Being clear about our brand can help guide our product decisions. Conversely, looking at which product decisions have been good/bad can shed light on our brand.
For example, through the lens of conversation…
1. Fantasy Football isn’t news but it fits with conversation. People love to talk about their teams.
2. Gambling (as touted by The Mirror) doesn’t fit with news or conversation.
3. Showing today’s date in the masthead (like MailOnline do) fits with news but not with conversation. Conversation might mean a story like, “7 reasons why Monday is the best day of the week”.
4. Sudoku doesn’t spark conversation. Some games, including quizes and crosswords can spark conversation. In fact, Sudoku could spark conversation if it was done right, such as competing against friends.
5. Newspapers show job listings. Dull. LinkedIn shows conversations about jobs. Cool! Metro’s jobs listings aren’t that inspiring but we could create some awesome content about jobs… a topic for another time!
What about “doing things differently”?
The results are similar, except that games and crosswords don’t fit “doing things differently”. Boris Johnson flappy bird is different. The Metro Penalty Shootout game isn’t different.
What about content? X Factor, GBBO and MH370… none of them are “doing things differently” but they do spark conversation.
Of course, the devil is in the data. Maybe our brand can help promote data-driven decision making… cue next post.