BrandVerity
Illustrating Digital Marketing Threats
Company Overview
Brands face many ruthless monsters on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) trying to steal their traffic and take unearned commissions by abusing affiliate programs. BrandVerity offers an automated service that catches thieves in action and helps relieve the burden of reprimanding affiliates and reporting abuses.
This whitepaper, The Monsters of Paid Search, is a useful field guide detailing the kinds of monsters lurking on the SERP, why they attack your paid search campaigns, the tactics they use, signs that you're under attack, and how to fight back.
Date: May-June 2017 | Duration: 6 weeks | Role: Designer | Software: Sketch App, Illustrator, Photoshop | Skills: Illustration, HTML/CSS, Editorial Layout
Design Brief
The Goal
Create a new piece of content for top of the funnel leads that gives an in-depth analysis of the threats brands face on the SERP and demonstrate how BrandVerity can help.
The Audience
Affiliate marketers & paid search marketers
The Campaign
Included in the outreach was an email campaign as well as targeted ads on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
Define & Research
Finding monsters to be a playful and accessible theme, the team sat down to brainstorm what these monsters look like, their most powerful attacks, where they live, and how to bring them to life.
While the content team drafted the outline of the piece I got to work on creating custom illustrations from scratch.
Wanting the monsters to strike a balance of intimidation and playfulness, I presented the team with possible creative directions and the elements that could unify the set. Referencing cartoon illustration styles I gathered techniques on how to create subtle textures, how to proportion heads against torsos and small elements like horns and snaggle teeth. I also generated ideas of how to frame the illustrations and play with the text in the editorial layout.
I did a couple rounds of monster sketches and check-ins with the team. Then I began to digitize the drafts and added color until each monster found their visual balance.
The Final Spreads
Campaign Launch
To launch the eBook, I created a series of ads for LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook that allowed for several A/B tests. I repurposed the page textures and framing elements to tie the visual themes through the entire user's journey.
