Apple Music
Optus was launching Apple Music and users on their website needed to be informed.
THE SOLUTION
How I fixed it
Following Telstra’s partnership with Apple Music, Optus was keen to tell the world that they now owned the rights and that new or recontracting customers could take advantage of a free Apple Music trial with a mobile phone or SIM plan.
Hypothesis
Due to the fact that there is no information about Apple Music, it is believed by adding banners and a Discovery Page users will understand the Apple Music offer and product, which will lead to an increase in acquisition sales.
User Story #1
As a user I want to know about the Apple Music offering with Optus so that I can choose a phone plan that suits my needs.
User Story #2
As a user I want to know about music streaming so that I can listen to music anywhere and everywhere.
User Story #3
As a user I want to try Apple Music without having to pay for it so I can decide if it's the right music streaming service for me.
User Story #4
As a user I want to simplify my billing process for entertainment so it's easier to know what I have and how much it costs
User Story #5
As a user I want great value in entertainment so I don't miss out on the next big thing.
User Story #6
As a user I want to check out the latest Apple products so that I stay loyal to Apple.
Measures of Success
Since launching Apple Music was a business objective we included it in our quarterly OKR’s. Our goal was to successfully launch Apple Music and achieve a 7% referral rate.
STEP 1
Conduct Research
There wasn’t much I could do as far as research was concerned because Marketing had already identified three opportunity segments for me to focus on and timelines were tight.
Competitor Analysis
The first thing I did was do a competitor analysis with Telstra but was quite underwhelmed by their page and didn’t find any inspiration.
Following that I took a look at the existing Apple Music page. If we were in a partnership with them then the set of assets which we were about to receive would follow the Apple style guide so it was important for me to know what to expect as far as UI elements were concerned at least.
STEP 2
Establish entry points
Before I could map any journeys I needed to identify where the Discovery Page would sit in the current navigational structure. A new page would have to be inserted somewhere and it made sense to put it under the ‘Optus Music’ landing page.
Once this was established it was then necessary to consider all entry points to this page. Being a business objective meant that it was given priority on the homepage and the section of this page which received the highest visibility was the hero banner.
Banners could also be added to the Sport and Entertainment landing page, the Entertainment landing page and the Optus Music landing page. Other squads also added banners to their pages.
STEP 3
Ideation
Without any assets my first iteration was quite basic and incorporated only Optus brand imagery and random placeholder images. I started with an overview graph and introduction and then applied the What, Why & How formula which we found worked on our other pages.
Once I received Apple and Brand approved assets I dropped those in and found some more value props to add. Following feedback from many different stakeholders and legal I managed to get version 5 to Apple who approved the design despite some logo lockup controversy.
STEP 4
Implementation Plan
Release Plan
The plan for our discovery page was to launch with Apple provided assets and then in the second release which was scheduled for a month after to swap out hero imagery for Optus Brand imagery which was more lifestyle based.
MVP
The first release was to contain the following features:
1. Apple provided assets
2. Personalised hero copy based off entry points
3. Animation – although this was a nice to have
STEP 5
Build
The page was built and went live on 22 July as did the banners across all identified entry points.
The homepage went live with animation and personalisation.
Then as per the release plan the second version of the website which was Optus brand focused was built and went live on 16 August with minor copy tweaks based off internal and external feedback.
STEP 6
Results Analysis
Measures of Success
Having measured the website again at the end of the project it was evident that all targets had been met – however only during launch week. Post launch rates began to fall and that was one of my key takeaways for this project.
STEP 7
Qualitative Research
Usability Testing
The next step was to conduct usability testing and so we recruited 5 participants who came in and we asked them various questions to:
• To understand users current state, needs and expectations of a music streaming service.
• Establish whether the current offer is clear and understood.
• Uncover any pain points experienced.
• Discuss how the experience could be improved.
Step 8
Results Synthesis
Following the usability testing I extracted pain points and grouped them into affinity clusters. Common themes were that the value proposition wasn’t clear and that the page was very apple-centric and alienating to Android users. The good news was that the design was appealing.
STEP 9
Optimisation
The new design is no longer live due to the contract expiring. However, main improvements included defining the offer more clearly in the header, defining the value, elevating the USPs and providing a clear next path for users to take.
In regards to design the new Infinity Note was used in the header and the amount of Apple products were reduced to ensure the page is more Android friendly.
Step 10
Key Takeaways
- Because our measure of success was for an increase in referrals we noticed that the rate peaked during the campaign and then fell. It would have been better for us to have created metrics which reflected an incremental increase in referrals to sales pages which wouldn't have been affected by the rise and fall of a traditional campaign trajectory.
During the campaign period Apple Music was a success.
