Identity-Led Funnel Architecture
for Alibaba’s Global Buyer Strategy
The Challenge
S01
Alibaba’s ProBuyer funnel had scale, but no soul. The emails were flat. The engagement was weak. Global teams struggled to translate value into excitement. Ahead of a major conference push, they needed more than incremental improvements. They needed a reason for buyers to care - and keep caring.
The Approach
S02
I repositioned the work as narrative design, not copywriting. We weren’t building an email sequence - we were crafting an immersive system of engagement.
I designed three narrative tracks, each aligned to a distinct buyer type and psychological trigger:
Spy Mission Briefings → High-stakes intel drops for action-oriented buyers
Choose-Your-Path RPGs → Interactive adventures for curious, mid-funnel leads
Mythic Trade Allegories → Story-based sequences for global credibility and trust
Each campaign layered emotion, tension, and surprise into Alibaba’s messaging. Behind the words, I built a modular storytelling framework - allowing internal teams to segment by market, localise voice, and deploy campaigns at scale, without sacrificing clarity or depth.
The Insight
S03
In B2B, attention is won through structure, not volume. When you architect emotional momentum into a buyer journey, you stop asking people to open an email - you give them a reason to return.
THE
OUTCOMES
Deliverables and External Results
Engagement rates doubled in A/B tests vs. standard ProBuyer emails
Buyers in storytelling funnels were 2.4x more likely to re-engage within 7 days
Developed 3-track global storytelling system for ProBuyer
Created narrative campaign playbooks with localized rollout plans and visual direction
Internal Shifts Behind the Scenes
Shifted internal mindset from transactional copy to story-driven brand engagement
Equipped teams with repeatable systems for emotional messaging at scale
Unified global CRM and content around a shared buyer narrative through the tone and messaging frameworks I created for internal team
