1- Challenge & Objective

2- Research Approach

Qualitative Exploration

Sample Definition

40 media professionals, by industry:
Advertisers: 8
Agencies: 8
Digital Publishers: 5
Content Owners: 6
TV Network/Stations: 4
Radio Network/Stations/Podcasters: 5
Digital Ad Platform: 1
MVPD: 3

Method Used

• 60-minute, 1:1 interviews by video call
• Single participant
• Interviews were transcribed and responses were analyzed using the Constant Comparative method
• Overarching themes identified
• Qualitative results translated for quantitative testing

Key Questions Asked During Interview

• Organizational role and priorities
• Key tasks performed and task cadence (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually)
• Information used to make decisions
• Software and technology used to successfully complete work
• Skills needed to be successful in the role
• Internal teams that partner with the participant/participant’s department or division to complete work

Sample Definition

40 media professionals, by industry:

900 media professionals, by industry:
● Advertisers: 123
● Agencies: 125
● Digital Publishers: 128
● Content Owners: 124
● TV Network/Stations: 100
● Radio Network/Stations/Podcasters: 100
● Digital Ad Platform: 100
● MVPD: 100

Quotas by Organizational Dept/Division
● Marketing Communications
● Analytics & Research
● Sales
● Engineering
● Creative/Content Development

Quotas by Organization Level
● Entry level
● Intermediate / Experienced
● Senior
● Manager
● Director
● Executive/C-level

Method Used

Online Survey: 39-question survey

• Single response, multiple response, matrix,
• Likert and (2) open-end questions

Persona sample size following clustering:
● Persona 1 (Alex) sample: 621
● Persona 2 (Parker) sample: 279

Key Questions Asked During Interview

• Organizational role and priorities
• Key tasks performed, task cadence (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually) and priority
• Kinds of decisions typically made
• Information used to make decisions
• Problems with information used to make decisions
• Types of technology tools used in work, cadence of use (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually), importance, satisfaction
• Changes to improve technology tools used
• Metrics used to make decisions
• Department / division responsible for ME data tools purchase
• Departments / divisions use ME data most often
• Characteristics important to being successful at work
• Skills needed to be successful
• Internal teams worked with to complete work and the importance to work

3- From Research Data to Personas

Analysis Process

• Synthesized key insights from 40 qualitative interviews and incorporated them into the quantitative survey for 900 respondents
• Processed descriptives and frequencies of all variables (questions from the survey)
• Created aggregate and categorical variables to define the potential differentiating variables
• Conducted Principal Component Analysis to determine significantly differentiating variables
• Processed the Principal Component Analysis on identified differentiating variables, and developed the first cluster per Ward’s Test
• Defined the clusters using K-Means across media industries, organizational level, and division/department
• Examined cluster centroids and standard deviation for significant separation
• Ran frequencies and correlations by Persona to define Persona characteristics and the decision framework

What We Learned

• The type of media industry was not found to differentiate. There were no unique Persona/segments by industry
• Unique personas/segments emerged across industries. Implying that across the 8 media industries surveyed, there are common characteristics that define a Persona
• Significant variables or unique characteristics across Personas were decisions, skills, and tasks, which formed the primary differentiating attributes to define the Personas or segments
• Purchase authority also helped in differentiating between Personas
• These Personas are quantitatively derived and can form the basis for characterizing specific user stories or scenarios specific to job type or function

4- Key Behavioral Insight

Defining Characteristics for Personas

These behavioral attributes became the foundation for defining personas and building job-specific user scenarios.

These attributes have a direct impact on the tools they use.

These defining personality
Attributes form the genesis for further definition through user scenarios that are specific to a job type or function.

5- Persona Segments

6- Decision-Making Framework

7- How Personas Were Applied