gmtPLUS09 | live from Seoul

This is late in coming, I know. I figured I will be writing a lot about Business Design in the future and I needed to explain it before I got started.

Business Design is this: Ultimately and inevitably, designers will help
‘design’ the business of the companies they are working for. The more
innovative the company wants to be, the more this is going to affect
the business, business model, strategies, etc.

The term was first used at the “Business Design(TM): The New Competitive Weapon” conference held earlier this year by the Rotman MBA Business Conference. The conference examines the importance
of design in the business world and its relevance to present and future
generations of business leaders. It’s actually trademarked by U. of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

An example of Business Design and Service Design was explained by Tim Brown of IDEO. “The influence we have as designers in the course of a patient
experience in a health care situation is relatively limited,” he said.
“Really what affects the patient experience in a health care
institution is what happens in the interactions between you and the
professionals, the doctors, the nurses, and the administrators.”

Business Design, Service Design, and Service Branding are really The Next Big Thing.

Link: The Design of Business, Rather Than Designing for Business, Leads to Greater Innovations Says IDEO President & CEO at Rotman Business Design(TM) Conference.

Pepsi’s ONEify brand concept is
targeted toward teens. The hook, line and sinker are the colorful,
iconic characters that will bridge the brand with its target segment.

Also, ONEify will attempt to capture synergy within Pepsi’s brand portfolio.

Link: Pepsi - ONE brand extension concept.

Why are brands important to marketers?

Because the successful global marketing programs (of Microsoft, IBM, Coca-Cola, Disney, etc.) depend on ‘brands’.

• Brands are a means of differentiating a company’s products/services from those of its competitors.
• And, customers will pay a premium price for a good brand and sometimes will be loyal to that brand.

A brand is a name, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these.
They are intended to identify the goods and services of one business or
business group and to differentiate them from competitors.

Why brands matter?

• Marketers believe brands are important because they create influence (customer decisions, brand loyalty) and generate value.
• Factories
  do not make profits. It is the relationship with customers, and it is
  company and brand names that secures those relationships.
• Companies
  like P&G and HP have a broad product mix that covers many segments
  of the personal and business markets. Managing their many sub-brands is
  a key part of the product strategy of any business, especially those
  operating in highly competitive consumer markets.
• A marketing
  plan is an important business tool. A marketing plan without branding
  strategies is ineffective, inefficient, and mostly incomplete.
• Consumers
  need strong brands they can trust because they provide information and
  they give off emotion, enery, and attitude. Companies need strong
  brands because that’s where premium pricing, and loyal users are.
• Companies
  - in US and EU - must report intangible assets such as brands on their
  balance sheets. This creates a power struggle between financiers and
  marketers over who should control the company. Brand valuation has
  revealed intangible assets accounted for an increasingly large portion
  of a company’s worth - over 80% in the case of leading consumer brands
  such as Coca-Cola. Thus, brands has become the company’s most valuable
  asset and has increased power and influence for marketers.