In a new Senior Executive CMO Think Tank feature, Erin Lentz, Executive Director of Design at ArtVersion, examines how inconsistent internal understanding can surface as fragmented messaging and a confusing customer experience.
Organizations often respond to underperforming marketing by producing more content. New landing pages, campaigns, articles, and sales materials may increase activity, but they cannot resolve a brand story that has not been clearly defined or consistently understood.
That distinction is explored in a new Senior Executive article, “How to Tell If Your Content Problem Is Really a Clarity Problem,” featuring insights from Erin Lentz, Executive Director of Design at ArtVersion, alongside members of the publication’s CMO Think Tank. (Senior Executive)
Erin explains that the earliest signs of a clarity problem often emerge during stakeholder interviews. Leadership, sales, marketing, and customer-facing teams may each describe the organization differently, revealing gaps in how its purpose, value, and audience are understood internally.
Those inconsistencies naturally extend into the customer experience. When teams lack a shared understanding of what the organization offers and why it matters, messaging can become fragmented across websites, presentations, campaigns, and individual customer interactions.
“We start by gaining a deeper understanding of the audience and the personas we’re designing and communicating for.” —Erin Lentz
Beginning with the audience helps teams move beyond internal terminology, industry language, and assumptions that may be familiar inside the organization but unclear to the people it needs to reach. From there, content can be shaped around real user needs, priorities, and expectations rather than simply adding to the volume of existing communications.
The article reflects an important principle behind ArtVersion’s approach to brand strategy, stakeholder discovery, content systems, and digital experience design: effective communication begins with shared clarity. Once an organization understands its audience and aligns around a consistent story, content can reinforce that foundation across every touchpoint.
Read the full feature in Senior Executive