How do we know if a company or brand is robust enough to be in it for the long haul? If design is the answer what was the question? About three years ago II was involved in a Design Council initiative called "Humanizing Technology" which was a challenging name for a great programme. At one of the sessions Martin Rigby, MD ET Capital. said "The biggest single failing in British innovation businesses is identifying true market need and specifying a product or service which meets that need. That is the biggest glaring gap." It is statements like that backed by facts from our national innovation scorecard that reinforced my belief that that gap can be addressed by consumer oriented thinking and closed by design thinking and action (remembering my wife's words "Never, ever, mistake activity for action!").
When I first started working on consumer packaging design technology and process I discovered that there was a gulf between R&D, and Marketing; in fact R, D and Marketing.
One of the first packaging projects I worked on in the early 90's resulted in a new look for detergent packaging to signal a new approach to liquid detergent formulation and clothes care in the washing machine. So the packaging had to tell the story of what was inside, getting noticed on shelf so the consumer understands what they are buying; oh and by the way it has to function, i. e. contain/protect/deliver in a consistent way. My group's job was to act as a bridge between the aesthetic designers (external design house), the packaging converters (external, another country), the marketing group (internal, different country), development (internal, yet another country), manufacturing and packing (internal, yes...another country). We used CAD as the tool to draw people in and discuss what the pack's role was in the total product mix. When the product was launched I walked into Sainsbury's Supermarket saw the product on shelf and watched as customers wheeled their trolleys down the aisle with their heads turning to see what it was; go over, pick it up and place in the basket.
It was a successful launch! The design house published this flyer to publicise their engagement... it captures the essence of the total product!
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