#1nlab14: rebalance
DESCRIPTION
Kalev Peekna, Managing Director of Strategy at One North, discusses the importance of finding a balance between brand-centric and user-centric marketing in this East Coast vs. West Coast analysis. From the 2014 Experience Lab: Reimagine Marketing. To watch a video of this presentation, visit http://bit.ly/1zViNx0.TRANSCRIPT
REBALANCE Finding the Right Mix
of Brand and User
Kalev Peekna @kpeekna
THIS IS A STORY OF…
VS
VS
VS
VS
VS
VS
BUT IT’S ALSO ABOUT…
VS
VS
VS
THE PROPOSITION
Two Dominant Design Theories
EAST COAST
Brand Centric Design
WEST COAST
User Centric Design
Brand Centric Design
WHERE IT STARTED • Madison Avenue creative agencies HOW IT WORKS • Adapts the creative marketing process to the unique
opportunities of digital WHAT IT WANTS • To create a compelling, differentiated brand experience
across all channels, including digital
User Centric Design
WHERE IT STARTED • Silicon Valley software companies HOW IT WORKS • Adapts the product design process to the unique
challenges of marketing WHAT IT WANTS • Create useful, functional tools that improve interaction in
measurable ways
Some Light Homework
Some Lighter Homework
EAST COAST Brand Centric Design
• Leads with creative (i.e., visual) design, and follows a creative process
• Values core marketing aims: impressions, differentiation, positioning
• Starts and ends with the brand • Integrates Digital into a more comprehensive,
“multi-channel” experience • Thinks in terms of campaigns: design, launch,
measure; design, launch, measure…
Hallmarks of Brand Centric Design
EAST COAST Some Examples
BMW Website
Big Spaceship
BMW iPad App
Big Spaceship
BMW iPad App
Big Spaceship
BMW iPad App
Big Spaceship
HERMÈS Website
Publicis
HERMÈS Tumblr
Spill.net
L’OREAL Website
R/GA
L’OREAL iPad App
R/GA
• Boy, do they look good: high production values, differentiated, compelling
• You really get what they are all about But: • Looks like an ad. And ads don’t do anything. • Reason to be there is unclear • Reason to engage is unclear • Measurable outcomes are unclear
Brand Centric – Observations
When Brands Attack! Logo
Navigation
Big, compelling ad
(probably cross-channel)
smaller ad video/YouTube ad social media
When Brands Attack! – Option 2 Logo
Navigation
Very Cool Stuff (that I have no reason to click on)
WEST COAST User Centric Design
• Leads with functional/content offering (i.e, what it does), and follows a product design process
• Starts and ends with the user: what she wants and how she wants to do it
• Values simplicity, clean sightlines, ease of use, and clear actions
• Thinks in terms of releases: smaller improvements in shorter iterations. The “product” is never “finished.”
Hallmarks of User Centric Design
WEST COAST Some Examples
Tesla Cars from the Future
Bloomeon B2B Sales / Marketing
Clozet Personal Organization
Hippostack B2B Healthcare
Fancred Sports. I think.
Freshdesk B2B Customer Support
• Content, actions, and navigation are clear • You know what to do; they know what to measure But: • They all look the same. Almost exactly the same. • Design is “skinned”: stock imagery + common
patterns + trends • Markets the features, not the benefits • Informational, but not compelling
User Centric – Observations
When Users Attack! Logo
Navigation
Stock Photo (or product shot)
“Get Started” or “Sign Up”
Another CTA Another CTA Another CTA
More content down here. Maybe.
The “user centric” pattern emerges in West Coast designs across all industries, and presumably, all types of users: It raises obvious question: Can all these users really be looking for the same thing? Where is the differentiation, the innovation?
Are All Users Really the Same?
Bloomeon • B2B Sales & Marketing
CareerDean • Recent Grads
Chooos • B2B Marketing
Clozet • Personal Organization
Coeverywhere • Consumer Travel
ContentForest • B2B Marketing
FanCred • Sports (I think)
Firepaper • Education
Freshdesk • B2B Customer Support
Hashtago • Consumers
HippoStack • B2B Healthcare
Hive • Consumer Music
Lamplighter • Coders
Openbay • Autocare
Sprintly • Project Managers
Shyp • Logistics
Tesla • Cars
Trazy • Travel
WeFunder • Investing
Wellframe • B2B Healthcare
Xenapto • Investing
THIRD COAST Finding the Balance
So who is right? Depending on your perspective, either both are right, or both are wrong. Because designers of all types adhere passionately to their “process,” it’s easy to conclude that it’s an either/or proposition.
