Jacqui Lofthouse delivered a workshop aimed at Content Writers who wanted to learn more about designing ‘Bots’ for Brands. Content Lab is a monthly get together for writers, designers, product managers and anyone else interested in making products and problems easier to understand.
The workshop was delivered in the prestigious The Shard, London and focused on building character for Bots:
Jacqui created a workshop to teach using creative writing techniques to lend character to brands. The aim was to enable participants to find new ways of creating characters which might then be used to encourage readers and consumers to better identify with brands.
Jacqui says:
“I began the content creation workshop using the same creative writing exercises that I’d use with writers of fiction. We studied paintings to inspire us and worked with props and cue cards with suggested sensory details, such as particular smells or locations. We worked using free writing techniques, and those attending were able to enjoy creating in such an open-ended way. Later, we applied these techniques more specifically to characters that related to products, working in teams.
Each of the teams came up with characters that might help a reader/user identify with a brand. For example, one of the teams came up with a ‘Farmer Bot’ with a very particular voice and character to engage potential customers of an organic fruit and veg. delivery service. It was fabulous to witness how quickly they were able to use the techniques to invent really unique characters that helped us to understand the nature of the relevant product.”