Having set their growth strategy to diversify beyond mobile into IoT, Qualcomm needed to update their portfolio strategy, brand strategy, identity and experience, and organizational design to engage tens of thousands of new customers. The new go to market approach, refocused on their DNA of invention and articulated their role in the innovation landscape. The portfolio now leads with their most robust platforms and segment-specific capabilities, elevating them above the commoditizing semi-conductor business and better positioning them for acquisitions.
Microsoft was bringing together several engineering teams to design for the emerging opportunity in mixed reality applications for business. This new organization needed a vision, as well as a cohesive naming system, to unify the teams under a single mandate. Through the voice of the user, we saw that this new technology was disrupting the value equation at work, and the team had to address people’s need to feel valued in this new context. The vision focused the team on the power of software to evolve workflows to extend human ability.
Despite powering 1/3 of searches in the US, the Bing brand still suffered from negative responses to its initial launch, and siloed marketing and product teams were creating a fragmented user experience. By creating a cohesive design, experience, and messaging strategy collaboratively with both teams, we created more engagement across key products like Bing Predicts and Rewards, a consumer YouTube campaign, and the launch of Bing Network for advertising customers. The new customer experience was sustained by an internal site where all teams could share their updates to product and campaigns.
As a result of many years of operational integration, the Avis and Budget brands had drifted together. By understanding the different needs of people based on their frequency of travel, we positioned Avis as the premium brand for frequent travels who desire a seamless, low touch experience. Budget doubled-down as the brand for savvy buyers that travel less frequently and desire a higher touch experience.
John Deere needed an education platform for its global organization to help every employee understand their role in growing the brand. We designed a curriculum for each functional team—from engineering to marketing to finance to sales. Connecting their work and metrics to their impact on the brand made it relevant. Gamification kept it fun. The program was integrated into the company certification platform and, after a successful launch with empokyees, extend to dealer education.
While we worked to transform Cortana from a set of features to a branded service, Microsoft wanted to build awareness and understanding for their personal assistant. Focusing on new Windows 10 customers, in their days after purchase, we created a campaign to show people how Cortana would help make sure “nothing slipped through the cracks.” The campaign focused on moments in time to show the relevance of Cortana’s core skills.
As Renault was evolving its product design to be driven by driver insight and lifestyle, they wanted a tagline to capture this transformative strategy for their brands. ‘Passion for life’ and ‘La vie, avec passion’ created a beacon that shared this new inspiration with their customers around the world.
Beginning with a full rebrand from SourceMedia to Arizent, I joined the transformation leadership team to move the company from traditional B2B media to an information services business for financial and professional services.
To fulfill the new mission of advancing professional communities, the transformation included establishing and launching a new GTM strategy for subscriptions, monetizing three subscription brands, rebuilding and developing the talent for the marketing organization and the Studio, and reimagining our events portfolio during the pandemic and after. Additionally, there were several key product launches/relaunches designed to give audiences better access to the ideas and connections they need to succeed. For example, Leaders is a Netflix-for-business livestream and on-demand video platform that gives subscribers access to a senior industry executives’ insights and professional experiences.
As the web channel owner, we have designed complete customer journeys for all brands, driving growth for the subscriptions business. Across Arizent, the work to date has led to substantial revenue growth and double digit improvement on profitability.