The Balance Good marketing always starts with good communication. And good communication always runs both ways. Go too hard to one side and you’re like a bad dinner guest. Either you’re talking too much, or you’re not contributing. Either way, you’re a bore.
The Balance – Why It Works
What you want from users
What users want from you
Shared Needs & Goals
value-driven
RELATIONSHIP
BRAND seller • vendor • firm • publisher
USER client • customer • audience • reader
The Balance in Action
Two examples of what a Brand-User balance looks like in the wild: • User Personas – Understanding where your goals
overlap • Scenarios – Imagining how everyone gets their
needs met
User Personas
User Personas are a core exercise in brand centric approaches, where they serve as an input to creative design:
User Personas
Bernard Bumbletrousers CEO
Age: 55 Lifestyle: Workaholic. The only thing from college that still fits is his scarf. Career: Worked up through the Sales at his first job to VP, now on his
2nd appointment as CEO of a growing firm Drives: Has people for that Drinks: Black coffee by day; Rye (neat) by night
Phone: Blackberry Social: LinkedIn. Everything else: to check up on his kids.
Brands: TaylorMade, BMW, Paul Stuart, McKinsey, Salesforce
The first step is to base your description on data, not imagination. The second is to add a clear statement of his and your needs:
User Personas – Adding Balance
Bernard Bumbletrousers CEO
What we want from Bernard: • Understand why we are
different • See us as experts • Know the full range of what we
can offer • Contact us • Tell others about us
What Bernard wants from us: • Find useful information • How to contact someone • Know that we understand his
business • Who we’ve worked with before • Whether working together will
be easy
Marketing leaders know how to articulate what their firm wants from their users. But what’s the secret to really understanding what users want from them?
YOU HAVE TO ASK.
But How Do We Know?
But it may not be as hard as you think. Include (per user type): • 5-8 interviews for qualitative
insights • 20 respondents for
quantitative data Source: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/
With the goals clearly stated, it’s relatively easy to start mapping overlap in a way that suggests clear strategies and opportunities:
Mapping the overlap
What we want from Bernard:
Understand why we are different
See us as experts
Know the full range of what we can offer
Contact us
Tell others about us
What Bernard wants from us:
Find useful information
How to contact someone
Know that we understand his business
Who we’ve worked with before
Whether working together will be easy
SCENARIOS
Scenarios – Building the Experience
A scenario is simply a workflow of steps that show how a shared need can be met. Whether you call it a “use case” or “interaction flow,” it’s the creative framework behind all interaction design.
Typically, it includes things like: • Content themes • Navigation paths • User choices • Key functionality
The key to adding balance to a scenario is to think hard about why users want to start interactions, and about how you want them to finish:
Scenarios – Adding Balance
INITIATION
Starting points: • Email • Social connection • Web research • Daily news
INTERACTION
Flow of: • Content themes • Navigation paths • User choices • Key functionality
OUTCOMES
Results: • Click to other
content • Content share • Contact firm
Users meeting their goals
Brand meeting its goals
Scenario Example INITIATION INTERACTION OUTCOMES
Researches new business problem with a web search
Receives topical email alert from the firm
Receives publication directly from firm partner
Sees link to publication while browsing LinkedIn
Article loads in user’s browser. Format is readable across all devices.
Scans article to determine structure and relevance.
Reads article. At the end of the article, automated suggestion for another article on the same subject is presented.
Reads second article.
Notices that the second article relates to a practice area that he hasn’t used before.
At the end of second article, sees an invitation to register to receive more personalized recommendations.
Contacts article author(s)
Sends article link via email to colleague
Shares article on LinkedIn
Registers for login/subscriptions
Investigates practice area(s)
Investigates author(s)
Scenarios can lead you to a better understanding of how to measure your digital marketing efforts:
Measuring the Balance
INITIATION
Starting points
INTERACTION
Flow
OUTCOMES
Results
How you measure site /platform performance
How you measure campaign performance
How you measure ROI
PARTING THOUGHTS
Some Things to Think About
• Don’t hit your balance by pulling back from either brand or user. Hit the balance by working harder for both.
• If you focus simultaneously on both brand and user, then what you’re end up focusing on is the relationship.