META COLLEC-CHELSEA DYJAK LINDSEY CASELLALEAH ORESCAN MEGHAN GOLLIHUE

META COLLECTIVE 12.2

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AGENDATarget Audience Analysis & Online Behavior Research ...........................3-7

Personas ...................................................................................................8-11

Current Brand Objectives: Digital ........................................................12-17

Strategy & Positioning ..........................................................................18-21

Mobile Site Design ...............................................................................22-25

Creative Strategy ...................................................................................26-33

Interactive Engagement .........................................................................34-40

Appendix ...............................................................................................41-42

TARGET AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

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CURRENT TARGETBarnes and Noble’s current target is comprised of regular readers who have the disposable income to

make regular book and upscale game purchases. These consumers can be broken into two segments:

“Families” and “Avid Readers.” They are younger and purchasing for themselves and children, or

more mature and purchasing exclusively for themselves, respectively.

Recommendations: B&N should also be targeting the young adult, “Young Generation” who enjoy

books and entertainment media but have a limited disposable income and are financially

independent for the first time. This segment is also extremely brand loyal, and will spend their

money with brands they feel connected to.

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CURRENT TACTICSBarnes and Noble’s website is their main platform to reach their target audiences. Features on the

site include click-able links segmented based on age and school year, which targets mothers buying

for children, and best-seller lists segmented by genre for readers looking for new books. Each

product category (books, music, TV, etc) has 10+ curated collections for users to shop from. Deals

and savings scroll on the top navigation bar, and the target is encouraged to save on shipping by

spending at least $25. Overall, their communication with the target is sales based.

Recommendations: B&N’s communication with their target should be focused on building

relationships. A ‘My B&N’ free loyalty program would give users the opportunity to build their

relationship with B&N by receiving personalized information and deals/savings. Personalized email

sign-up would allow B&N to have unique interaction that is tailored to the needs and wants of each

user.

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CURRENT TACTICS CONT’DB&N’s current strategy does not align with the needs and wants of its target. Book and media

preferences are unique to each consumer, and therefore their shopping experience should be, as well.

Shifting the focus of communications from sales to relationship building, will serve the target’s

desire to have content that is interesting and relevant brought straight to them, without having to

extensively search around for it. By understanding interests unique to each user, B&N can better

serve their consumers and thus drive sales.

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ONLINE BEHAVIOR RESEARCH

Most reading occurs at home

Regular readers do not regularly rent library books

Regular readers usually have not read books they purchase

Readers rely most heavily on recommendations

from others and plot summaries

Regular readers usually make book purchases online

PERSONAS

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MOTHER GOOSEAGE: 36 years old

HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $150,000

Stay-at-home mom of three, living in Tennessee who loves to read book blogs and interact with

them. She loves DIY’s and is always looking for the next activity for her children. Even though she

allows her children to use technology, there time is limited and she encourages reading. She is a

nook user, but has her favorites in print on her book shelf. A library member who attends events like

children story time dates with her children, watches the food network and cooks homemade meals.

She is health-aware but not to a severe extent, loves to travel and goes on frequent vacations. She

shops at Target, Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, Michaels, and is not budget conscious.

MOST USED SITES: Pinterest, Facebook,abc.com, Google platforms and Goodreads.com

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YOUNG PROTAGONISTAGE: 23 years old

INCOME: Financially independent for the first time, living on a budget with a small disposable

income.

Attending graduate school at Drexel and is interested in journalism. She, lives in Philadelphia with

roommates and is very technologically savvy. She is health conscious and follows “trendy foods” such

as avocados, kale and quinoa. She grew up with a love of books and owns all of the Harry Potter

series, she admits to reading them more than just once. Brands are important to her, she likes to

build relationships and interact with them. She is always up-to-date and very information

hungry but she primarily reads for leisure. Has a short commute to school, spends lots of time in

coffee shops and also works at Drexel part time. Enjoys and values her peers advice on what to read

next, she owns a Kindle because it was cheaper, but is open to upgrading in the future.

