The design of endurance races

In the second post of Design Strategy, I would like to touch on the design of experiences. Experiences which leaves a lingering and impactful memory on consumers who got in touch with the brand. The design of such an experience takes a lot of planning, brainstorming and proper execution. A well thought out design from start till end.

Events which I can personally relate to are endurance races like biathlons. Having completed a few over the past few years, I have my personal hits and misses.

For the 10th year running, the Singapore Biathlon is the longest running biathlon and the largest in Southeast Asia. I had the chance to relish this race experience on the 13th March 2010. There are high expectations on the race organiser to maintain interest amongst existing endurance tribes and new ones.

 There are different areas of experience which can be streamlined to.

1) Design Themes for Comunication: The entire experience revolves around safety, sense of achievement and scale. These are the themes to reinforce its brand promise as the biggest biathlon in the region.

2) Design for Engagement: It is a qualification race. First timers have to qualify by swimming 50m in a swimming ppol for 1.5km under a certain timing. Lapsed participants have to go through this process if they did not race for two consecutive years.

3) Design for Emotional Branding: Medal and Finisher T-shirt. These are the main items for rewarding the well deserved biathletes whom finished the course. These items are badging products which form part of the loyalty towards the race or brand.

Please leave your comments, if any. Picture taken from SAFRA website.

What Design Strategy can do for a lifestyle furniture brand?

The THE LIFE SHOP is a locally founded brand in the lifestyle category. In this category, they sell household items like furniture and even baby wear (LIFE baby). Their theme is New Asian. Part of its strategy is to define and sell this meaning to customers. Not everyone who walks into the store gets it but they are not targeting everyone. The brand is targeting mainly white collars who appreciate finer things in life.

For any Design Strategy, it is closely related to the brand and business strategy. It is a close relation that complements each other. What THE LIFE SHOP has captured is a synergy of the three. At closer look, let us investigate what a Design Strategy can do for a brand like this.

Clear Design Theme: THE LIFE SHOP had a clear design stance. It seeks to define new meanings of items that they sell rather than just being a channel or distributor. Most, if not all of their items are designed in-house. This consists of an eclectic mix of sofas, beds, sofas and household furniture.

Synthesis of Design Experiences with the Business: This brand is a close merger of design and all aspects of its business. From the painting of a lady to the coasters on their table, THE LIFE SHOP business merges the entire experience of their items with their brand identity.

Innovation Driven: The founders and merchandisers are constantly seeking new ways to innovate new designs. So as to constantly remain relevant to their brand identity and consumer climate. Last year, their LIFE baby sub-brand is one of the fastest growing in the challenging retail climate.

THE LIFE SHOP is on the foot path of brand growth regionally. It is not a bed of roses. As Asians become increasingly wealthy, competition for their dollar gets increasingly intense. Brands that do not have a clear brand identity or proposition fade quickly.

The demise of Barang Barang is a cautionary tale. Stellar growth but unsustainable in the long run. I do believe that a Design Strategy would have helped with its growth strategies.

Images and Logo taken from The LIFE Shop .Please leave your comments, if any.

7 Reasons Why Design Helps You Achieve Better Business Results

1) Consumers go for experiences. Brands need to design compelling experiences that engage and connect with tribes. A sound Design Strategy helps you to achieve this.
2) We live in the age of design. Consumers today appreciate the heart and soul behind intelligent, emotive designs. They are willing to part good money for good designs. Your margins increase.
3) Great design sustains both the brand and business. Good design allows a brand to achieve breakthrough growth and market share. Apple designed the iPhone and reaped in billions. One single model.
4) Design communicates your brand value with high impact.
5) Design thinking allows you to innovate outside your business constraints.
6) It allows you to differentiate and gain greater competitive edge over your competitors.
7) A design-centered culture inspires people to work for you. Talents are attracted to innovation.

Please leave your comments, if any. iPhone image taken from Apple website.

Creating Design Strategies for businesses

A brand is a manifestation of design experiences. So are the products, services and marketing communications such as packaging, corporate websites and advertisements. The glass of water with your company logo that you serve your clients is one of them too.

Following this line of thought, it is almost easy to conclude a Design Strategy sounds very relevant to any business. Yet, Design Strategy is relatively rare in businesses outside of the creative industry especially SMEs in Singapore. My guess is that this is a relative alien or new concept where the definition and benefits are not very clear. We need to know what Design does first.

Design in business is hard to define yet its manifestations abound. From the way the logo, brand, tag line and the experience it delivers, it is like a light bulb which produces light but you do not feel it is really there. Increasingly, design in businesses is getting a heads up as we know what it can achieve. Design grows a business and ensures its sustainability.

 
Razer which designs gaming mice and peripherals is a testament of good design and branding. Gaming and mice are both not new categories yet Razer managed to capture nearly half of gaming peripheral market share in a matter of years. This model above is one of the fastest wireless mouse in the market. By this design alone, it is remarkable.Razer understood the language of gaming tribes and dived in deep. Designing true experiences for gamers by gamers which is also its brand tag line.

The Strategy aspects talks about a plan or model which Design is road-mapped like a business strategy. Hence, Design Strategy is about utilizing design or design thinking to help businesses gain competitive advantage over competitors.

In the next 3 posts, I will investigate how Design Strategy can impact businesses with examples.

Please leave your comments, if any. Image taken from Razer website.