Creating a great user experience will create loyal adopters of your product and ultimately for your business.
Branding should be thought of as a cohesive experience, and the product user experience should be one element within the brand equation. However in the tech world, branding often ranks lower in priority to product user experience.
So how can we incorporate some agile thinking into building a great brand?
Although I think that the evolution of a brand should NOT be seen as agile, I do think there’s opportunity to initially build an innovative brand by adopting tech-driven industry thinking.
#1 Foundation Development
I preach about this all of the time. Document who you are, what you believe in, and what you stand for as a company. These elements will lay the foundation for business decisions that you’ll make on a daily basis.
#2 Research by Testing Assumptions
Make assumptions on who you’re providing brand value. Then, test those assumptions by finding out what criteria your audience uses to measure a great experience.
#3 Prioritize Innovation Opportunities
That measurement is your opportunity to leverage innovation. That measurement is what you’ll focus on to create brand value for your customers.
#4 Segment Opportunity-Based Criteria
Are those opportunities scattered among different types of groups? Then, narrow in on who those segments are and what the value is for each. This doesn’t necessarily mean a specific demographic, but a group that evaluates a great experience in a similar way.
#5 Opportunity-Based Segment Targeting
Which segment do you think presents the best opportunity to differentiate yourself with your brand? This questions allows you to be “the only” at what you do for WHO you do it for. It’s a perfect opportunity to create a very focused and valuable experience for a very specific audience.
#6 Establish Standards
Create great a standard for communication that becomes consistent throughout product and communication design, in addition to your marketing.
#7 Create Initiatives + Distribute
Externally, create marketing and design communication initiatives for those opportunities and set goals. These initiatives will validate the amazing brand experience you’re creating for your audience(s).
Internally, create and implement processes that validate and reinforce your brand’s belief system.
#8 Assess + Refine
When you hit important milestones during the lifetime of your business, it’s time to reevaluate your brand strategy. Is a change of leadership making you redefine what your company ultimately stands for? Has your company evolved to where you’ve grown out of your brand? Step back and reassess new opportunities for an evolved experience that aligns with key stakeholders.
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What do you think? How do you provide value through your brand experience? Have you adopted technology-based thinking to your brand experience?
I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave your thoughts, comments, and feedback in the comments below.
~ Christine