The Power of Design in Building Your Business
April 27, 2007
S&MM Web-extra
By Julia Chang
As Claudia Kotchka, vice president of design innovation and strategy at Procter & Gamble says, "Design thinking can work in any business, and in any function." And at the Cincinnati-based consumer products company, it does. Once relegated to slapping a corporate logo onto boxes, designers now work within all the departments to inject creativity into the way products are engineered, branded and marketed to consumers.
P&G is just one of several market leaders, such as Target, Apple and Philips, that equate good design with corporate innovation, adopting design philosophies and reaping the revenues as a result. That's because they realize design is part of the holistic brand experience, a trend driven by the market—especially as pricing and distribution is no longer the competitive advantage it once was. "The consumer wants to see differentiation," says Jim Tippmann, CEO of FRCH Design Worldwide, a Cincinnati-based firm that includes architecture, interior design, graphic design, new media design, and branding in its list of services. "We believe the customer is getting bored with some of the offerings out there. Give them quality goods at a fair price, along with an experience."
So how is this design-influenced view of business making its way into the real world? Here are a few examples:
Retail Design
The design of retail spaces is conforming more to the way consumers shop rather than simply offering an aesthetically pleasing store. "Probably the earliest step we take [when working with clients] is understanding the culture, the management team, and the philosophy of the retailer" Tippmann says. "But to create great concepts, you must fundamentally understand who your customer is." Elements such as lighting, how customers move through a retail environment and the way products are showcased are all factors that can influence the customer experience. This customer focus shaped the design of retail outlets for one of FRCH’s clients, Lotte, a South Korean department store chain. Each floor in its store in Sang-In, South Korea, for instance, is designed for a different customer demographic. And, Tippmann adds, businesses are paying closer attention to the statement the exterior of their buildings make. "Companies are now more apt to create buildings as billboards," Tippmann says. "They are allowing the building to become part of the brand statement."
Internal and External Branding
Design plays a fundamental role in how companies communicate a brand statement, and consistency in that message is key across multiple platforms, whether its external advertising, internal employee communications or in retail outlets. Companies are starting to pay just as much attention to how their corporate identities are perceived as they are to the way consumers view their products in the marketplace. "Corporate identity tended to be cold and distant and macho," says Jerry Kathman, president and CEO of Cincinnati-based design firm LPK. "Now there is more humanity, a more personable, intimate feeling to corporate identity than there ever was."
In the retail environment, the ways in which stores are designed also convey a brand statement. LensCrafters, another FRCH client, used design to help refurbish its image from one of white lab-coated technicians cranking out glasses in an hour to a retailer of fashionable eyewear. Sleek and simple interior design, backlighting, and the design of display cases helped create a new environment that differentiates the retailer beyond its previous focus on efficiency.
Design in the Classroom
When you think of business classes, you typically think of courses in economics, finance and marketing. But designing for business is finding its way into design-school curricula, and design thinking is working its way into traditional business schools. Here are examples of how design is being brought to the world of higher-level business education:
Hands On Experience:
The University of Cincinnati School of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP)
The greater Cincinnati area is becoming known for its growing local design industry, and the University of Cincinnati's DAAP school is helping to feed the next generation of business-minded design professionals. DAAP has a strong emphasis on real-word design. Its undergraduate students leave with about 18 months of paid, professional experience through its well-known co-op program, where students do hands-on design work in top companies like Procter & Gamble.
Design Thinking Across Disciplines:
Stanford University Hasso Plattner Institute of Design
Known casually as the d.school, the Hasso Plattner Insitute of Design was launched by Stanford’s School of Engineering, and was founded by David Kelley, a Stanford mechanical engineering professor and founder of top industrial design firm IDEO. The core of the d.school's curriculum is its interdisciplinary approach, which integrates business, engineering and technology to find innovative solutions to corporate, industrial and social issues.
Innovation as a B-School Basic:
Design and Creativity Curricula More Common
The country's top MBA and executive education programs are embracing design thinking by adding more coursework that focuses on innovation. The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, for example, will offer a three-day executive education course this summer called "Full-Spectrum Innovation: Driving Organic Growth" that teaches companies how to profit from innovation. Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business offers a track called "Management of Innovation and Product Development," where students work in teams composed of designers, engineers and marketers to create user-focused products. The faculty is from the business, engineering and fine arts schools.
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