MOST USED SITES: Twitter, Facebook, Buzzfeed, Instagram, About.com, People.com, Spotify

and Google Platforms

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BOOK WORMAGE: 51 years old

HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $250,000

Upper class male who is married with one 22 year old daughter. He works as a financial analysis and

commutes on the train, as well as traveling a lot for work. He lives in New England and has a vaca-

tion home that he travels to often with his wife. On his free time he has a list of hobbies he

enjoys but antique cars is his top, which he loves to read about and gather more information on he

also loves to golf and coffee. He is not a nook user, but might purchase for his daughter. Mostly

reads for leisure and for information, is not on social media and doesn’t frequently borrow from the

library because he prefers to own his own copies. He is brand loyal and is a purposeful shopper who

doesn’t browse, shops at LL Bean, Golf Galaxy, Dicks Sporting Goods.

MOST USED SITES: Fox.com, CNN.com, NYtimes.com, MSN.com, ESPN.com

CURRENT BRAND OBJECTIVES

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MAIN OBJECTIVEMain object is to build sales and solidify presence in the minds of consumers as the place to make

book, toy, and home good purchases both in the traditional brick-and-mortar market and online.

The brand’s current tactics, which are listed below, specifically aim to generate awareness in their

online experience.

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CURRENT TACTICS

EXPAND REACH INCREASE SALESENHANCE VISUAL

EXPERIENCESUSTAIN LOYALTY

ENGAGE

Through interaction on B&N’s website and social media pages they expand

their traffic and followership.

Provide curated book lists and product collections that

interest consumers and encourage purchases.

Website attracts attention and leads to initial

interest in purchase while filling basket.

Converse with existing and

future consumers on social

media platforms.

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CURRENTLY, BEING MET?While not being used at their full ability, Barnes and Noble’s website and

social media sites aim at provide a visually stimulating environment for the

consumer that will encourage them to click through product and leading to

sales. Overexposure leads to the website having cluttered pages, crammed

with content that aren’t easy navigable. Their social media sites are moni-

tored regularly, but have the opportunity for more interaction with the con-

sumer.

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SPECIFIC TO THE TARGET?B&N does use tactics that are specifically intended to target their varying user segments, as follows:

B&N’s curated lists - target a range of user-segments based on the product and subject matter.

Prominently positioned homepage offer - is for a deal on a children’s book, also targeting families,

specifically mothers.

Products for children - are split into age ranges to enhance the experience of shopping mothers.

Best seller lists - target more mature readers, and users can also browse by subject fields.

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ADDRESS COMPETITIVE EDGE?

Current website does not address competitive edge or competitor vulnerabilities.

Cluttered pages are simply highlighting own product lines.

B&N is leveraging sites like Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook to connect with their users,

but their engagement on these sites has great room for improvement.

Barnes and Noble’s main objective is currently making and driving up sales on all chan-

nels. B&N needs to shift their focus to include building relationships with their con-

sumers on social media sites instead of just pushing sales at them. Having strong rela-

tionships would add value to their brand and covert casual users to loyal users.

STRATEGY AND POSITIONING

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COMPETITORSAmazon is consistently at the top on search engine results for book

searches (“buy books” “best sellers”, etc). They are also the first seller

suggestion link on goodreads.com. However, Amazon does not offer

curated content and books and media are just one small arm of their

large business; they aren’t book experts. (Table A)

Apple offers integration of and simplified transfer to consumers who

use iProducts. However, they do not offer a way to read books in

print, and their experience is based around convenience of use rather

than a tailored and thoughtfully curated experience. (Table A)

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STRATEGYTo build meaningful relationships with consumers by offering expertly

curated collections, customizing user experience and providing personalized

and targeted content.

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Barnes & Noble is THE book expert.

