Mars

Elevating the Associate experience with content strategy

Services

Content Strategy

Experience Strategy

Mars, a leading manufacturer of quality snacking, food, and pet care products and services, collaborated with One North on the creation of a content strategy for an integrated digital experience for Mars Associates.

Powered by its operational powerhouse, Mars Global Services (MGS), Mars launched My Hub—a personalized digital workspace, housing the processes, tools, and resources Associates across the business need to do their job efficiently.

One North supported MGS’ new internal content strategist and assembled a team of strategists as well as a ServiceNow subject matter expert (SME) from TEKsystems to commence the internal content strategy practice at Mars. Throughout each stage of the project, the ServiceNow SME provided consultation and validation.

In two months, One North created a Content Strategy Playbook for My Hub. This quick reference guide supports Mars content contributors in their creation and maintenance of consistent, brand-aligned content within the ServiceNow platform. Leaning on reliable content practices, such as the use of reusable patterns, informs an improved user experience and contributes to simplifying the work environment at Mars for all Associates, reflecting MGS’ belief that “easier is better.”

Pattern matching in discovery

The team conducted a content audit within Mars’ Associate-facing content ecosystems. Starting with MGS Associates, the team identified differences in each service line’s content guidelines and the areas where alignment would quickly elevate the user experience. Alongside the audit, strategists facilitated individual interviews and an in-person, half-day workshop with stakeholders, which culminated in the creation of a Core Content Strategy Statement.

The Core Content Strategy Statement is meant to serve as a north star for content contributors from every service line to stay on course through the entire content lifecycle. It also supports a consistent onboarding experience for working teams, including new content contributors and project stakeholders. This guidance will help ensure Associates have straightforward access to reliable, trustworthy, and dependable information.

Creating the playbook

With the audit and workshop complete, it was clear the playbook needed to both introduce content strategy as a practice and unite the MGS service lines under shared editorial and content design guidelines. Drawing on existing standards from a service line that was leading the way in content creation, One North distilled best practices for application across My Hub.

With a decentralized (federated) publishing approach and teams of content contributors, One North also guided Mars’ internal content operations. Adhering to shared standards throughout every stage of the content lifecycle is critical to a consistent, frictionless experience for Associates managing and consuming the content. Part of this guidance included a Unify Content Workflow RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed). This gave the Mars team a platform on which to continue building out new processes and defining roles around the commissioning, development, publishing, and measurement of content.

Throughout this project, the collaboration between One North and Mars uncovered additional pain points that the teams needed to consider. A fundamental component of the expertise One North provides includes developing solutions that directly address our clients’ pain points while remaining flexible as project needs ebb and flow. For the Content Strategy Playbook, the project team endeavored to uphold the objective of the playbook as our project goal and make space for new findings documented on a future phase roadmap.

Launching the playbook

Part of the playbook’s objective included creating something that the user experience and content teams could hand off to content contributors across MGS groups and say, “This is what good content strategy looks like; start here next time you create new My Hub content.” Introducing a consistent content strategy to the migration of content from seven disparate service lines into one platform isn’t just about alignment, but also ensuring that alignment eases Associates’ tasks. Writing according to the Mars framework and audience profiles, thinking about what action an Associate should take given defined objectives, and how to write simply at an accessible level for all Associates are just a few considerations that will directly affect employee experience, regardless of service line.

Uniting content contributors—and all of Mars—under My Hub

The Content Strategy Playbook provides a common framework for MGS content contributors to reference through each step of the content workflow. Sections covering language and style, content structure, ServiceNow-specific widgets, and governance give the MGS team a foundation on which to continue building their internal content strategy practice. Mars content owners will carry the playbook forward as My Hub continues to evolve. As the playbook provides consistency within the product, this work also establishes a baseline for the continued growth of MGS’ content and channels management strategy.

One North seamlessly collaborated with our team to bring best practices and brand-specific guidelines into the Content Strategy Playbook. This work places our content contributors on a path to create a better employee experience for our Associates, which is critical to our mission to make work easier.

Hannah Green

Experience Design Senior Manager, Mars

By the Numbers

Stakeholder interviews

In-person workshop

150 +

Documents and recordings audited