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Brand and Product Strategy (interim CMO) for Ohzone Inc.

  • Alison Lewis

CHALLENGE The objective was to get Ohzone launched at events, garner their first target customer. The brand, message, and approach must represent the exquisite detail and complexity of photogrammetry and fabric and be understandable and accessible to a fashion audience.

ACTIONS
  • Workshoped a combination of unique approaches from business development, marketing, and brand strategy through problem-framing inside MIRO.
  • Analyzed and scoped the brand materials for consistency, ideated, and led the team through a rebranding process; presented ideas on Google Slides with photo and illustrated images done in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
  • Applied in-depth assessment of the business strategy, plans for development, and interviewed the team on video conference and on-site visits, on what new information was obtained from the customers.
  • Determined that the value propositions needed concise revisions and communicated clearly to customers that the technology had infinite possibilities; placed this information in MIRO boards designed around the Lean Canvas, storyboards, the 5 Whys, brainstormed, and mapped concepts.
  • Oversaw and created the website low-fidelity prototype and final mini-site design in Adobe XD then passed off to the developer team.
  • Used Photoshop, MIRO, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Illustrator, HubSpot, PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Keynote presentations for sales and investors; and hired UpWork contractors.
  • Creatively led brainstorming sessions with the team to name the technology—3DREAL—for social media, hashtags, and communications.
  • Steered a deeper alignment with several online MIRO Sticky Note workshops around the Lean Business Model Canvas, Alexander Osterwalder’s format, and scoped areas of value proposition, solutions to problems, customer segmentation, and early adopters.
  • Used expertise in UX/UI tools including Figma/XD as well as finding and implementing new software tools such as Relay-That and MIRO.

RESULTS
  • Executed creative direction and implemented the New Brand and Logo, designing marketing and sales content, onboarding, and strategy for customer development and partnerships.
  • Attracted direct feedback and landed the first customer—a button-down shirt company, Button-Down Store, for customer validation and cost test $11,000.
  • Wrote the proposals and inked the deal with the first paying fashion B2B customer using the MaterialMagic tool—The Button-Down Store leading client-facing interactions to ensure delivery.
  • Created an elegant logo and basic band packet using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and design practices, including the Lean canvas and in-house interviews of the CEO and CTO that allowed the brand to be recognizable and usable in all sizes and media in the fashion event space
  • Executed knowledge of ASANA to manage and track projects combined with knowledge of the fashion industry that resulted in a more agile workflow, improved business collateral at events, and streamlined presentation materials for speaking engagements. Later, followed the CEO’s suggestion to move to Microsoft Teams for cost savings.
  • Encouraged the use of Kanban and Agile working style inside ASANA to manage and track projects. * Used HubSpot for on-boarding and maintaining sales leads resulting in agile workflow, improved business collateral at events, and streamlined presentation materials for speaking engagements

TARGET MARKET AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Workshopped a combination of unique approaches from business development, marketing, and brand strategy through problem-framing inside MIRO with customer interviews, leadership, and qualitative research.

UX and Customer Research

As part of defining and finding the first target B2B customer, I developed the customer questionnaires and went on-site to events to interview the potential target market of fashion showroom owners and fashion manufacturers. I also reviewed their website and current interaction design and gave insights for improvements. The result was information for the business development workshops, Personas, and User Journey Maps.

LOGO & BRAND DESIGN

For the LOGO, focused on the “O” which can be used as an icon and also symbolizes the central theme of OOOOOh and represents the founder whose name is OH! The goal with all logos is to make it recognizable and scalable in many formats and materials and work in black and white.

VISUAL TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP

After initially meeting with the team, the first work was to create a visual common language of the technology now and a roadmap for the future. The imagery left shows a priority on the mannequin since the product has the capability to be worn or dressed on an avatar. However, the styling of the avatar was a distraction and it lacked focus on the undeniable power of the technology to capture the texture and fabric with exquisite realistic detail. The first visual/technical goal to remove the mannequin from the viewer and have an emphasis on the textile or garment itself. A stretch goal is to have all the products together as part of a showcase. After that, people re-appear but in a more stylish and personal format for showrooms and fit. The ultimate goal, which the OHZONE team achieved by 2020 is a move forward into having the product dressed on digital avatars for runway shows or specialty showcases, and finally for it to be in realistic spaces and AR/VR technology.

SALES AND PITCH DECKS

As part of getting to the first target customer, I was part of sales calls and supported the team as well in designing the decks for us. Only a few pages are allowed to be shown here, but the overall theme of the pleated fold and 3D was used throughout. The design was templated and reused by the team as needed.

EVENTS

As part of the Ohzone team, my work was to accompany the founders to events and do online presentations of the brand for marketing and sales.
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