Each of the four cases demonstrate a different type of strategic thinking and customer-centric problem solving. The project documents discussed in the cases served as client deliverables and are available for review.
“Customers remember the experience a lot longer than they remember the price.”
Lauren Freedman Pres., E-tailing Group
Leadership Goal
Humana Healthcare’s new brand initiative was to position itself as the Go-To Resource for Caregiver support. (Caregivers are defined as people managing the care of a seriously ill loved-one.) This brand position was based on research showing Caregiver health claims increase 80% within the first 6 to 12 months of assuming the role. By supporting and advising Caregivers, Humana could reduce Caregiver claims and improve patient treatment outcomes.
Target Customer
Caregivers navigate healthcare facilities, coverage, claims and finances while collaborating with the patient or making those decisions on behalf of the patient. Caregivers assume the role as a result of an unplanned medical incident. A pivotal insight gained thru careful research analysis; Caregivers are not limited to older people caring for their older spouse. Many Caregivers are middle-aged or younger caring for their spouses or children.
Customer Landscape
Caregivers are sleep deprived, very stressed and have put their personal lives and basic care on-hold. When not at their place of employment, Caregivers are at the medical facility talking to medical staff, researching options and engaging Humana to better understand coverage, claims and all related financial matters. They are overwhelmed and forced to quickly adapt to this crucial role, navigate red tape and decode extensive jargon.
Current CX
Humana’s current customer experience was inconsistent with Humana’s Caregiver resource goal. Caregivers frequently access content via a smartphone – from a care facility. Content was excessive, outdated & poorly organized. Randomly developed apps were not relevant and claims flows were overly complex. Humana’s voice was inconsistent and used excessive industry jargon further alienating caregivers – in addition to all customers.
Reviewing relevant research, contact points and brand goals was essential to identifying the current state challenges listed above. This Discovery phase was crucial to developing actionable, relevant CX recommendations and improving the Caregiver customer experience.
CX Recommendations
• Clarify brand voice and remove all jargon. Caregivers are forced to navigate medical, financial and care facility jargon. Humana should be the one clear voice Caregivers don’t have to struggle to understand.
• Caregiver App should be designed to surface most relevant information Caregivers seek. Coverage, claims process and status, latest treatment information, financial management, legal tips and forms such as DNR, POA and HC POA. Also included in the app and desktop experience were conversation tips for the difficult conversations Caregivers frequently lead.
• Circle of Care social space allows Caregivers, key healthcare providers and other relevant people to discuss patient progress and treatment options streamlining communication. The Patient or Caregiver invites key participants into the digital conversation to maximize efficiency and support all parties involved.
• Medicine Cabinet content lists common drugs, doses, side effect information for Caregivers to access with any questions. An alphabetized list was recommended for user-centric simplicity, not grouping drugs by type or ailment.
• Community Resources listing local facilities, home practitioners, therapies, support groups for both patients and Caregivers.
• Care Tips for Caregivers delivered in the form of gentle reminders to take breaks, go for a walk, eat healthy snacks and rest to reduce the effects of stress, decreasing Caregiver claims.
The Caregiver CX Recommendation document combined CX recommendations, user experience flows, customer journey maps, digital and content strategies. It was the first deck to package multi-discipline, digital and traditional recommendations into one easily understood strategic approach. The document was well-received by senior leadership, it was the first of its kind presented at Humana.
The Humana Caregiver Customer Experience deck is available upon request.
Leadership Goal
M&M Mars has subsidiary offices around the world, many of which were building and launching local brand and promotional websites. Many of the local sites were not aligned with brand strategy and frequently delivered inappropriate and inconsistent content. Leadership wanted to eliminate the global brand fragmentation and insure all subsidiary sites were compliant with US and EU legal requirements applying to confectionery brands.
Target Customer
Because childhood obesity and diabetes is increasing, most westernized countries, including the US have very strict guidelines on how candy manufactures market their products. Candy manufacturers are legally restricted from targeting children under 13.
Customer Landscape
The candy market is overcrowded and many M&M Mars brands are mature. Continually developing new products and varieties (peanut butter snickers for example) further fragment established brands and distract consumers in overcrowded candy aisles or check-out lanes.
Current CX
Many of the subsidiary sites and/or the content was outdated & inconsistent. Holiday and promotional messaging was live after the end dates had passed. Many of these sites were not compliant with US and / or EU requirements for marketing candy; age gates preventing children under 13 were not in place, nutritional information was missing, etc. In several large third-tier markets, inappropriate content was also found. The UK group extended their global content analysis to include social media posts.
CX Recommendations
• Include a global footer across all sites as an immediate first step. The global footer content solved the vast majority of non-compliant issues and met all US and EU candy marketing requirements.
• Take down all sites with violent or sexual content, until redesigned versions were reviewed and approved by regional brand teams.
• Develop and deliver actionable recommendations for all other site updates.
• Discuss with and deliver current brand requirements to all subsidiary site owners.
The MARS UK Chocolate deck is available upon request.
Leadership Goal
Purina Cat Chow was redesigning their website to launch the “Share a Better Life” campaign. Prior to my involvement, the digital team had been through many rounds of concept development – but had no clear Customer Experience, Digital or Content Strategy to drive the project. The client selected 3 random look & feel concepts for focus group review.
