In Part 1 of our buyer persona case study, I talked about the Shenshi assignment, developed a buyer persona and the content piece around that persona. In Part 2, I will explain the relevance of the content to the Shenshi brand, the tone and voice used as well as the media and platform choices for it.
Relevance to the Shenshi brand
To explain the relevance of the content, let's revisit Shenshi's three core brand values:
1. Inspiration: The Inspiration Experience makes people believe that they can achieve things in their own lives.
2. Identity: The Identity Experience makes people believe they belong to a group with similar interests.
3. Utilitarian: The Utilitarian Experience involves giving advice and tips to help people make decisions about their lives.
In case of the content, our protagonist Dan knows he belongs to a special group of achievers and he has a lot of be proud of. Dan's story is inspirational and this piece of content helps remind him of his clear sense of accomplishments, purpose and drive. So there are certainly hints of inspiration and identity. What's missing is the utility factor which I have deliberately not used at the launch stage. My rationale for doing doing so is in to ensure the message is focused. If you try and say too many things then the impact of the experience is lost in the clutter. I would certainly look to add the utilitarian experience in subsequent pieces of content.
Tone and voice
I've used a quote by Sun Tzu in 'The Art of War' which inspires Dan because he understands and appreciates the Chinese philosopher and it resonates with him at this critical stage in his life. Recall in the buyer persona description in Part 1, Dan has read Sun Tzu's work and can relate to it. Dan sees himself as a leader and loves the quotes and lessons from this book on strategic warfare, leadership, motivation. It's also a nice way to associate China with the great strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu and the Shenshi brand which is done in a very subtle way. The tone used in the monologue where Dan is talking to himself is exactly how Dan talks in real life. It's similar to what he would say before any important endeavor. The phrase 'let's do this, let's make it happen' is what Dan would say to his team before they make a presentation to the class or before they enter the field of play. Depending on the context, in subsequent pieces of content, other Sun Tzu quotes could be used.
Platform and delivery
Shenshi has a strong digital presence through its blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For purposes of the launch (subject to budget constraints) I would also use this piece of content as an ad on the subway, in Toronto Transit buses, in the 'Metro' newspaper, which is a free local newspaper for consumers while in transit. Dan will tend to be more receptive to this piece of content while he is travelling because that's his 'time out' experience. I would also place ads at strategic locations in and around universities and colleges in order to make sure that I can grab the attention of my target audience where they spend a large portion of their time. In a digital world, we tend to overlook the importance of traditional media. Infact it's best not separate media as traditional or new. Media should be all about conveying your message to the consumer wherever, whenever and however he wants to consume it.
In addition, I would use display advertising on the Globe and Mail website, advertise on the weather network mobile app (Canada's #1 weather update center). These are media sites that Dan regularly accesses. If this piece of content were presented on the website, I would have an additional button that would say subscribe to our weekly online magazine ‘Aspire’ which would offer content such as inspiring stories of business people succeeding through hardwork, tips on career advice, tips on dressing, etc. Subscriptions to this newsletter would be one of the methods of measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of content in the digital sphere. I would also carry out user sentiment surveys to see whether the target user has the feeling of inspiration and identity when he sees the piece of content. I would want to know how he feels having seen that piece of content so that I can iterate going forward.
That is the end-to-end process for developing content through the use of buyer personas. Perhaps you can take some ideas from here and try to apply them at your workplace.
Relevance to the Shenshi brand
To explain the relevance of the content, let's revisit Shenshi's three core brand values:
1. Inspiration: The Inspiration Experience makes people believe that they can achieve things in their own lives.
2. Identity: The Identity Experience makes people believe they belong to a group with similar interests.
3. Utilitarian: The Utilitarian Experience involves giving advice and tips to help people make decisions about their lives.
In case of the content, our protagonist Dan knows he belongs to a special group of achievers and he has a lot of be proud of. Dan's story is inspirational and this piece of content helps remind him of his clear sense of accomplishments, purpose and drive. So there are certainly hints of inspiration and identity. What's missing is the utility factor which I have deliberately not used at the launch stage. My rationale for doing doing so is in to ensure the message is focused. If you try and say too many things then the impact of the experience is lost in the clutter. I would certainly look to add the utilitarian experience in subsequent pieces of content.
Tone and voice
I've used a quote by Sun Tzu in 'The Art of War' which inspires Dan because he understands and appreciates the Chinese philosopher and it resonates with him at this critical stage in his life. Recall in the buyer persona description in Part 1, Dan has read Sun Tzu's work and can relate to it. Dan sees himself as a leader and loves the quotes and lessons from this book on strategic warfare, leadership, motivation. It's also a nice way to associate China with the great strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu and the Shenshi brand which is done in a very subtle way. The tone used in the monologue where Dan is talking to himself is exactly how Dan talks in real life. It's similar to what he would say before any important endeavor. The phrase 'let's do this, let's make it happen' is what Dan would say to his team before they make a presentation to the class or before they enter the field of play. Depending on the context, in subsequent pieces of content, other Sun Tzu quotes could be used.
Platform and delivery
Shenshi has a strong digital presence through its blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For purposes of the launch (subject to budget constraints) I would also use this piece of content as an ad on the subway, in Toronto Transit buses, in the 'Metro' newspaper, which is a free local newspaper for consumers while in transit. Dan will tend to be more receptive to this piece of content while he is travelling because that's his 'time out' experience. I would also place ads at strategic locations in and around universities and colleges in order to make sure that I can grab the attention of my target audience where they spend a large portion of their time. In a digital world, we tend to overlook the importance of traditional media. Infact it's best not separate media as traditional or new. Media should be all about conveying your message to the consumer wherever, whenever and however he wants to consume it.
In addition, I would use display advertising on the Globe and Mail website, advertise on the weather network mobile app (Canada's #1 weather update center). These are media sites that Dan regularly accesses. If this piece of content were presented on the website, I would have an additional button that would say subscribe to our weekly online magazine ‘Aspire’ which would offer content such as inspiring stories of business people succeeding through hardwork, tips on career advice, tips on dressing, etc. Subscriptions to this newsletter would be one of the methods of measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of content in the digital sphere. I would also carry out user sentiment surveys to see whether the target user has the feeling of inspiration and identity when he sees the piece of content. I would want to know how he feels having seen that piece of content so that I can iterate going forward.
That is the end-to-end process for developing content through the use of buyer personas. Perhaps you can take some ideas from here and try to apply them at your workplace.