Project scope
Client: Open R&D Network Lithuania
Objective: create tools to lead a potential customer through the sell path
Scope:
- Persuasion scenario
- Open R&D presentation
- Open R&D website
- Training of sales team
Period: 6 months
Team: 17 people.
Presentation at events
Persuade audience to shortlist Open R&D Lithuania as a potential science partner.
Actions: Visiting website, Direct contact
Open R&D website
Persuade audience to highly rank Open R&D Lithuania against competition for further consideration.
Action: Direct contact, to arrange a meeting
Presentation during live meetings
Sell.
Action: contract.
Phase 1 - Building a Sell Path
1.1. Exploration phase
During this phase information was gathered and analysed:
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- Direct/indirect competitor and category communication analysis.
- Category trends.
- Target audience research.
- Analysis of a present brand situation.
- Product purchase intent mechanics.
- Selection of priority segments.
Result: a picture of playing field, actors, motivations and opportunities.
In the picture, there is a general target segmentation to select priorities. In later stages, the selected audiences were analyzed in detail.
1.2. Opinion saturation structure
A basic outline of messages for various channels has been developed. In later stages, each one will become a mini-objective with its own brief, tools, creative idea, and production requirements
1.3. User needs Vs Brand SWOT. Main problem.
Both of 2 selected target audiences are similar in terms of needs and persuasion mechanics. For time being we have analysed them as one segment.
Later in the process of storytelling they will be re-split. With more technical details for scientific decision maker and more risk management details for a business manager.
1.4. Persuasion path scenario building (fragment example)
1. The emotional objective is to persuade the audience that doing science in Lithuania is a good idea.
2. The functional objective is to persuade the listener to pass on Open R&D contacts to scientific personnel or to reach us himself. To achieve this objective, we needed to find a way to address objections and answer questions (see picture of the left).
However, the most important challenge was finding a way to capture and hold the audience’s attention during the presentation.
According to research, audience interest tends to decline rapidly after the first few minutes of a presentation. To counter this risk, we proposed using a message about one of Lithuania’s strongest sectors and adding an element of dramatic suspense.
1.5. Slide scenario
The story was broken down into slides.
Each slide was approached from different angles in order to produce a set of instructions for the creative team, and later for the salespeople who will use the presentation.
In the picture below you can see an example of 1 slide.
Phase 2. Presentations: Creative & Production
2.1. Idea #1 - strong opening
After the first few slides, the audience may start to perceive the pitch as yet another boring presentation and begin to lose interest.
The map in the slides is zoomed out increasingly until it reaches the stratosphere. At this point, the audience is jolted awake with a sense of surprise. Suspense increases.
Then, suddenly, a cat in space appears, shooting lasers from its eyes. At this point, nobody is sleeping anymore. Additionally, the brand of our country, organization, and presenter have all gained positive associations.
2.2. Idea #2 - Open R&D network positioning
- Lithuania is a small country, where everyone knows everyone personally. Open R&D has a deep understanding of it’s network’s areas of expertise.
- We have direct contact with the biggest names in science, politics, and business.
- We can help you find the specific talent you need for your project, and we can do it quickly.
- Open R&D Lithuania is like a Hollywood talent manager, but for science.
Between the lines: Scientists in Western countries are often pampered with large budgets and fame, so attracting top specialists to your business project can be a lot of work. In Lithuania, everything is easier.
2.3. Design
Brand books were provided by client.
MITA basic logo and colors brandbook
Open R&D detailed offline brandbook
Open R&D slide design.
MITA slide design.
It was decided to use slightly different color palettes for Open R&D Lithuania and its parent organization, the Agency for Science, Innovation, and Technology (MITA).
2.3. Other production steps.
- Animation.
- Testing.
- Fine-tuning.
- Editor friendly adaptations.
150+ slides in total.
Phase 3 - Website
3.1. Website Idea - Provide a partner match in minimum time.
Once the audience starts considering us as a potential resource, their needs would shift towards finding specific assistance for their project.
