The Value of Design for Your Business

If you’re a business owner, you may wonder about the value of design and how it translates to added brand awareness and profits. Always a valid point and an important note for all business owners who are wishing to grow their business. This article addresses the value of design for your business, the relation of design, marketing and business and how your consumers are affected.

This topic also sparks other questions due to the general perception of what design is. My definition, and I’m sure many designers can agree with me, is that design is the creative process of solving a problem—leading to new opportunities that add benefits that differentiate your product from your competitor’s. Good design must also speak to your audience—clearly and consistently conveying your brand’s message. Once your audience is positively affected and aware of your brand, the product/service and message, I would call this good design.

The process begins with the research and understanding of your product or service, its industry and competition. This is necessary to achieve the goals of conveying key messaging to your audience and properly positioning your product/service in ways that would positively boost its market presence. Good design builds on what has been defined in the Marketing mix: product/service detail and benefits, price points, how the product is promoted to the audience and its position within the market. With these guidelines, our Designers define brand characteristics and an “essence” which aims to put your product in a favourable position in the eyes of the consumer.

The process continues with the creation of an aesthetic that is geared towards the brand essence and helps capture the audience’s attention. Your brand’s audience is heavily affected by the design of any marketing tool from a business card to website to product packaging. When effective design is mixed with a dependable and innovative marketing strategy, a business has a greater chance of generating a profit due to a strong brand presence in the market.

Let’s take for example, Heinz Ketchup. In 2000, their marketing research showed that children were the primary users of ketchup. Thus, Heinz took advantage of the opportunity to better market towards this demographic. An inspired design team took into consideration what appeals to children and how they interact with the product. Their solution? A squeeze-bottle that fits perfectly in a child’s hand with the addition of a newly designed cap that allows for thinner streams of ketchup. Great design also involves being innovative. The Designers took the well-established look of the red ketchup and made it green! In this case, marketing research presented important facts to the designers who, with their process, defined solutions that would boost the product presence. The result? 10 million bottles of the green ketchup were sold in the first 7 months and $23 million were generated, contributing to the highest sales increase in Heinz history. Parents were willing to pay upwards of $10 while it’s retail price was set under $2 and the Heinz green ketchup stood well above all it’s competition.

Design is what will make your service or product stand out from your competitors, justifying a premium price point and allowing your business a consistent advantage. Design also defines the experience of your consumer and when done well, translates to strong brand recognition and consumer loyalty; assuring your business a strong presence in the market which leads to large profits.