Senior Interactive Content Strategist

Campbell-Ewald is looking for a Senior-level Interactive Content Strategist to create content strategy deliverables (content audits, gap analyses, style guides, content migration plans, governance models, publishing workflows, etc.) across the project lifecycle.

As a key member of our Interactive Strategy team, you will collaborate closely with our Information Architecture team, as well as people from our Creative, Strategy, Social Media, and Client Technology groups to define the content needs of web sites, emails, social profiles, and digital/mobile applications we create.

Responsibilities

  • Developing content strategies based on client business objectives and user needs
  • Determining projects’ overall content requirements and potential content sources
  • Developing innovative solutions for content presentation, including content management, workflow, maintenance, and optimization
  • Recommending and planning for content delivery across appropriate channels
  • Working with client to enhance, edit and reformat legacy and newly created content
  • Ensuring content conforms to Search Engine Optimization best practices
  • Setting guidelines for the editorial tone, style, and voice of all content
  • Develop and manage content governance models, including processes and dependencies such as key roles (e.g. author, editor, approver, reviewer etc.) and responsibilities per role
  • Author and deliver presentation of key findings to Account Services and clients

Qualifications

  • Demonstrated ability to lead content strategy across the entire web development process
  • Thorough understanding of how to communicate effectively in a digital environment
  • Expert level attention to detail
  • Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills
  • Experience in client services and negotiating business decisions
  • High tolerance for ambiguity matched only by your desire to organize it

Preferred Qualifications

  • Five+ years experience in creating/writing content for Web or other digital media (interactive or marketing agency experience preferred)
  • Degree in related field, such as English, journalism, technical writing, or library science
  • Previous experience in professional print, digital or broadcast media
  • Experience with content management systems, digital asset management, databases and SEO best practices
  • Expertise (at minimum working knowledge) of digital public relations and social media best practices
  • Mad skillz with OmniGraffle/Visio, Keynote/PowerPoint, Excel/Numbers, and analytics suites

For more information and to apply, please visit the online posting.</p

Recap: Designing for the Multi-Device-Owning Consumer

Marta StricklandAt our April 21, 2011 meeting, Michigan UPA welcomed Marta Strickland, Innovation Director at MRM Worldwide, who shared her insights on emerging trends and next generation technology.

The room was filled with attendees who came from as far as Lansing and Ann Arbor to hear about digital innovation, consumer behavioral trends, and identifying opportunities for platforms and brands.

Thank you to sponsor Cengage Learning and contact person, Derek Poppink, for their support of Michigan UPA and hosting Marta’s presentation.

Here are notes from the presentation:

Three Things We Know About “Emerging” Devices

  1. People are buying more smartphones
  2. People use their smartphone differently than a feature phone
  3. Owning a smartphone changes what people expect

Consumer Usage of Smartphones and Tablets

  • We are creating a hyperconnected multi-device ecosystem
  • First-time early adopters of tablets aren’t replacing any current device
  • Highest tablet use is from 6pm to 10pm -> the “sofa effect”
  • 70% of smartphone users access the Internet on their mobile device daily
  • NFC and RFID have a lot of potential, but until phones have those technologies, you’ll be speaking to a small population.

11 Consumer Trends Driving Digital Innovation

  1. Power of Now
  2. Concierge Culture
  3. Consumer Control
  4. Evolution of Commerce
  5. Coupon Chic
  6. Worlds Collide
  7. Brand Me
  8. Know Me
  9. Seamless Experiences
  10. World’s a Game
  11. Attention Management

Attendees at Marta's presentation

Privacy

Asked how do you build consumer trust around the use of consumer’s information, Marta responded:

  • Give consumer levels in which they can engage
  • Educate consumers. “Here’s what we’ll offer if you give us this information.”

Final Takeaways

  • It’s not about creating more screens for the consumer, it’s about creating the right content for the consumer
  • Every screen and experience needs to speak clearly and quickly as to what it will do for the consumer

After the presentation, we had a lively discussion about user experience and best practices with Marta and attendees, with questions about mobile, social, statistics and the applications Marta mentioned during her presentation. Thank you to Marta for providing a copy of her slidedeck.

Posted by Deborah Edwards-Onoro, an officer for Michigan Usability Professionals’ Association since 2008. She owns Lireo Designs, a web development company, is a group leader of Refresh Detroit and host of Tweetea. You can find her tweeting about usability, user experience, accessibility and higher education @redcrew.

Credibility 2.0: How Users Assess Credibility in the Participatory Web Environment

May 25, 2011

Join the Michigan CHI on May 25th for a discussion of how people evaluate the credibility of information online. Professor Soo Young Rieh of the University of Michigan’s School of Information will share her latest research on the Credibility 2.0 project which examines people’s credibility judgments within the context of their use of various types of Web 2.0 tools while engaging in diverse online activities.

Through this project, she is investigating questions such as:

  • How do people decide where to start when trying to find information?
  • How do people decide whether or not they can trust information?
  • What heuristics do people employ when evaluating the credibility of information?
  • How are people’s Web 2.0 activities related to their levels of trust and satisfaction?
  • To what extent do people rely on credibility heuristics when they use content from Web 2.0 sites?

