UX: The New Brand LeadersBrand = Experience

Andrew Heaton | Revinity

Hi, I’m AndrewI’m a Designer.

I Also Write(Usually far slower than I want).

Big Design, Small ScreenConceptual Design for Mobile Devices

Andrew Heaton

Purposely IrregularZen, Punk Rock and Ruthlessness in Experience Design

Andrew Heaton

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Some Quick Rules about UX

Rule Number One: There's no f#$%ing rules, dude.

Photo by unknown, but it’s not by me.

Rule Number Two:  Draw everything 3 times before you go near a computer.  Describe it out loud at least twice.

Photo by Julien Mundry

Brand = Experience

For real, that’s it.

Since that’s truth,Why aren’t UX peeps involved in Brand?

Why Do I Care About Brand?

My concept of brand came from this.

Photo by unknown, but it’s not by me.

Once I found a label I could trust, I sought them out.

Occasionally, there was a bad LP, but the Experience was more important

than the Product.

The Brand Primer

Brand [n]The name, term, design, symbol, or

any other feature that identifies one seller's product distinct from

those of other sellers.

- American Marketing Association Dictionary

Where’d All This “Brand”Stuff Come From?

Blame this Dude

Over 100 years ago, J. Walter Thompson started an agency to brand

products and service for money.

Over 100 years ago, J. Walter Thompson started an agency to brand

products and service for money.

It’s mostly been downhill since.

Brand Equity The amount of prestige a brand represents. Also accounts for logo marks, visuals or other collateral.

Brand Value Consumer perception (positive or negative) of a brand in a competitive market.

Brand PromiseWhat a consumer believes a brand stands for in terms of trust and quality.

Some Quick Definitions(UX-ized for your convenience)

Brand Equity What is owned

Brand Value What can be spent

Brand PromiseWhat is borrowed

Some Quick DefinitionsEven easier to remember

Who Owns the Brand

In most agency settings, it’s the jobof the Brand Strategist or Brand

Planner to maintain, protect and extendthe brands they represent.

What the heck is a Brand Planner?

Like Pit Bulls or CarniesEveryone says they know one who’s“Not So Bad”

"the F, derived from a square, symbolizes concreteness and solidity; the C, derived from a circle, representing wheels and movement, symbolizes harmony and continuity; and finally,

the A, derived from a triangle, indicates energy and a perennial state of evolution."

They say ridiculous things...

... and create horrible charts...

The ProductNo Hassle

Use AnywhereCovers Everything

Outside the System"The Rebel"

EmotionConfidentAssuredTrusted"I don't have to worry"On My Side

ValueThe Smart Choice

Worth the CostProtecting your Investment

ProfessionalStable

AccessibleTrustworthy

CoverageOne Brand Identity

... that oddly may become very useful.

Your To-Do List

Find the brand pillars or bubble chart for the brands you’re working on.

Check for gaps in what they say and the work you are currently doing.

How is Brand Measured?

Usually not very well.

Typically extensively, but rarelycomprehensively.

A common example of brand testing will be to poll a few hundred people a week on key

advertising terms, but overall on 

General AwarenessFamiliarity

ConsiderationIntent to Purchase

I’ve found very little is being done to test brand digital experiences.

What is tested?  

Advertising frequency, click throughs, etc.  Usually with a definitive conversion

metric.

Messaging effectiveness using existing measures from other testing.

No one I found, out of several major brands, was testing their sites or mobile

apps for brand measures.

Your To-Do List

Find who does brand measurement at your office and find a way to wiggle in.

Find your metrics team and add in some amount of brand measurement.

(even especially if it’s for selfish reasons).

The Time is Right for UX to be the New Brand Leads.

The Olde World:Brand > Advertising > Product

This is the Modern WorldBrand > Digital >Product (?)

^Advertising

Intangible (Digital) is the new tangible.  

The old intangible (Advertising) has returned to ephemera.

Ephemera does not mean SnapChat.

Ephemera used to mean items not meant to be saved, but now means the

churn of things that will rarely last.

“...the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket”

It’s 2014,what is the primary function of advertising? 

To drive people to a digital experience.

THIS IS ALREADY TRUE:

As UX Peeps we are already deep into protecting and enhancing

Brand Equity, Brand Value and Brand Promise

Your To-Do List

Examine the other ads and collateral that are going out for direction.

Review the sites and apps you’re working on and be fair in your assessment of

brand voice.

What does Brand UX Look Like?

Mother of crap, I don’t know.

House Ad 1 House Ad 2 House Ad 3

I know it doesn’t look like this...

There is no such thing as a “Digital Brand Hit”

Anyone that uses that phrase deserves a punch in the lungs.

Brand bullshit is meant to get someone to say “Yes!”

Once they say it, advertising becomes useless as it only repeats the same

message again and again.

...But it could be much better than this.

The ProductNo Hassle

Use AnywhereCovers Everything

Outside the System"The Rebel"

EmotionConfidentAssuredTrusted"I don't have to worry"On My Side

ValueThe Smart Choice

Worth the CostProtecting your Investment

ProfessionalStable

AccessibleTrustworthy

CoverageOne Brand Identity

Let’s look at this ugly thing again

How do we balance brand with usefulness? with proven functions?

with accepted standards of navigation?

In 2004 I tried Brand UX on the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge sites.

The things I did differently that year are the things I see on every auto site today.

Your To-Do List

Start mapping new features, improvements and changes to voice, visuals and tone to match your Brand

more closely.

Stage a Coup, Lead the Team

UX usually doesn’t lead the creative process, but it should.

It’s the highest form of design.

What we do encompasses visual design, copywriting, strategy and

technology.

There’s no reason a path forward is not as brand lead.

What about developers?

You need them around, but they can kill a brand.

Your To-Do List

Decide if you’re the person to take this on, it’s not easy biz.

Find peeps on your team that can help. They’re likely outside of your main group.

Don’t even get me started on Social.

Wrap it up, Heaton.What the heck have you been talking about?

Branding is inherent in our work already.Digital experiences are the truest emotional touchpoint of a brand.

Most agencies are not set up to accept this.We need to toughen up and take this on.

At the very least starting today:• Find the brand pillars

•Map at least one feature/aspect of project to a brand tenet

• Talk to your measurement teams about ways to measure for brand or get involved in existing measurement

•Decide if you're the one to lead a larger team by using Brand UX

Thanks.

Andrew Heaton | Revinitywww.revinity.com | @tigerstripe