Designing for Dollars
The fabulous Business Week magazine recently published a story by Helen Walters about the Design Effectiveness Awards, handed out on Nov. 27th by the UK-based Design Business Association.
But this is no mere beauty contest. Submissions are judged according to criteria including gross margin, increase in market share, share price, and market penetration. In short, corporate design projects need to prove themselves through performance, not just aesthetic appeal.
According to Deborah Dawton, CEO of the DBA, “Success is defined by looking at the original goals, deciding whether they were significant in a business context, and whether or not they were achieved or exceeded. It is also crucial that the entrants show evidence that other influencing factors, such as a reduction in price or a major advertising campaign, did not cause the results claimed by the design.”
The story describes how an Adidas Sports Performance in Berlin topped its sales targets by 40%, while the Green & Black chocolate brand boosted its market share from 1% in 2002 to 7.4%.
But the top Grand Prix award went to Foster’s (the beer manufacturer) for its new case packaging that led the company to jump from claiming 23.7% to 29% of the market share.
As Walters comments on the “waterfall” image cases, “it’s also a rather ugly piece of design,” and suggests that a design organization should merge both aesthetic and commercial achievements, instead of using stats and market measures to show the business community that design is truly a force to be reckoned with.
What do you think?
Either way, the story highlights the incredible power of design for companies and organizations of all kinds. Read more about design in the “brand candy” chapter of Mind Your X’s and Y’s.
This post was written by Cheri Hanson
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