1. Creating a Digital-Centered
Customer Experience
30 April 2015
#1NWebinar: User Experience & Brand

2. 2
Welcome
Ryan Schulz
Director, Brand Planning
Kalev Peekna
Managing Director, Strategy
@kpeekna

3. Previously on
One North Webinars

4. 4
Brand-Planning Framework
Brand Idea:
Brand Persona:
Brand Strategy:
Communications Strategy:
Tactics:
Overall Customer Experience:
Essence
and Purpose
Voice,
Brand DNA, and Actions
Activating the persona
in order to achieve an outcome
What we will say and when
Logistics of executing the strategy
The foundation of everything; the only thing that really matters
In order to create a fully formed brand experience, you
must begin at the top and work down.

5. 5
Brand-Planning Framework
Brand Idea:
Brand Persona:
Brand Strategy:
Communications Strategy:
Tactics:
Overall Customer Experience:
Essence
and Purpose
Voice,
Brand DNA, and Actions
Activating the persona
in order to achieve an outcome
What we will say and when
Logistics of executing the strategy
The foundation of everything; the only thing that really matters
Most organizations get easily distracted with the
tactical aspects of marketing.

6. 6
Key Takeaways
• Consider the entire framework.
• Start at the top.
• Create something that stakeholders can actually care
about; find your big idea.
• Beware of tactics that lack a strategy.

7. Today on
One North Webinars

8. 8
Do Brand & UX/UI Go Together?
Brand Strategy
• Focused on identity &
impressions
• Conceptually driven
• Differentiation!
• Thinks UX/UI is “tactical”
UX/UI Strategy
• Focused on interactions and
behaviors
• Data driven
• Best practices!
• Thinks brand is “ego-centric”
Ideas only matter when
they are experienced
beyond the level of
impressions.
Best practices are by
definition neither
innovative nor
differentiating.

9. 9
Different Disciplines, Same Goals
Brand Strategy and UX/UI
Strategy are really just
different disciplines aiming
at the same goal – a good
customer experience.
Brand
Strategy
UX/UI
Strategy
Customer
Experience

10. UX/UI
Brand
10
Brand & UX/UI Need Each Other
Brand Idea:
Brand Persona:
Brand Strategy:
Communications Strategy:
Tactics:
Overall Customer Experience:
Essence
and Purpose
Voice,
Brand DNA, and Actions
Activating the persona
in order to achieve an outcome
What we will say and when
Logistics of executing the strategy
The foundation of everything; the only thing that really mattersGOAL
There is a lot in UX/UI strategy that is not brand-dependent. However, the
customer experience is almost always improved when UX/UI is informed
by a well-defined brand.

11. 11
Today
Today we’ll talk about how UX/UI strategy helps bring brand
to life, and how core brand concepts help to inform,
inspire, and improve strategy.
• Case study: PwC
• Where brand & UX/UI meet
– Context & Distribution
– Content Strategy
– Web UI
– Tone & Style
• One more thing…

12. Such prize!
WOW
very caffeine
slurp!
awake 4 u
many coffee
amaze
so espresso

13. Case Study: PWC

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PWC
Brand Essence:
Intelligent growth
Brand Promise:
Helping clients create the value they are looking for.
Tagline:
Building relationships, creating value

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• A mark that was born
to be digital
• That works well in a variety
of digital contexts
• And is translated to the real
world in unexpected ways
PWC

16. Translating PWC’s
Brand:
CEO Survey

17. 17
PWC Annual Global CEO Survey
• Interviews conducted with 1300+
CEOs
• Truly global: Geographic
selection based on GDP
• 2015 was the 18th year of the
survey
• Deployed across many digital
channels with careful attention to
cadence and context.
• Each discrete interaction is
informed by and reinforces
PWC’s brand platform.

18. 18
Pre-Launch
In the run-up to the launch of
the report, key PWC leaders
will “tease” pieces of
information on social
channels like Twitter to help
build interest.

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Launch at World Economic Forum
The official launch of the report
occurs at the WEF in Davos,
Switzerland. Timing the campaign to
this prestigious event lends the
greatest possible impact to its
release.
Not going to Davos? Did your
spouse steal the private jet for the
weekend?
You can always review the video
and/or webcast and/or live blog.

20. 20
Introducing the Report to New Users
Upon launch, PWC offers
a quick 60-second
overview to users who
are new to the survey.
It shows careful handling
of new vs. established
relationships, a key
pillar of their brand.

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Connecting Participants & Recipients
Video has been an element in their
content campaigns for many years.
In addition to the overview videos,
they also offer conversations with
some of the CEOs who took the
actual survey.
This adds depth and interest to the
main content, and emphasizes the
importance of PwC's relationships.

22. 22
Natively Digital Report
The actual report is delivered digitally in a custom section of their main
website. Users easily and naturally see ties to other PWC themes.

