1. Webinar:
How to Strengthen the Customer
Experience through Brand Research
and Testing
Lisa Bertelsen, Partner at Chatter Inc.
Alfonso de la Nuez, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at UserZoom
#uzwebinar

2. Lisa Bertelsen
Partner
Chatter Inc.
Alfonso de la Nuez
Co-Founder and Co-CEO
UserZoom
Speakers:

3. www.userzoom.com
• Chat box is available if you have any questions
• There will be time for Q&A at the end
• We will be recording the webinar for future viewing
• All attendees will receive a copy of the
slides/recording
• Twitter hashtag: #uzwebinar
Quick Housekeeping

4. www.userzoom.com
About UserZoom
 UX Consultants since ’01, SaaS since ‘09
 In Sunnyvale (CA) Manchester (UK), Munich
(DE) and Barcelona (Spain)
 90% renewal rate, 50% revenue growth rate
 UserZoom offers an all-in-one, multi channel and agile approach to
managing digital Customer Experiences by enabling brands to cost-
effectively plan, research, design, and measure CX and UX on a
unified software platform.
Product Suite:
 Unmoderated Remote Usability Testing
 Web and Mobile Voice of Customer
 Remote Mobile Usability Testing
 Online Surveys (web & mobile)
 Online Card Sorting
 Tree Testing
 Screenshot Click Testing
 Screenshot Timeout Testing (5-sec test)

5. www.userzoom.com
About UserZoom
Listen
Researc
h
Test & Act
Measure
Unique, innovative & holistic approach to online CXM

6. www.userzoom.com
Highlighted Customers

7. www.userzoom.com
About Chatter
 Chatter is an independent, full-service market research consultancy
 Founded in 2002
 Offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York
 We’re business people and brand experts first.
Our team is comprised of senior-level consultants who come from brand strategy,
advertising, and brand management (Prophet, Deutsch, Siegel+Gale, Hal Riney,
Activision)
–disciplines that inform an actionable, big-picture point of view. Because of this, we use
research as a means to an end, not the end itself.
 Strategic insight is the name of our game.
Chatter has a relentless focus on building strong brands. We deliver recommendations
that
get to the heart of the issue and are designed to drive businesses forward.

8. www.userzoom.com
• The link between brand and customer experience (5 min)
• Five types of brand research (35 min)
1. Brand architecture
2. Brand personality
3. Concept & ad testing
4. Name
5. Brand Experience
• UserZoom Capabilities for Marketing Research (5 min)
• Q&A (10 min)
Agenda

9. Introduction to Brand Strategy

10. “The brand strategy offers
guidance on how to implement
and abide by the vision set by the
brand; the customer experience
strategy dictates what the
experience of the brand should
be for customers and how to
achieve it.”
Cory Munchbach,
The Convergence Of Brand, Customer Experience, And Marketing

11. The link between brand and
customer experience

12. Customer experience: moving beyond UX
• UX is just one facet of the customer experience
• Brand is another, and it is more expansive
• But there is a lot of crossover between the two
• Today we’re going to look at ways to evaluate the customer experience through
the lens of brand research. In doing so, I’ll compare and contrast, showing how
they are similar and different
“To my mind, a great brand story
cannot exist without an
excellent user experience.”
Posting from QRCA discussion on LinkedIn, December 2013
Brand Experience
Customer
Experience (CX)
User
Experience (UX)

13. The brand is the customer experience
• When we test a user experience, discussions often center on websites or
devices and whether people can complete tasks. We also talk about the
customer journey, which is a much larger, more comprehensive experience that
moves beyond devices and technology
• When we evaluate a brand, we talk about touchpoints, which are different
manifestations of the customer experience. These include UX, but there are
many other kinds of touchpoints. Brand research focuses on all touchpoints
people come in contact with when interacting with the company
• Brand research also looks beyond customers, to a company’s employees,
partners and influential 3rd parties (e.g., analysts, the press)
• From the individual’s point of view, this flow or journey is simply one
overarching experience
• The customer experience delivers the brand to consumers

14. In the world of brand, how
and what do you test?

15. Well, we can test a lot of
things. Today, we’ll look at
types of brand research
that have a lot in common
with traditional CX.
5

16. Brand research examples
1 Brand architecture
How well do people understand what you sell?
What are you saying and how are you saying it?
2 Brand personality
Brand research examples
Are your products compelling and do your ads have impact?
3 Concept & ad testing

17. Is your name distinct and does it prompt consideration?
Do your employees understand your brand and do they deliver
on your brand promise? And, what is the quality of the experience
that they deliver?
5 Brand experience
Name
4

18. Brand Architecture

19. What is brand architecture and what does it do?
• Brand architecture is not the company’s org chart
• It clarifies the relationships between your various businesses, products, and services
• Brand architecture contributes to the customer experience by:
– Helping customers navigate your product / service offering
– Allowing you to demonstrate the breadth and depth of your impact
– Creating an emotional connection between your customers and your
organization
Retail
Business Intelligence
Virtualization