POSITIONING

MOBILE SITE DESIGN

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NEW DESIGN The new site design will be a lot easier for the users to understand and find what they are looking for. Also less

crowded so that the user is not overwhelmed and deterred from using the site. B&N wants to provide a

stimulating environment that will encourage consumers to click on things that grab their attention and

potentially purchase them.

Since Barnes and Noble’s main object is to build sales and solidify their presence in the minds of consumers as

the place to make book purchases, we need to make the mobile site a place where they can do this. By placing

the most important things on the homepage and using the hub and spoke organizational style the user will be

able to navigate through the site with ease.

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MOBILE UX FORMATB&N should format their mobile site in the hierarchy organizational style. Hierarchy works well for

B&N’s content because it helps accommodate the large amount of content on the page, while

organizing it in an easy-to-use way. This will allow for a permanent side tab that lets users navigate

to any section of the site. Global elements for all pages: pull down navigation menu, search bar, and

cart link

Using this site design supports the visual experience because the set up is clear and now much

easier to access. By making the site extremely easy to use this will also increase sales because

things will be easy to find making customers happier.

Users wanted easy access to the best sellers list on the homepage, so a large amount of real-estate

on the homepage will be set aside for the best sellers section.

When the Barnes and Noble site is accessed on a mobile device or a tablet, it will be the same.

This way, users will be able to have the same experience regardless of the platform they are using.

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SITEMAPSITEMAP

BOOKS & MEDIA

1.1

CROSSLINKS1.4.1 ; 1.4.5 ; 1.2.1

TOYS, GIFTS & HOME

1.2

BARGAINS& DEALS

1.3

HOMEPAGE

BEST SELLERS1.4

MY B&N1.5

IN-STORE1.6

BOOKS 1.1.1

E-BOOKS 1.1.2

MEDIA 1.1.2

TOYS & GAMES

1.2.1

GIFTS& HOME

1.2.2

DEAL OF THE DAY 1.3.1

SEASONALDEALS

1.3.2

PERSONALIZEDPICKS

1.5.1

LOYALTYPROGRAM

1.5.2

CONNECT1.5.3

BOOK IT1.5.1.3

CHECKOUT1.5.1.3

CHECKOUT1.5.1.3

CHECKOUT1.5.1.3

READINGREWARDS

1.5.1.2

APPDOWNLOAD

1.5.5

A+REWARDS

1.5.1.1

EMAIL SIGN UP LIST

1.5.4

STORE LOCATOR

1.6.1

FEATUREDEVENTS

1.6.1

ALL PERSONAS PURCHASE STATIC DECISION POINT

BOOK WORM SHOPPING DYNAMIC LIMITED ACCESS

YOUNG PROTAGONIST

LAUNCHES DEVICES DIRECTIONS & PHONE SYSTEM

GROUPED APP DOWNLOAD LAUNCH

MOTHER GOOSE LINKS TO SOCIAL MEDIA

CREATIVE STRATEGY

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WIRE FRAME

PURCHASE INFO

INFO

STORE LOCATOR

MY B&N

BEST SELLERS

BARGAINS

BOOKS & MEDIA

TOYS & HOME

IN-STORE

OVERVIEW

ZIP CODE

REVIEWS

HOME PAGE IN-STORE STORE LOCATOR PRODUCT PAGEAll of B&N’s most important things.

Every page has the drop down navigation, brand logo, search

option and shopping cart.

The big box is a scrolling area to display top events happening last picture takes you to all events in

calender order.

Locator lets you search stores near you and shows a picture of the store with a phone number that calls right away and address.

Image of the product info- about book purchasing info- price shipping things

button allows you to read and easily write reviews.

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EXPAND YOUR HORIZONSB&N wants to utilize the best sellers to help its users experience the world and new

adventures by allowing them easy access to the top rated books. In hopes that the words

will form into a paintbrush in the readers mind creating a unique experience with every

book. “Expand your Horizons,” is more of a go-getter and adventure tactic to excite the

user and get them engaged with conversations about the books they love.