23. 23
Intelligent Interaction
A natively digital content
strategy also allows interactivity
that is impossible in other
media.
Users can "explore the data"
with a variety of filters and
controls, getting a unique (and
personally relevant) cut that may
not be available in a PDF.

24. 24
Exploiting the Echo Effect
The campaign does not
stop at launch. PWC's
corporate social channels
market the survey
extensively in the following
weeks.
More surprisingly (and
more effectively), leaders
and partners at PWC
actively distribute the
survey or its key insights
through their own online
presences.

25. 25
PWC Survey: Branded UX Strategy
The PWC CEO Survey is an excellent case of “branded
strategy.” Key elements that tie the two together include:
• Context: Content is in the right places at the right time
Social networks, event tie-in
• Content Strategy: Type, format & length align to themes
Videos of CEOs demonstrate relationships
• Web UI: Interactivity proves brand claims
Data interaction demonstrates intelligence and innovation
• Tone & Style: Brand voice permeates entire campaign
Professional & concise, but also excited & optimistic

26. Brand & UX/UI Strategy
Context
Content
Strategy
Web UI Tone & Style
1 2
3 4

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Context is Where User Meets Brand
Context is a multifaceted word, but it is ultimately about the
art of placing your content in the right place, at the right time.
Think of it as Content Merchandising.*
* “Content Merchandising” idea blatantly stolen from my colleague, Jen Bullett. (Hi Max!)
Channel
Time &
Timing
Physical
Place
Arrangement People

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Creating the Right Context
The fundamental rule for context in UX/UI Strategy is to be
where your users are. But that’s not always enough.
Consider:
Facebook Maturity Model (for “mature” professionals):
What are
my kids up
to?
Darn it. My
mom
found me.
I don’t
remember this
person at all.
That is
indeed a very
cute cat.
My friends are
interesting.
Am I a bad
person if I don’t
like this?
My friends
are boring.

29. 29
Users Have to be Ready for Interaction
No matter how much of your audience is on Facebook, they
probably don’t want to see marketing content for professional
services:
An effective digital context will
align not just to the habits of
your users, but also to the
principles & qualities of your
brand.

30. 30
Who Does Context Right: EY
Like many consulting firms, EY distributes its content in
many channels. Each owned channel is appropriatly
branded and targeted to key audiences:

31. 31
Who Does Context Right: EY
Attention to context is especially
apparent in how EY places
content in non-owned platforms.
A native advertising partnership
with Forbes provides EY with:
• Right audience
• Right place
• Right time
• Right “company”

32. Brand & UX/UI Strategy
Context
Content
Strategy
Web UI Tone & Style
1 2
3 4

33. 33
Content Strategy: What We Mean
“Content Strategy” is one of the least-well-defined terms in UX strategy
today. In this presentation, we are focusing on these aspects of how you
develop and deploy content to achieve specific goals:
Topic Length Format Source Timing
• New issue
• Update
• Results
• Analysis /
research
• People
• Tweet
• Note
• Abstract / brief
• Story
• In-depth report
• Copy
• Conversation
(social)
• Graphic
• Slideshow
• Video
• Data
• Interaction
• Firm
• Group
• Leader
• Expert
• Influencer
• Morning update
• Before/at/after
event
• Meeting
material

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Content Strategy: Connection with
BrandThe choices you make in your content strategy, whether
overall or for a specific campaign, can elicit a range of
experience-based brand associations.
CONTENT BRAND
engage
inspire
inform
challenge
surprise
amuse

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Content Strategy: The Visual Revolution
The desire to create strategic, experience-based
associations is behind many predominant trends in content
innovation:
New York Times
Information Graphics = Inform
TEDTALKS
“TED Video” = Inspire

36. 36
Content Strategy: Who Does It Well
Strategy& (formerly Booz & Co) offers multiple formats
based not on industries or specific topic areas, but on how
you want to consume and what value you are seeking:
Keeping me informed
Inspiring me
Research that helps me improve

37. 37
Content Strategy: Who Does It Well
Goldman Sachs – Social Impact Bonds
In this graphic, Goldman Sachs artfully
intersects what are often presented as
distinct pieces:
• Information graphic –
education/information
• Social impact – corporate citizenship
• Case study – evidence of expertise
Several key brand associations are
expressed in a single, compelling piece.