20. Evaluation criteria for brand architecture is complex & varied
Alignment
The optimization of individual
brands with the corporate
strategy
• Does your portfolio reflect and reinforce your corporate, brand
and business strategy?
• Do your brands invite the customer relationships you want?
• Is there a clear relationship between your brands?
• Are your branding practices cost-efficient?
• Are you getting your money’s worth from current brand
investments?
• Can you afford to move to an ideal scenario?
• What return should you expect from different models?
• Will brand change create unacceptable cultural disharmony?
• Do legal or regulatory obstacles stand in the way of change?
• Are your current operations and technology able to
accommodate brand integration?
Financial Investment
How much change will cost
and what return should be
expected
Operations
The human and organizational
barriers to change
• How well do customers understand what you sell?
• Do they understand the relationship between various businesses,
products and services?
• How loyal are customers to your brands?
• What are the risks and rewards of change?
• Can you learn from competitors or peers?
Loyalty
How the marketplace feels and
what they understand about
the current brands; how they
are likely to react to change

21. Questions we ask when researching brand architecture
• How do decision-makers select products and services? What is their criteria?
• Who or what do they turn to in order to help them make the buying decision?
• How important is the brand? What implications does this have for the brand portfolio
(e.g., Masterbrand vs. House of Brands strategy)?
• Do product definitions make sense? (e.g., by company size, by features, etc.)
• Do branded product names cause confusion?
• Which products are high-end? Mass market?
For companies my size?
• What is each product’s price elasticity?
“COMPANY X has got to stop
renaming brands! There’s no
logical reason behind it. It’s
absolutely ludicrous that in
last two years they have
renamed nearly 400 products.”
-US Analyst, describing a Fortune 100 IT company

22. How do we test?
• Brand architecture can be tested in numerous ways. Typically, it begins with an
overarching question:
Who is my audience and how does that audience differ across my
product/service portfolio?
• This is precisely the kind of question that CX practitioners are interested in
• Then, brand researchers measure the brand equity of each product (or company, in
the case of a merger/acquisition). Included here is brand valuation (the future
profitability of a brand)
• We also explore different scenarios for product optimization or rationalization
1:1 interviews
and groups
Surveys
Card sorts
(online and offline)

23. Brand Personality & Messaging

24. Brand personality is…
• The distinctive tone, manner and style in which you communicate
• Your brand personality is defined by a set of brand attributes which shape how
you look, feel and sound—blending language, design and content
• A brand’s personality is most captured in messaging
– It is the outward expression of who you are. The goal is to capture the right
language and tone that embodies your brand and differentiates you from
your competitors

25. Where does the brand personality come to life?
• The brand personality manifests itself across all touchpoints, and is used by all
company stakeholders: employees, PR specialists, distributors, agency
partners, etc.
– Examples: advertising, press releases, newsletters, emails, website content
and employee communications, among others
• Authenticity comes from employing the right modulation of your voice in all of
your communications, both internal and external
• The more consistently you use your voice, the more clearly you establish what it
means to be you

26. A brand personality comparison
British Airways
British Airways is a full service global
airline, offering year-round low fares with
an extensive global route network flying
to and from centrally-located airports.
Virgin Atlantic
Hello gorgeous!

27. How do we test messaging?
• The testing criteria typically revolves around relevance, believability, distinctiveness,
clarity and conversion. And, as with CX, we look to use cases to inform messaging
• Testing is typically done on an online platform, using interactive text-markup and
heat mapping

28. Using research, we can answer questions such as…
• How receptive are people to your offering?
• Is your message and positioning clear?
• Is your messaging and positioning credible?
• Is your advertising relevant and compelling?
Similar
to
CX
research
Different
than
CX
research
• How elastic is the brand?
• Do you have “permission” to sell particular products or services?

29. Sample findings: brand messaging research for a retailer
Perceived differentiators: Amplify
• The trade-in policy and the 5% store card discount represent the biggest opportunity for
differentiating the company. Continue to extend and lead with messages on this theme.
Continue to build upon supporting strengths of the offering:
• Free tech support
• Installation and delivery
• Recycling (combined with trade-in)
• Extended service plans
Perceived weaknesses: Address or downplay
• Dedicated, knowledgeable employees
• The company lacks credibility when making this claim. Customers automatically assume
that they’re interchangeable with team members in other departments and lack product
knowledge.

