Who is using Discord and what does it mean for our growth?

The timeframe: 12 weeks

Context

Discord, the breakthrough communications platform is emerging out of the gaming sector and into the wider world. Increasingly they have users from every walk of life on their platform, meaning they need to strike the balance between holding onto what has made them so appealing, but also evolve to serve a broader audience. They asked B+A to help them understand this broadening audience, so they could better serve everyone, and their myriad of needs.

What did we do?

We got to know them! Over 8 weeks B+A dove deep into Discord. We joined servers, explored the many and multiple communities and had many conversations in many formats. And along the way we talked identity in a digital world, safety online, exploration, emergence and connection. Alongside this we ran a large scale user survey. So we went broad and deep. And when we clashed it all together it led to the definition of a series of user mindsets to underpin the 3 year brand plan that were brought to life in data, portraits and video ethnographies.

What was the impact?

Discord knew who is using their platform and why. They knew how they could continue to evolve in their service of them and they know what it is about their platform that satisfies different users. The 3 motivating mindsets we created shaped the brand and business decision they made - and this informed the brand refresh and Discord’s brilliant first brand campaign created by AKQA. So whilst there are millions of users on the platform, they are now also in every Discord meeting too, putting the users at the heart of the future of the company.

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