The event will be held 6:30pm to 8:30pm in the Ehrlicher Room at the University of Michigan’s School of Information. More details and registration at the Michigan CHI website.

Designing for the Multi-Device-Owning, Attention-Short, Hyper-Connected Consumer

Thursday,  April 21, 2011

Cengage Learning – Farmington Hills, Michigan

The rapid pace of technology innovation is having a significant impact on consumer behavior both in the way information is consumed and how individuals communicate with one another. Individuals today are leading extremely scheduled and hectic lives. With technology now providing “access anywhere” the lines between work, family and leisure are becoming more and more clouded.

This talk will focus on several emerging trends that demonstrate how consumers are interacting with companies in new ways online and in the real world. This is about giving companies practical advice on how to make sure they are creating a seamless and intuitive experience that will appeal to the consumer of today… who is browsing from many different devices, who has limited time, and who demands useful tools and engaging experiences to help them make better purchase decisions.

About Our Speaker

Marta StricklandMarta Strickland spends her days at MRM keeping up on emerging trends, partnering with next-generation technology companies on research studies, performing exhaustive test and learning methodology to what is upcoming (augmented reality, semantic web, pervasive computing) and rethinking how businesses use what has already “emerged” (mobile, social). The goal is to continually push what is possible out of General Motors’ web-enabled platform to serve the consumer needs of today and of the future.

Before her role at MRM, she was the Manager of Social Media Strategy at Organic Detroit.  In her role, she has made it her mission to discover new ways to leverage social media to connect with consumers.  She frequently voiced her mind and evangelized the power of social media as Editor-In-Chief of the Organic blog, ThreeMinds.

During her free time, she enjoys travel, cooking, wine, and filmmaking with her husband and family.

When

Thursday, April 21, 2011

6:00 PM — Networking
6:45 PM — Announcements
7:00 PM — Speaker
8:30 PM — Wrap up and more networking

Location

Gale Headquarters / Cengage Learning Center
27500 Drake Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48331

Map

Cost

$5, Current students
$10, Michigan Usability Professionals’ Association members
$20, All others

Register

Register online at Guestlist so we know who’s coming and how to plan for refreshments. We’ll also take payment (cash or check) at the door. Questions? Email events {at} miupa dot org.

Getting Your UI/UX to Ooooze with Brand Yumminess!

May 19, 2011

You’ve seen it a gajillion times; You go to a web site in search of a product. You had no problems, to speak of, but you just didn’t connect with the company, the product or the site. You had a ho-hum experience. You visit another site and it simply knocks your socks off — but you just can’t put your finger on why.  Both sites had professional design. Both had well thought out information architecture.  Both had intuitive navigation. But only one resonated with you.  In this presentation, Kevin Skarritt, Owner of Flock Marketing, will serve up his secret sauce on getting every UI you touch to hum like a well-oiled, brand machine!

What You’ll Get Out of This Presentation

  • A fast, easy and powerful way to tap into the emotions of your target audience
  • A way to use your gut instinct to “know” when you’re making a brand mistake
  • How the elements of UI can be greatly enhanced by establishing a strong brand foundation
  • The fastest way to get your clients to focus on connecting with their own customers — not blasting spammy pitches for their product (ugh), micro-managing the UI process (yuk), or any number of other things that can torpedo your UI/UX efforts (blech!)
  • You may possibly be the one lucky recipient of a full working version of Morae!!!  Thanks to our sponsors of this meeting, TechSmith, for offering the use of their space AND providing this amazing door prize.

About Our Speaker

Kevin SkarrittKevin has operated his own agency for more than 13 years.  Formerly called Acorn Creative, his new agency (Flock Marketing) is a Lansing-based digital interactive, brand and social media marketing agency.  In addition to creating websites for notable brands such as the California GOP, Stock Liquors, Culinary Institute of America, and working on projects with firms like Novell and the Federal Reserve Bank, he and his staff have racked up quite a few accolades along the way;

  • Ten-time winner of Forbe’s “Best of the Web”
  • Three time winner of a “Best of …” award in the New Hampshire Internet Awards (he just recently moved back to his home state of Michigan)
  • Two-time recipient of an International Communicator’s Award
  • Inclusion in the fourth edition of Logo Lounge, an international logo design competition

Kevin portrays himself on his Twitter account as; “Social media junkie, web wonk, Dad to two Eagle Scouts, husband, pilot, chess geek, book-a-holic, and upright bass noob.”  Here are some other notable things about Kevin;

When

Thursday, May 19, 2011

6:00 PM — Networking
6:45 PM — Announcements
7:00 PM — Speaker
8:30 PM — Wrap up and more networking

Location

Tech Smith Corp
2405 Woodlake Drive
Okemos, Michigan  48864-5910
Map

Cost

$5, Current students
$10, Usability Professionals’ Association members
$20, All others

Register

Register online at Guestlist so we know who’s coming and how to plan for refreshments. We’ll also take payment (cash or check) at the door. Questions? Email events {at} miupa dot org.