« The power of information -- amplified buying power | Main | UK gets it - D-School; does the US? »
July 17, 2006
Design and brands - more than you think
One of the characteristics of the I-Cubed Economy is that concepts we think we understand take on a richer meaning under closer examination. Take for example the concepts of "design" and "brands". We all know what those words mean. Design is cool looks and brands are titles to products. But both of those concepts are much more complex than that.
Design is much more than looks or aesthetics (Virginia Postrel's great insights in to aesthetics aside - see The Substance of Style and her blog The Dynamist). Design is as much about functionality as looks (see my earlier posting). It is a process of problem solving as Professor Roger Martin points out.
The same is true of brands. The power of brand comes from the image it brings to mind - the experience. As a recent Washington Post story on Taking a Tip From Madison Avenue, Towns Buy Into Branding stated:
"You're creating an experience for the customer, to live and be and feel the brand," said Dana Page, program manager of the Zyman Institute of Brand Science at Emory University.Some have called this The Experience Economy. But in many cases, the experience need not be all encompassing. Rather it is a simple search for quality and consistency (hotel chains like Quality Inn, fast food like McDonalds, retail chains like Target). But it is still the substance behind the style that powers the brand.
However you label these changes, it is clear that we need more carefully examine our concepts as part of the ongoing economic transformation. Companies (and locations) who think of brands as just titles, without the back up substance will find their brands quickly degenerate into empty slogans. And those who look at design as just “cool” with out functionality will end up with failed products.
Such is the harsh reality of the I-Cubed Economy.
Posted by Ken Jarboe at July 17, 2006 8:24 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.athenaalliance.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/787