Does the rebrand resonate with customers and employees?
WORK AT
ecobee
Timeline
Dec. 2019-Feb. 2020
Role
User Researcher
Activities
Surveys, In-Person Interviews, Focus Group, Desirability Study
Outcome
Modified the use of proposed visual elements (e.g. colours and font) to better communicate the desired brand attributes
Revised the descriptions of the brand elements for clarity within the company
The Challenge
In the Fall/Winter of 2019, ecobee’s Marketing team was preparing to launch a rebrand with a unique differentiation strategy from competitors in the smart home space. I worked closely with the Creative Director and Product Marketers to define the research goals:
Understand how closely our design aligns with our brand values
Understand what elements of people's perceptions add or detract from a perceived adjective
Approach
METHODS
Customer Feedback
The first few phases of the rebrand testing were done in the context of a mobile design update and spanned several surveys and in-person interviews. The first step was getting a baseline on how our customers rated the appeal of the previous branding, understanding the elements they liked and disliked.
The insights from the first round informed the redesign using the new brand's visual elements, which we compared with the old brand for alignment on brand attributes using a semantic differential scale. For this phase, I conducted in-person interviews to dig deeper and understand what specific elements of the design contributed to how closely people felt the design represented one attribute over another.
These insights informed the final rebrand design that we subsequently tested alongside competitive brand elements for desirability with existing ecobee customers and a sampling from the general population.
Gauging the style preferences of a participant
Internal Feedback
Before launching the rebrand, the team wanted to evaluate the new brand attributes for understanding and usability across cross-functional teams. To do so, I facilitated a focus group with 10 representatives from different departments across the company.
TOOLS & FRAMEWORKS
Microsoft Desirability Toolkit, Semantic Differentials, Dovetail, SurveyMonkey, Powerpoint
Insights/Impact
The research guided the:
Use and application of the new colour palette by identifying the colours customers reacted most positively and negatively to
Use of the fonts based on the sentiments that customers felt each font communicated
Description of the brand elements which informed how it was communicated to the entire company