A startup’s guide to brand strategy: 4 steps to bootstrap human-centered design - by Megan Colgan at Startupbootcamp Istanbul

This workshop walks through 4 step by step methodologies based on design thinking principles for how to bootstrap customer insights and begin a brand strategy. Each step is illustrated by a concrete example of a brand and UX refresh conducted at Startupbootcamp Istanbul for Benimcep, a secure online-marketplace for people to buy and sell smartphones at a discount and under warranty. Presented in the final month of the accelerator, it serves as a gut-check for entrepreneurs to see how well they understand their target customers and if they built a brand experience based on that understanding. Presented by: Megan Colgan is co-founder of The GO Project and a mentor and entrepreneur in residence at Startupbootcamp Istanbul 2014 helping with brand development, customer experience design and marketing strategy. (Find her @MegColgan) Workshop Philosophy: Empathy is the impetus of great design. Customer empathy—a fundamental understanding of a customer’s values, needs, perceptions and emotions—is at the core of designing a successful product, a successful user experience and it is at the core of designing a successful brand. Studies like the Stengel 50 and an analysis by co:collective on Storydoing, prove that brands that connect to and deliver human value are more successful in acquiring customers, creating advocates, earning customer loyalty, and performing financially. Such success is rooted in authentic customer connection which requires digging much deeper than aesthetics and tactics. It requires talking to and understanding customers through constant feedback and iterative testing. Read less