This could include search for specific competencies, people, machinery, or expertise in various proportions.
Our solution is an online database that helps users find laboratories, scientists, researchers, competencies, patents, and organizations that best meet client’s scientific needs.
This approach both saves time for the user and indirectly conveys that our scientific network is neither small nor shallow.
3.2. Wireframe
A wireframe for the future website was created. In the picture below, you can see a landing page (read from top to bottom, left to right) for a university. This page would appear when a user conducts a search and wants to check out a potential partner. On the page, the user can instantly see whether the university’s resources match their needs, including competencies, laboratories, patents, and scientist qualifications. If there is a match, the user can contact the university directly or work through Open R&D Lithuania.
3.3. Digital content
Core content was prepared during presentation building, but in order to be presented online it had to be reformatted and where possible made interactive.
3.4. Design
Before entering this phase, the project team had already answered most of the creative questions, including:
- the creative idea,
- content,
- brand book (we skipped the phase of building a digital brand book and instead invited a senior art director who was able to adapt the offline rules to the digital space instantly),
- wireframe.
During the design phase, we brought everything together.
3.5. Programming
The project was relatively straightforward in terms of programming complexity.
WordPress was used as the content management system.
The phases followed the usual process: HTML programming, content management system programming, content upload, testing, bug fixes, preparation of a manual, content management system training, migration to the client’s server, public launch, and setup of a measurement system.
From the content editor’s perspective, the project is easy to use for everyday tasks, even for someone with minimal WordPress experience.
Phase 4 - Public speaking / Pitching training
4.1. Lectures and workshops
- Lectures (theory): The course covered topics such as the psychology of persuasion, the basics of audience focus, public speaking methodologies, storytelling basics, audience management, and the basics of negotiation.
- Homework: After listening to the lectures, employees were required to prepare a presentation that included a scenario and a summary of the public speaking theory.
- Workshops:
-
- Employees presented their work.
- The lecturer provided feedback.
- Employees revised their work at home.
- The cycle was repeated until the result was satisfactory.
Questions -> Answers
You advice always building digital brand book in order to manage project better. But this time you skipped digital brand book phase. altogether. Why?
Having a digital brand book greatly reduces the risks in the design phase of a project.
In this case, the presentation preparation phase took longer than planned, so we had less time in the web development phase.
Skipping the digital brand book was a risky decision because, if it failed, we might have had to go through several design concept samples before the client was satisfied. To mitigate this risk, we invited a highly experienced art director. The client approved the design concept on the first try.
This saved us about a month of time, but it did not save on the budget because the cost of the digital brand book was used to cover the increased cost of the design phase.
Cat in the presentation that represents a country, isn't it embarrassing for a high profile presenter at a serious conference?
The presenter can opt out of the “cat scenario” by simply deleting a few slides, which would revert the presentation to a “nicely designed, normal” one.
However, these days “normal” equals “boring.”
Boring communication has less impact for the effort put into it. To avoid this, we propose adding a bit of bravery to our storytelling form. After all, even serious people at serious conferences are still human beings (i.e., big children). Invoking positive emotion captures their attention and leads them down our path of persuasion.
Training theory vs practice, what were time proportions?
10/90
In order to deliver a strong sales pitch, repetition is key.
It’s like a role in a theater; the presenter is an actor who must master it perfectly. Yes, theory is necessary to help the presenter understand how everything works, learn shortcuts and tricks.
But in the end, it’s all about practice. Therefore, during this project, we placed a strong emphasis on workshops where team members repeatedly gave presentations under the mentorship of a lecturer.
What challenge was the hardest?
There is a balance between beauty and convenience in Microsoft PowerPoint.
A beautiful presentation is large in size and complex in terms of functionality (e.g., animations). Any move towards more convenient editing comes at the cost of visual impact.
In the end, we opted for beauty by expanding the scope. We simply created more slides to cover a wider range of topics so that the client wouldn’t have to. Of course final piece is editable just takes longer loading times.
In case you have a questions please email us info@sellpaths.com.
Answers that add value to this case study will appear online.