one of the first B2B business webs, powered by a multi-million dollar web services application and site, which launched in 1998 as the VISA Business Resource Center (VISA BRC)