This workshop walks through 4 step by step methodologies based on design thinking principles for how to bootstrap customer insights and begin a brand strategy. Each step is illustrated by a concrete example of a brand and UX refresh conducted at Startupbootcamp Istanbul for Benimcep, a secure online-marketplace for people to buy and sell smartphones at a discount and under warranty. Presented in the final month of the accelerator, it serves as a gut-check for entrepreneurs to see how well they understand their target customers and if they built a brand experience based on that understanding. Presented by: Megan Colgan is co-founder of The GO Project and a mentor and entrepreneur in residence at Startupbootcamp Istanbul 2014 helping with brand development, customer experience design and marketing strategy. (Find her @MegColgan) Workshop Philosophy: Empathy is the impetus of great design. Customer empathy—a fundamental understanding of a customer’s values, needs, perceptions and emotions—is at the core of designing a successful product, a successful user experience and it is at the core of designing a successful brand. Studies like the Stengel 50 and an analysis by co:collective on Storydoing, prove that brands that connect to and deliver human value are more successful in acquiring customers, creating advocates, earning customer loyalty, and performing financially. Such success is rooted in authentic customer connection which requires digging much deeper than aesthetics and tactics. It requires talking to and understanding customers through constant feedback and iterative testing.

3. Based on 10 years of
empirical research* on
50,000 brands, Millward
Brown & Jim Stengel
developed a list of the
world’s 50 fastest
growing brands…
*Crown Business; December 27, 2011

7. just picking one of these for advertising
or corporate social responsibility purposes…

8. Building an entire customer experience based on a
deep understanding of your customer and what
value your company truly has to offer their lives.

9. how can your startup do this with a
bootstrapping budget and timeline?

10. benimcep gives consumers the ability to buy and sell
discounted used smart phones securely online.
They recently launched with many sellers. Now, they are
trying to reach Turkish buyers.
GOAL = acquire buyers

11. LOGO & SLOGAN
UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION
GOOGLE AD WORDS
CPC
FACEBOOK AND SEARCH ADS
OPTIMIZING SEO
VIRAL VIDEOS
OFFERS & PROMOTIONS
BLOG CONTENT
MARKETING CAMPAIGN

13. write a sentence…

17. find your customer’s specific persona to
learn & empathize their values & needs…

18. Based on self-generated market research & the
founder’s knowledge of Turkish culture, benimcep
predicted a possible customer could be…
• High usage of smart phones
• Purchase goods online
• Look for deals

19. We still didn’t know if or why students would actually be
interested in purchasing a used smartphone online.

20. These questions & answers are the foundation of any successful
brand, marketing campaign or sales pitch.

22. It is as simple as talking to
a handful of customers over
a few days.

25. 1. Trust
2. Credibility
3. Reliability
4. Status
1. Friend Recommendation
2. Warranty
3. Oversight
4. Consistency
5. Affordability
6. Parents Buy-in
7. Convenience

26. build your brand & customer experience
to fulfill your customer’s values & needs…

27. 1. Trust
2. Credibility
3. Reliability
4. Status
1. Friend Recommendation
2. Warranty
3. Oversight
4. Consistency
5. Affordability
6. Parents Buy-in
7. Convenience

28. • Look
• Personality
• Voice
• Values
1. Evokes feelings
2. Keeps promises
3. Honors a relationship
4. Stays consistent

30. DEFINITION FRAMEWORK
Purpose The role & reason you exist.
Empower consumers with more secure
options to reach their lifestyle aspirations.
Personality
Your voice. How you
communicate in all ads,
websites, emails, calls, etc
Credible, Reliable, Sincere, Modern
Value Filters
The questions you ask ourselves
when opportunities and choices
arise.
1. Be trustworthy
2. Consistently attend to customer needs
3. Ensuring security
4. Make things easy
Reasons To
Believe
The tangible features, benefits,
platforms, process, or platforms
that deliver your brand promises
in reality.
1. Pre-checks phones
2. Customer service always easy to access
3. TurkCel & KVK partnerships for warranties
4. Simple UX & partners for discount prices

31. It may sound counter intuitive, but the best brands
choose one of the five.
benimcep is “evoking pride”
because customers feel buying a
smartphone is a significant
investment in the lifestyle they
want. It’s about feeling proud of
their purchase, finding a good
deal and choosing the one that
best fits who they are.

32. benimcep is “power”
because customers feel
buying a smartphone is a
significant investment.
They wish to feel
empowered with secure
options to reach their
lifestyle aspirations.

33. design your logo and all advertisements,
marketing campaigns, offers, product
experiences and communications to deliver
on your brand promises…

34. LOGO
Trendy, Comedic, Modern, CertifiedPERSONALITY
• Funny viral videos, discount offers
• Facebook advertisements, Google Ad words
MARKETING
TARGET
Young adults in Turkey who ‘like’ or search for
smart phones
Apple/Android inspired, variety of colors in
advertisements
LOOK

35. • Customer service & sponsors at bottom
• Focus is on sliding advertisements
• Buy and sell main call to actions as tabs on the top
WEBSITE UX

36. LOGO
PERSONALITY
MARKETING
TARGET
LOOK
Credible, Reliable, Trustworthy, Sincere, Modern
• Win over early adopters with discount offers
• Reward early adopters for brand advocacy and driving
recommendations to friends
• Use Sence Bence for social sharing & less ads
Public & private university students
‘Square’ inspired, Consistent, Clean & Advocated

37. • Customer service & sponsors featured
• Focus is on simplified ‘why’ & ‘how’
• Buy and sell main call to actions as tabs on the top
WEBSITE UX

38. Even quick & dirty bootstrapped customer testing…

39. 1. Ask ‘Who?’: It is as simple as writing a sentence
2. Find your customer’s specific persona to learn &
empathize their values & needs…
3. Build your brand & customer experience to fulfill
your customer’s values & needs…
4. Design your logo and all advertisements,
marketing campaigns, offers, product
experiences and communications to deliver on
your brand promises…