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MOOD BOARD

30

COMP

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FIND YOUR ESCAPEB&N’s personalized shopping experience will allow the target to find books that are

interesting and relevant to them. The target is continually looking for their next favorite

read. By understanding unique interests and purchase history, B&N will be able to

intuitively suggest books that allow everyone to find their own literary escape.

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MOOD BOARD

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COMP

INTERACTIVE ENGAGEMENT

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INTERACTIVE ENGAGEMENTA trend that threaded throughout all of the existing interactive tactics was the need to

enhance the user experience by personalizing it for each individual. By making the brand

personal and a part of their life would strengthen their relationship with the brand and

create loyalty that would drive them back for future purchases. Existing features like the

wish list, my B&N account, and email sign-up all worked towards personalization in

engagement. Likewise, the brand also stressed the need for converting shopping carts into

sales and driving them users to the store.

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TACTICS AND METRICSBarnes and Noble’s main objective currently is driving up sales through deals and incentives that

are shown on the homepage and promoted through e-mail and social media channels; B&N needs

to shift their focus to include building relationships with their consumers instead of just pushing

sales at them. Having strong relationships with their consumer base is where they can edge out their

competitors.

SUCCESS METRIC: Creating personalized experiences that focus on developing relationship and

loyalty to brand. B&N should become a part of the consumers lifestyle and a resource for them to

grow and prosper. Social networking sites should not be product focused, but instead an enlighten-

ing conversation between the users. Similarly, the my B&N account and wishlist will further estab-

lish loyalty by tailoring each individual user’s preferences and needs.

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TACTICS AND METRICSB&N needs to consider the tactics Amazon is currently using, in order to remain competitive.

Currently B&N is boxing out their less-socially active competitors in brand relationship building

(through social media accounts, e-mail), but Amazon is trumping them in digital ads. B&N needs

to compete with Amazon’s adwords by buying out phrases that Amazon has placements on, and go

further by purchasing phrases that Amazon doesn’t have.

SUCCESS METRIC: Track B&N’s adwords and CTR/ conversion rate to remain relevant and to

become the brand that always is first to come to mind while searching online.

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TACTICS AND METRICSB&N is currently leveraging sites like Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to connect with their users, but they need to further engage

with their customers. Currently, these sites, especially Pinterest, function more for B&N to “say” that they have them (ie- everyone else is on

Pinterest, so we’ll be on Pinterest too.) They need to make content more meaningful and relevant to the user, giving them information that they

don’t want to go elsewhere to find, and serving them information that they didn’t know they were looking for. B&N should dazzle their users,

and excite them by what they are providing them with → this is where they can build a relationships and encourage users to become regular cus-

tomers.

SUCCESS METRIC: Following consumers social interactions with the brand through the use of social media tracking sites (Follow relevant

hashtags and mentions on Hootsuite for Twitter and Facebook, re-posting user-generated content on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram by fol-

lowing trends on Curulate and Statigram) Continue to strengthen relationship past social networks through the use of my B&N accounts and

specific loyalty/reward programs. Track number of postings, consumers time/frequency on the pages, and interactions through tracking sites.

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TACTICS AND METRICSAppealing to specific groups individually or in a more sophisticated way will make the page less cluttered and

will aid in their ability to connect with the consumer. Rather than focusing on pushing the product like their

competitors, B&N can take advantage of their culture in their stores on their website and social platforms to

distinguish themselves as a lifestyle brand.

SUCCESS METRIC: To enhance B&N’s ability to be a lifestyle brand, create initiatives connecting in store

and home experiences (program that incentivises reading for families and children by giving them the oppor-

tunity to share their personal achievements and visit the store, create a registry for life events such as Holidays,

Birthdays, Weddings, first day of school, graduations that you can share with family and friends through social

media sites) Our segment Mother Goose would actively enjoy reading reward programs like A+ and Book It,

while the Young Protagonist would appreciate the clean site and convenience.

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APPENDIXTABLE A

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APPENDIXTABLE B