39. Brand & UX/UI Strategy
Context
Content
Strategy
Web UI Tone & Style
1 2
3 4

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Web UI: More Than Best Practices
As a discipline, UX/UI for the web relies heavily on best practices:
Best practices are good things. However, by definition, they won’t get
you to “new,” “innovative” or “different.”
5 ± 2 items
“F” pattern
layout
strong calls-to-action
follow, don’t lead
the user
test and learn
establish a hierarchy
looks alike, works alike
use contrast
don’t fear whitespace
make it touchable
consistency.
consistency.
consistency.
beware of metaphors

41. 41
Web UI: Who Does It Well
EY, 5 Minutes
http://5minutes.ey.com/
• Curated selection
• Broken into 5-minute
“chunks”
• UI maximized for copy/visual
scanning
• Integrates into your regular
information consumption

42. 42
Web UI: Who Does It Well
Debevoise & Plimpton
www.debevoise.com
Even with a well-defined hierarchy, Debevoise’s
homepage has more content than “best practices”
might dictate.
But the UI is informed by specific brand goals:
• Activity – show that we are busy
• Unexpected – surprise with work outside “typical”
cases
• Connected – reveal our deep relationships with
innovative businesses

44. Brand & UX/UI Strategy
Context
Content
Strategy
Web UI
Tone &
Style
1 2
3 4

45. Prize Time!
45

46. 46
A Quick Contest about Style
Calling all ex-English majors.
Here are the rules:
• We’ll show 3 excerpts from books you
read should have read in high school.
• We’ll reveal the author of two of them.
Guess the author of the third.
• Submit your guess along with a
question about this webinar in the
webinar chat function.
• First correct guess (with a question!)
wins a $25 Starbucks gift card. Extra
$10 if you guess the book correctly.

47. Know the Author?
47
What a lark! What a plunge! For so it had
always seemed to her, when, with a little
squeak of the hinges, which she could hear
now, she had burst open the French
windows and plunged at Bourton into the
open air. How fresh, how calm, stiller than
this of course, the air was in the early
morning; like the flap of a wave; the kiss of a
wave; chill and sharp and yet (for a girl of
eighteen as she then was) solemn, feeling
as she did, standing there at the open
window, that something awful was about to
happen…
Virginia Woolf,
Mrs. Dalloway

48. Know the Author?
48
It was very hot and bright, and the houses
looked sharply white. We turned out onto the
Gran Via.
“Oh Jake,” Brett said, “we could have had
such a damned good time together.”
Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki
directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car
slowed, suddenly pressing Brett against me.
“Yes,” I said. “Isn’t it pretty to think so?”
Ernest Hemingway,
The Sun Also
Rises

49. Know the Author?
49
It is a truth universally acknowledged,
that a single man in possession of a
good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
However little known the feelings or
views of such a man may be on his first
entering a neighbourhood, this truth is
so well fixed in the minds of the
surrounding families, that he is
considered the rightful property of some
one or other of their daughters.
A. Charles Dickens
B. Henry James
C.Jane Austen
D.Mark Twain

50. Tone & Style: Why It’s Important
Most marketers know tone & style for copy & imagery are
important. UX/UI Strategy adds another level to this concern.
The more our content is shared and distributed, the less we can rely on
visual systems (logo, color, type) to create brand associations.
Web
Our
Blog
Social
Re-
share
Mention
Share

51. 51
“Brand Fade”: PWC
Brand has to be present in the content itself, or it’s easily
lost:

52. 52
Tone & Style: Who Does it Well
Acapo:
• Dual-language: English
& Norwegian.
• Clear. Concise.
• Interrogative.
• Curious about you.
• Excited to work.

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Acapo: Service Description
Service descriptions have a consistent structure and align to the brand
tone. Interrogative style demonstrates that they understand the client’s
perspective.

54. 54
Acapo: News Item
News items, even those about
firm case studies, are firmly
focused on the client’s
perspective.
This item starts not with the
“win,” but with the core theme
that makes the win important.
Acapo’s involvement only
comes in at the end.

55. Wrap-Up

56. UX/UI
Brand
56
Brand & UX/UI Need Each Other
Brand Idea:
Brand Persona:
Brand Strategy:
Communications Strategy:
Tactics:
Overall Customer Experience:
Essence
and Purpose
Voice,
Brand DNA, and Actions
Activating the persona
in order to achieve an outcome
What we will say and when
Logistics of executing the strategy
The foundation of everything; the only thing that really mattersGOAL
CONTEXT • CONTENT STRATEGY • WEB UI • TONE &
STYLE

57. Next time on
One North Webinars

58. 58
May 20, 2015 – 11 AM EDT / 10 AM
CDT Nate Denton
Managing Director, Creative Services
Creating a Digital-Centered
Customer Experience:
Branded Expression Systems
20 May 2015
Webinar: 10 AM Central
http://www.onenorth.com/blog/post/1nwebinar-creating-a-digital-centered-customer-
experience-branded-expression-systems

59. Q&A / Discussion

60. Prize Time!
60

61. Know the Author?
61
It is a truth universally acknowledged,
that a single man in possession of a
good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
However little known the feelings or
views of such a man may be on his first
entering a neighbourhood, this truth is
so well fixed in the minds of the
surrounding families, that he is
considered the rightful property of some
one or other of their daughters.
A. Charles Dickens
B. Henry James
C.Jane Austen
D.Mark Twain

62. 62
R U a #Winner?