SurveyMonkey, the company whose tools have helped business professionals ask customers and colleagues about any number of subjects, is offering new answers to the questions of what it does, why it does it and where it sees its future.
The San Mateo, Calif.-based firm recently unveiled a brand campaign centered around a concept described as “Power The Curious” that includes an updated logo, colour palettes of bold greens and deep blues, and changes to the design of its web site. Earlier this summer, the company also launched a set of products it is calling a People-Powered Data platform, made up tools to help with customer experience analysis, employee engagement and real-time feedback from audiences.
Bennett Porter, SurveyMonkey’s senior vice-president of marketing communications, told B2B News Network the brand strategy needed to treat its professional audience in much the way that it would as a more consumer-oriented company.
“It’s basically a false wall between the two,” she said, referring to the way many firms approach B2B vs. B2C audiences. “They enjoy advertising that speaks to them on an emotional level.”
In one video, for instance, a worried-looking employee is getting pressure from his manager about getting an employee survey done. Using SurveyMonkey allows him to not only relieve his stress but become confident and more engaged in exploring deeper issues in his research.
“People are rewarded for their answers, not their questions,” Porter said. “In today’s world, CEOs value curiosity as a business asset. If you’re not asking great questions, you’ve probably got a competitor down the street who is.”
SurveyMonkey customers tend to feel close to the brand in part, Porter said, because its product was among the first software tools brought in directly by business professionals on their own versus having it purchased by corporate IT.
SurveyMonkey has been in a transition period over the past two years since the death of former CEO David Goldberg in 2015. Zander Lurie, who succeeded Goldberg, opens the firm’s “Our Story” multimedia tour with a letter outlining the range of areas the firm can help customers.
As you might expect, SurveyMonkey and its creative agency, Eleven, started the process with a survey of its own to employees across the organization. It did the same thing with customers.
“We do know a lot about our customers but we didn’t do a lot of checking about how does it feel to work with us,” she said. “When we realized that we can unlock fresh creative thinking to push their ideas forward, beyond offering analytical data to make decisions, it opened the world to us.”
Porter said the company is still exploring channels where its “Power The Curious” branding will be promoted, though it has created a range of banners and other digital advertising assets. The goals will include everything from top-of-funnel awareness like site traffic down to leads and conversions. Having a clearer sense of its identity and value will make all this easier, she added.
“What we’re doing is not providing an end point,” she said. “We are more like the pump to make sure people understand their data more.”