30. When communicating with this customer segment, remember:
• Describing electronics as a way to enable experiences (e.g., sharing with family and
friends) creates a strong, powerful emotion and reminds respondents why they buy
electronics in the first place
• Peace of mind, confidence and comfort are key emotional needs. They convey the
sense that the company is a trusted and reliable advocate. But there are messages on
this theme that should be avoided:
o Explicit talk about the confusion surrounding electronics can be perceived as
condescending—and can create negative imagery
.
o References to ‘dedicated’ or ‘specially-trained’ team members and ‘focused range
of products’ are met with skepticism. Be careful not to overpromise.
!
Sample findings: brand messaging research for a retailer

31. Concept & Ad Testing

32. Concept and ad testing are where positioning,
messaging & brand personality all come together
• Brand positioning
– The underlying foundation or principle that supports your company and
everything you do. It distinguishes you from your competition and attempts to
sell the benefits of your product or service
• Brand messaging
– As we said before, messaging is about capturing the language and tone that
embodies your brand and differentiates you from your competitors
Definitions

33. What do we test?
• Decision drivers—both rational and emotional
• Resonance of needs and use cases
• Messaging and product/service concepts
• Are you different?
• Is your product relevant? Is it impactful? Are you delivering the
right combination of features?
• Are you persuasive? Is the offer believable, coming from you?
• Do you have permission to sell? How much brand stretch?
• Is the value proposition focused and clear?
1:1 interviews
or groups

34. Names

35. Q1 2012:
Over 1,752,424 active
name registrations in
the U.S. alone
35

36. “We’re moving way
beyond YouSendIt…
For me, the opportunity
for HighTail gives us an
empty vessel to fill with all
kinds of meaning about
how we want to interact
with our end users...how
we want to be known as a
brand.”
A company or product name is the most visible
manifestation of the brand experience
…and is a topic that CX rarely addresses

37. • To help inform the rationale for a name decision and overcome factors that can
sway decision-making:
 Biases, internal politics, idiosyncrasies
Why test a name?
• To determine whether a name accomplishes its purpose:
o Distinctiveness
o Consideration
• To mitigate risk (e.g. perform a disaster check)
• To understand how a name affects perception:
o How does it contribute value to the brand?
o What is the brand personality that the name helps to create?
o Does the name help the brand stretch?

38. • Value contribution
 How well the name contributes value to the concept, category or brand
What and how do we test?
• Associations
o Thoughts, feelings and imagery that people tie to words
• Flexibility
 The more flexible a name is, the easier it is to adapt to different product line
extensions or price tiers.
• Dimensionality
 Greater dimensionality is a key indicator of a name’s ability to be memorable
and engage consumers at an emotional level

39. 1:1 interviews
Surveys
What and how do we test?
• Emotional engagement
o How a name makes us feel
• Auditory resonance
 How a name sounds and whether the name matches people’s perception of the
product or category
• Pronounceability
 How can you remember (or recommend) a product if you can’t say it?
• Brand stretch
 Price tiers, need states, different product categories

40. Brand experience

41. How do we gauge the brand experience? We begin with
the customer experience
• Our focus is on the brand experience that employees deliver
• Again, we use the same techniques as traditional CX
1:1 interviews
Ethnography
Shop-alongs
Mystery Shops
Customer
journey
mapping
Ghosting
Online testing
Comms audit

42. But unlike CX, we also look at internal brand alignment
• In other words, are the company’s employees aligned behind its purpose? Purpose is
the essential reason for which the company exists. Purpose answers the question:
“Why do we do what we do?”
• Employees are the face of the brand. The experience delights or disappoints,
based on their beliefs, behavior and commitment
How do we test brand alignment?
What do employees know and believe about your brand?
What do we stand for? Is our company purpose…
o 1) Unifying 4) Credible 7) Clear
o 2) Compelling 5) Actionable
o 3) Motivating 6) Simple
1:1 interviews
and groups
Surveys

43. Recap

44. We started by talking about brand experience and
customer experience
Brand Experience
Customer
Experience (CX)
User
Experience (UX)

45. Brand research examples
1 Brand architecture
2 Brand personality
3 Concept & ad testing
Product & company names
4
5 Brand experience
We looked at 5 types of brand research

46. Brand research examples
We showed how we test brands, and the similarities
between brand and CX research methods
1 Card sorts
5 One-on-one and group
interviews, surveys
2 Use cases
6 Online text mark-up and
online CX tools
3 Mystery shopping/
shop alongs 7 Communications audits
(website, mobile, print)
4 Ethnography
8 Customer journey mapping
brand architecture / names
messaging
brand experience
brand experience
brand experience / internal alignment / names / architecture
messaging, brand experience
messaging, brand experience
brand experience

47. www.userzoom.com
Capabilities for Marketing Research
Online Surveys
 Understand your customers’
attitude, feelings, concerns
and satisfaction levels
 Conduct persona research

48. www.userzoom.com
Capabilities for Marketing Research
Timeout Testing
 Find out whether
customers understand
what you offer
 Find out what
customers remember
about your offering or
company prior to
leaving

49. www.userzoom.com
Capabilities for Marketing Research
Card Sorting
 Test brand architecture
 Test whether your site is
clearly organized

50. www.userzoom.com
Capabilities for Marketing Research
Video Question
 Customer Feedback: Get videos of
customers talking about their experience
after using a website
 Ethnographic Research: Ask
participants to record how/when/where
they use your product/website in their
real life.
 Mystery Shopping

51. Thank you
Lisa Bertelsen Alfonso de la Nuez
Email: lisa@chatterinc.com alfonso@userzoom.com
Website: www.chatterinc.com www.userzoom.com
Follow us on Twitter @userzoom