Headline

Driving increased brand awareness and product engagement by unifying a fragmented marketplace with a new brand identity.

About me

My role:

Project Lead
Brand Strategist
Brand Manager
Creative Director

Timeframe:

Apr 2018 - Dec 2019

Skills used:

User Research & Testing
User Segmentation
Market Analysis
Brand Strategy & Positioning
Creative Direction
Brand Marketing
Agency Management

Impact

Increased product engagement by 52%

Developed new positioning, consolidating 5 existing brands

Created 150+ page brand guide to drive consistency

Collected insights from 309 users to guide brand strategy

Saw 14% increase in product CSAT scores

In 2017, Google observed something troubling...

Applicants for Google roles citing being able to learn as a key motivator dropped from 62% in 2012 to 39%. This deeply alarmed Google, as research confirmed intrinsically motivated, continuous learners were top performers.

Recognizing an opportunity to reinforce its standing as a top place to learn and grow and therefore best attract top-talent, Google partnered with Coursera for courses and certificates. I was responsible for brand management, using existing internal training content from five learning and development teams at Google.

My role:

Unify a diverse set of existing brands to create a cohesive go-to-market strategy for Google's external learning offerings focused on professional growth and development

The problem…

Early on, it was evident that the five learning content teams faced significant brand architecture challenges.

Each team possessed a distinct brand identity, aiming for a Coursera launch, yet lacked clear positioning or a defined value proposition against competitors like LinkedIn Learning and Udemy. On top of this, low internal engagement with their existing courses raised concerns about potential external adoption.

My proposal:

To address these critical issues and ensure successful market entry, I proposed a comprehensive, quarter-long brand audit. This strategic initiative received approval from Google's executive leadership, paving the way for a more impactful Coursera presence.

The research…

As the Brand Strategist leading the project, I first started with a three month stretch of discovery, starting with a better understanding of the target audience.

Through a partnership with Coursera, I was able to collect 100+ survey responses from target users. I was also able to conduct 1:1 interviews with 60+ Google employees to create audience personas and detailed user segmentation reports.

What I discovered:

Prospective Google candidates were most driven to use our learning products to gain a clear understanding of the exact skills and experiences needed to join and excel at the company. They desired content that directly reflected Google's definition of success.
On Coursera, users found it difficult to differentiate a notable difference in the value of our learning products from similar content on platforms such as LinkedIn Learning or Udemy.

Based on this comprehensive market and user research, I presented the following strategic insights to the Google Executive Leadership team:

My insights:

Competitive Landscape: The corporate digital learning space on platforms like Coursera is highly competitive. To differentiate, we must develop a clear and compelling unique value proposition.

Aspiration and Tangible Outcomes: Learners are strongly motivated by the desire to join Google and seek practical skills, badges, and certifications to enhance their career prospects.

Brand Architecture Simplification: Our current fragmented brand architecture creates user confusion. A streamlined, simplified portfolio is essential to maximizing learner value and aligning with our strategic goals."

After sharing these insights, the Google Executive Leadership team authorized the development of a new brand strategy and foundation, a project I spearheaded.

The strategy…

Through collaborative workshops with core stakeholders and partners, I defined our brand's purpose, mission, and vision, which served as the foundation for a strategic brand positioning outline highlighting our unique value and brand personality.

This foundation enabled the creation of a comprehensive messaging framework, clearly and concisely articulating our differentiated value proposition and strategic brand positioning.

I validated the effectiveness of 'The Google School' brand name through user surveys (n=149), which demonstrated an 84.18% positive association among a diverse collection of user demographics.

I presented and secured approval from the Google Executive Leadership team for the following key foundational elements:

My proposal:

Brand unification: I rebranded five standalone brands to 'The Google School,' simplifying our identity and aligning it with our brand elements.

New brand promise: Users were most interested in our learning products that were specific to succeeding at a top company like Google.

Strategic portfolio updates: I recommended aligning the portfolio with our brand pillars, focusing on Google-unique learning and reducing 90+ products to differentiate us.

The brand identity development…

Leading the brand identity initiative, I secured and directed a budget to onboard two critical external agencies, ensuring successful execution

I directed an agency specializing in visual identity to develop our brand's core visual assets, including a logo, color palette, typography, and illustration style. By translating our strategic vision into a clear creative direction, I ensured the resulting visual identity reflected our brand.

The other agency focused on developing detailed voice and tone guidelines to ensure all brand communications were consistent and value-aligned.

After establishing our visual identity and voice and tone, I created a 150+ page brand guide to ensure all parties at Google and external partners creating branded assets had detailed direction on how best to apply The Google School brand.

The roll out…

To ensure a successful brand identity launch, I led training sessions for the product development team and critical external partners, focusing on the new brand strategy, key elements, and value embodiment.

I collaborated with Product and Channel leads to create a strategic rebranding roadmap for their products, ensuring consistent adoption of the new Google School identity to drive user loyalty and engagement.

I served as Creative Director, providing strategic oversight for a B2C digital marketing campaign launching the Google School brand on established partner platforms like Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Fast Company, managing a creative agency to deliver campaign assets.

The assessment…

I partnered with the Analytics team during the brand rollout and marketing campaign to ensure robust data collection for measuring launch impact. Subsequently, I leveraged Looker Studio to create an executive dashboard, synthesizing survey, and Google Analytics data to inform data-driven insights on the launch's success.

The key metrics points of the brand rollout for The Google School as a result of our marketing campaign included:

52% increase in the monthly average of courses started

14% increase in product CSAT score

27% increase in Net Promoter Score

Average .72% click rate of B2C in-page ads

48% increase in monthly average of page views