Focus group feedback had recently been returned to the team, however the team was unable to assimilate the feedback and move forward. I joined the team at this point; my initial recommendation was to analyze the feedback, map each piece of feedback to the relevant concept and page design, update stakeholders on findings and develop relevant, actionable recommendations to move the team and project forward.
Target Customer
Cat Chow customers care deeply for their animal but are unwilling or unable to buy a “wet” high protein food. Wet cat food tends to be more expensive then Purina Cat Chow which is a dry kibble-style food. Purina Cat Chow is a main stream brand with 5 varieties.
Customer Landscape
Because cat owners cannot walk their cat to the park and socialize with other owners they often struggle individually with care and behavior questions. Cats and their health or behavioral issues can be difficult to fully understand.
Current CX
Cat Chow had over 6000 pieces of cat care content on the site. This content consisted of owners emailing questions to Cat Chow’s care mentors. It was a rich resource of information but very difficult to find any specific answers due to poor organization and site structure. Topic categories were unclear, site images were not consistent with package design, TV spots, print pieces and in-store promotional displays. These disconnects fragmented brand image, delivered an inconsistent customer experience and poor digital user experience.
“Cat owners suffer a sense of isolation” was feedback I discovered in my analysis which changed the course of the project. The sense of isolation cat owners feel in addition to the preference of seeing the cat eating instead of playing on the package and in the TV spot were three findings impacting the purpose of the site and the look of the package and how the spot was shot. These findings were presented to stakeholders who agreed with the recommendation to position the Cat Chow site as a cat care digital community (clarifying Share a Better Life positioning statement) and to re-shoot package photography and the TV spot.
CX Recommendations
• Position Cat Chow as a digital cat community for owners. Owners would collaborate with Cat Chow care mentors and read questions from other owners, lessening feelings of isolation and creating a sense of community, while positioning Cat Chow as a care authority and hub.
• Audit and reorganize 6000 pieces of user email care content into customer-centric, intuitive categories so owners could find answers quickly – further demonstrating the brand’s care authority and digital community. Examples of topic category names: Paws & Claws, Litterbox Issues, Kidney Health, Eyes & Ears, etc.
• Reintroduce Cat Care mentors digitally, on-pack, in-store, print and broadcast. Reintroducing mentors throughout the ecosphere to position the brand as the care authority and build brand consistency.
• Profile each mentor so owners understand their areas of expertise (behavior, nutrition, training, health, kittens) and know which mentor they should contact. This removes guesswork and streamlines the user’s experience. This also speeds on-going content maintenance and curation efforts.
Research analysis and findings identified in my mapping exercise greatly impacted the entire brand ecosphere and changed the direction of the site redesign project. Creating a digital cat care community and restructuring global care content for an improved digital strategy and user experience, positioned Cat Chow as a care authority and community hub. Presenting key findings to stakeholders refocused project priorities, moved the team forward and the findings document served as an on-going reference for the client and project team.
Leadership Goal
Jackson Hewitt’s primary digital goal was to increase online conversion rates. (Conversion is defined as digital users completing one of two tasks; making an appointment OR filing taxes online.) Although this was the primary digital goal, there was a secondary goal to reduce phone calls to schedule a tax appointment or ask specific tax questions. A global content audit and analysis was essential to both JH’s goals and to clearly define a strategic approach.
Target Customer
Jackson Hewitt’s target customers are lower income people with little education. Unwilling to file independently (without the help of a tax service) the target customer group believes they do not have the knowledge to file a basic tax return.
Customer Landscape
Intimidated by financial matters and the filing process, customers are stressed and overwhelmed when they arrive at the site. Basic financial and tax terminology is typically not understood, risk of abandonment is high, digital conversion rates were low.
Current CX
Online conversion task flows were not clearly identified and difficult to find. Customers had to search to locate and begin task flows. Store locations were not up to date and their appearance was inconsistent. JH voice relied on jargon and lacked customer-centric language. Content was excessive, out of date, full of errors and not scan-able.
CX Recommendations
• Clearly label online conversion task flows and elevate the starting point in content hierarchy so they’re easy to find. (Customers had to search to locate and begin conversion task flows.) Conversion task flows should be streamlined for quick completion. Users should never have to struggle and search to locate or complete basic conversion task flows.
• Remove redundant content, archive content older than six month unless legally required to remain online.
• Create a consistent, clear brand voice to engage users and help them feel comfortable. Edit remaining content, shorten and remove jargon.
• Remove all errors in copy. Jackson Hewitt is in the business of details, typos in copy do not instill confidence in users and harm brand image.
• Update in-store signage and promotional materials to mirror digital brand identity. Financial Service brands should present a consistent, error-free image.
• Call center greeting and talking points should be consistent with new JH brand voice; straightforward and without jargon.
Actionable recommendations for primary contact points extended beyond the basic digital strategy and global content issues Jackson Hewitt identified and scoped. Excessive and poor quality content intended to guide users into conversion task flows caused abandonment. Stores were hard to find and in-store branding was inconsistent. Brand voice throughout the ecosphere relied on jargon, further intimidating customers.
The Jackson Hewitt Conversion Strategy document is available upon request.