Portfolio
XYZ Textbooks
Roles
- Creative Direction
- Web Design
- Email Campaign Design
Tools
- Photoshop
- XD
- Dreamweaver
- Salesforce
Overview
XYZ Textbooks, an independent publisher of high-quality, economical educational materials, faced a critical market disruption with the rise of free Open Educational Resources (OER). As a design director, I was tasked with redefining their brand's visual identity and user experience to clearly communicate their unique value. My goal was to lead the creative strategy to transform their primary marketing assets—their website and email campaigns—into powerful tools for sales and growth in a crowded market.
Challenge(s)
The core challenge was to overcome the market's perception that "free is better." XYZ's original differentiator was affordability, but with the rise of OER, they were no longer the sole owner of that message. My strategic design hurdles were to:
- Redefine the Visual Narrative: The existing brand identity did not effectively communicate the full value of XYZ's content, such as their integrated online tools and expert-written texts.
- Revamp the User Experience: The website needed a new information hierarchy and a more streamlined user journey that would help instructors and students quickly understand the benefits and make the choice to adopt.
- Break Through the Noise: We needed to create a marketing campaign with a powerful visual language that would stand out and compel educators to engage in a highly competitive digital landscape.
Approach
To redefine XYZ Textbook's brand and overcome the market's perception that "free is better," our approach centered on a two-pronged strategy: revitalizing the brand's visual identity and executing a targeted email marketing campaign to drive engagement and sales.
We began by refreshing the user interface in key area to showcase the true value of XYZ's content, such as their integrated online tools and expert-written texts. We developed a new, compelling visual language with a streamlined information hierarchy for the website. This revamping of the user experience was designed to help instructors and students quickly grasp the benefits of XYZ's products, making the choice to adopt them clear and straightforward.
To break through the noise in the competitive educational landscape, we launched a targeted email campaign. A key part of this strategy was the "Chapter Challenge", which encouraged math faculty to test chapters of the textbook incentivized with a much-needed Starbucks latte (or other beverage of choice). This campaign directly engaged educators by providing a low-risk opportunity to experience the high quality of the content firsthand, serving as a powerful tool for driving product adoption and sales.
Result(s)
The initiative successfully transformed XYZ’s brand and provided the sales team with a powerful new set of assets. The creative work directly contributed to a significant increase in web traffic and provided the sales team with a clear path to convert new customers. The design and messaging of the "Chapter Challenge" email campaign successfully engaged educators and served as a powerful tool for driving product adoption and sales.
Email Campaign
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