CASE STUDY

Crafting Clarity: A 90-Second Vision to Drive Digital Transformation

Developed a heat reel to articulate the vision and value of a SaaS offering to foster alignment amongst stakeholders and the organization at large in one of the world's largest paper and packaging companies.

Activities

Product story-telling

Tools

Mural, Adobe Premiere Pro

Project Type

Presentation

Background

Smurfit WestRock, a 100+ year-old company with 50,000 employees and over $20B in revenue, is a global leader in corrugated packaging solutions. As part of its digital transformation, the company ventured into creating digital solutions, including a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform to digitally enable packaging, temporarily named the "Internet of Packaging." This ambitious initiative aimed to provide real-time insights into the status, location, and condition of packages throughout the supply chain. Amir Kazmi, the Chief Information and Digital Officer, articulated this vision in the Wall Street Journal, stating, "Our technology vision is to have a digital thread all the way from raw materials to recyclability. Imagine, what if a package could speak to you? It could tell you the current health of the product it contains, where it is in the supply chain, and much more."

The Problem

There was a lack of understanding of how this digital product would function and what it’s value would be company-wide

Sales teams were seasoned and expert in selling corrugated products, but had never sold digital software solutions, requiring a clear narrative to make the products value tangible.

💼

Confusion and absence of a clear narrative hindered internal alignment and stakeholder buy-in for product teams.

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🕰️

Many facets of this business was manufacturing focused, and leveraged pen-and-paper, excel spreadsheets, etc. requiring a catalyst for curiosity in digital solutions.

Goals

The goal was to create a concise and engaging 90-second video that explained the concept, functionality, and value of the "Internet of Packaging," aligned internal stakeholders and sales teams with a unified understanding of the product, and developed a narrative that could resonate with external customers using a relatable example.

My Role

As one of three UX designers tasked with this project, my responsibilities included:

Co-developing the narrative and storyboard with a focus on user-centric storytelling.
Collaborating with the broader UX team to ensure accuracy and clarity.
Sourcing stock footage and creating the video using industry-standard tools.
Recording the narration and collaborating with a designer-musician for the soundtrack.
Reviewing and refining the final product based on feedback from the team and digital product leadership.

Process

Ideation and Storyboarding: Collaborated in Mural with the UX team to develop a narrative centered around a target customer, the perishable seafood industry, to make the concept relatable and impactful.
Feedback and Refinement: Worked with the lead designers of the "Internet of Packaging" product to ensure technical and narrative accuracy.
Video Production: Sourced stock footage, created visuals, and collaborated with a musician for an original soundtrack. I also recorded the narration to add a personal touch to the story.
Final Review: Presented the video to the design team and incorporated their feedback before submitting it to organizational leadership.

Solution

Internet of Packaging Heat Reel

The final deliverable was a video designed to introduce the "Internet of Packaging" and explain its potential value. Using a perishable seafood scenario, it highlighted the product's practical applications in a clear and relatable way, supported by engaging visuals, narration, and a custom soundtrack. The video was premiered to the entire Digital Product Management organization to positive feedback, with the leader of the organization vowing to use it as an asset in further discussions about the Internet of Packaging product.

Outcomes

The video was viewed over 60 times across the organization, becoming a valuable asset for aligning stakeholders and sales teams, while also serving as a distributable resource for leadership to articulate the product’s vision and value. This project strengthened the UX team’s reputation as a key contributor to digital transformation and helped establish the foundation for greater understanding and adoption of the "Internet of Packaging" product, positioning it as a significant innovation in the company’s digital future.