Doug Lockyer
David Papworth

Through one of these engagements Doug acquired SkyMall (the in-flight, upmarket gift catalog company) as a client. He gave business concessions to secure the interactive agency of record position with SkyMall, guaranteeing a higher public profile and first right of refusal on a vista of interactive projects over the next three years.

Doug developed, with Skymall CEO Bob Worsely, a comprehensive strategy to move SkyMall from a call-center and print-catalog based enterprise to an online sales channel for its 20 plus brand leading consumer products and 19 airline partners.

The publication of this strategy was supported by a Riptide developed road show presentation, which contributed to a stock price increase for SkyMall from $16 per share in August / September '98 to $48 in October '98.

Riptide launched Skymall travel for Skymall at the same time, and Doug brokered relationships between VISA, VERIO, Carlson Group and other industry giants in a series of interrelated strategic alliances that positioned Riptide dynamically at the center of an e-commerce groundswell.

As a result of two years of high profitability Doug invested in commercial realty and acquired strata title to floor of the building that Riptide was housed in. By 2001 he would own three floors of the five story midtown Manhattan brownstone.