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.
15. Two Dominant Design Theories
EAST COAST
Brand Centric Design
WEST COAST
User Centric Design
16. 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
17. 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
21. Hallmarks of 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…
32. Brand Centric – Observations
• 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
33. When Brands Attack!
Logo
Navigation
Big, compelling ad
(probably cross-channel)
smaller ad video/YouTube ad social media
34. When Brands Attack! – Option 2
Logo
Navigation
Very Cool Stuff
(that I have no reason to click on)
36. Hallmarks of 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.”
44. User Centric – Observations
• 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
45. 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.
46. Are All Users Really the Same?
The “user centric” pattern emerges in West Coast designs
across all industries, and presumably, all types of users:
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
It raises obvious question: Can all these users really be
looking for the same thing? Where is the differentiation, the
innovation?
48. 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.
49. 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.
50. 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
51. 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
53. User Personas
User Personas are a core exercise in brand centric approaches, where
they serve as an input to creative design:
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
54. User Personas – Adding Balance
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:
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
55. But How Do We Know?
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 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/
56. Mapping the overlap
With the goals clearly stated, it’s relatively easy to start mapping overlap in
a way that suggests clear strategies and opportunities:
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
58. 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
59. Scenarios – Adding Balance
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:
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
60. 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.
Investigates author(s)
Contacts article
author(s)
Sends article link via
email to colleague
Shares article on
LinkedIn
Registers for login/
subscriptions
Investigates practice
area(s)
61. Measuring the Balance
Scenarios can lead you to a better understanding of how to measure your
digital marketing efforts:
INITIATION
Starting points
INTERACTION
Flow
OUTCOMES
Results
How you measure site /
platform performance
How you measure
campaign performance
How you measure ROI
63. 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.