LITTLE FISH: C.J. Johnson

Design or design strategy

Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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The global marketplace is coming to Maine. Telecommunications and e-commerce continue to break down traditional market boundaries. Information about products and services is cheap, and ordering exactly what you want is easier than ever.

For consumers, that's great news. But if you're selling products and services, the marketplace is increasingly congested and complex. Today, more than ever, business owners must think about how their company, or product will stand out.

Design strategy can help. Not design - design strategy.

Most companies understand that design is important. Ask the owner or CEO of an organization if the logo or the look of the brochure is important to the company, and the answer is usually an emphatic, "Yes!" Design, after all, can and should impact the emotional buying impulses of an organization's customers.

Even so, few companies understand and use design as a strategic asset. In part, that's because design is often thought to be primarily a creative and finite endeavor: Identify the project, execute the art, toss it out into the marketplace.

Developing a design strategy, on the other hand, is not an event. It's a business process. It should not be confused with the art or creative process. In fact, it's not a creative endeavor at all; it's much more comprehensive, involving extensive audits, analysis of competitors and measurement. It touches every aspect of a company.

Because it's a business process, a designer or firm offering design strategy services can and should be expected to make a reasoned business case for design recommendations resulting from the design strategy process.

Understanding the difference between design and design strategy is the first step in developing and implementing an effective design strategy.

Here's an example. Mainely Widget Services (MWS) is a small widget servicing company. They fix, maintain and consult to the widget manufacturing industry. Started by two college friends, MWS grew modestly but steadily for seven years.

Recently, the largest widget services company in the Northeast folded and now MWS has an opportunity to contract with much larger, regional clients. Obviously, other widget firms are also interested in these accounts, and MWS now finds itself competing with national players.

A well-planned and executed design strategy is essential for success. A design audit would inform MWS about their brand in the marketplace, regionally and nationally. It would identify possible scenarios and implications for different approaches to design. For example, the MWS logo, an image of a lobster, worked well for them in the past.

In Maine, the lobster image connotes images of place, strength and hard work. But nationally, this same image sends a different message: dinner. The design strategy process would reveal that out-of-state clients are confused by the lobster image and how it relates to quality widget servicing. The process would reveal ways to better communicate MWS's strengths.

The design strategy process looks at all aspects of communication with clients. Sophisticated and consistent communications - both internally (newsletters, memos, etc.) and externally (letters, e-mails, invoices, faxes, brochures, website, ads, etc.) - can make a small company look big. The process anticipates needs and helps companies to develop and execute consistent communications systems. By going through the process, can MWS gain an advantage over similarly sized firms and compete with larger firms.

Design strategy is a planning process. It should be ever-sensitive to changes in dynamic marketplaces, trends and industry influences. Nor is it limited to the marketing department or the creative services; it touches every stakeholder group and department in a company. It assesses and makes recommendations on features, packaging and other product-related issues to create a seamless integration of brand and corporate image.

Design, in its least effective form, is little more than aesthetic remodeling. But used effectively, it provides a stabilizing framework of culture, product and image that supports and enhances each and every activity within a company. And when used strategically, it's another management tool - as important and useful as accounting, value-chain/supply-chain management, resource management and marketing.

CJ Johnson, owner of Axon Design and Marketing, has over 10 years experience in brand development, design and marketing strategy. Axon has been providing area businesses and non-profits with marketing and design solutions since 2000, A partial list of Axon clients includes EducateME, Shawnee Peak, Maine Women's Fund, Nutrasal and Bioprocessing, Inc.