Creating a Persona with Human-Centered Insights
When I worked with brands like Nokia, Nike, adidas, and Saucony, I spent most of my time understanding and gathering real insights.
Insights need to be the core of your brand building — not an ‘afterthought.’
Here’s how I approach it:
- First, change your mindset. Get Curious. Always ask WHY. And be prepared to drop assumptions and dig deeper until you find the truth.
- Talk with real people, those who love your brand, and the critics. I understand this can be hard — but it’s critical. My team at adidas talked to 500 people worldwide while creating our brand narrative in 2020.
You don’t need this many, but don’t be tempted to skip this part!
Here are helpful questions to ask your consumers are:
- What is their name, age, and gender?
- What are their hobbies, lifestyle, and passions?
- What are their dreams, ambitions, and goals?
3. Be like an investigative detective, search for the right clues, and go deeper than the surface. Track what they search on the internet and what shows they watch on Netflix. Understand what gives your consumers energy. Probe and unfold their internal drivers and motivations. Reveal their unmet needs.
4. Find ways to interact — anywhere, any time, and how they want. You’re going to have to talk with customers for the best insights, but you can also:
- Interact with consumers on social media channels.
- Collect data through first-party data, like your website.
- Approach and observe people in critical locations — when you see them passing.
5. Write down key observations and track their behaviors. Shows they watch on Netflix What they search for on the internet. How they shop, what they consume. Find out if they’re an opinion leader in their community.
You now have a rich understanding of your consumer muse. Then, it would help if you created your persona as your north star. I start by creating a persona based on the deep psychographic and behavioral insights that will inform our brand purpose.
Look at this example from my time at Nike Football.
#humanstories #branding #storytelling #leadership
