Shopify - Buiding a better Partner Program

The Challenge

Platform partners are the developers and digital agencies who build Shopify stores for their clients—an important, and growing segment for the brand.

Our challenge was to build a verbal system for people across Shopify to create consistent, clear content for partners and developers.

The Approach

We used brand insights, audience research, and a highly collaborative culture to set the foundation for understanding.

We began by creating writing principles that share the same DNA as the Shopify master brand, but were tailored to respond to the specific needs of partners and developers. These principles guided the tone, language, and sentiment that filtered down into the more nuanced aspects of the verbal system.

The Result

We handed over a guideline that empowered people across Shopify to better understand how to write for one of the company’s most important verticals.

The verbal system provided context and guidance for different levels of expressiveness, proof points for each writing principle, and examples of how it translates into written moments—all laddering up to the Shopify master brand.