It sounds like one of the most obvious statements to make when it comes to the role of design — it must fit the purpose. It should engage, inspire, and educate. It should drive change, prompt new ways of thinking, and make life simpler. In short, it should fulfill the brief, no matter how that brief takes shape. And to do that — to resonate with the audience for which a concept, project, product, process, or service was intended — it needs to be human-centered.
Overlooking the fundamental principle of design
Many organizations still overlook this fundamental principle of design. Some tech firms engineer software based on the aspirations of developers or the realms of what is possible, for instance, rather than making savvy use of code to drive the change that is really required. Brands launch ad campaigns without understanding the pain point or opportunity the creative needs to ‘hit’. Services become overly complex because steps are added in piecemeal format, without the organization ever taking a fresh look to ensure the process satisfies what it initially set out to achieve. There are even, sadly, some designers who continue to focus on what looks good, aesthetically, in their portfolio, instead of what will truly help the client.
Surely, design should never be for design’s sake.
Of course, it’s possible for design to spark a need that people didn’t even realize they had — it can create desire or drive demand, for example. But to ensure truly effective design, it must be human-centered. And this requires us to see the world through a different lens.
Sometimes, human-centered priorities fall by the wayside because habits and traditions skew both designers’ and users’ thinking. ‘The way things have always been done’ takes precedent, and we fall into a trap of simply evolving the core concept rather than ever re-evaluating its present-day suitability.
Simplification of service design
For example, take a trip to see a general practitioner (GP), because service design is so commonly overlooked in media commentary. For decades, a patient with a suspected infection would suffer at home for a period of time, call the surgery, discuss possible appointment times and confirm the visit, travel to the GP for consultation, and perhaps even return a second time if tests were required to validate the diagnosis. A prescription would then be written out and a trip to the pharmacist would be required to collect the medication, for the treatment to begin.
Think about the time and resources needed for the patient, surgery, and pharmacy to handle this process — not to mention the potential difficulties associated with the trip if the patient is vulnerable, immobile, or infectious. Hasn’t there long been a better way?
Virtually overnight, however — because of the current healthcare climate — telephone appointments, remote diagnoses, and medicines-to-home deliveries have become the norm. We’re even reading about traditional visits to the GP being replaced by video consultations, as standard, to prevent the wastage of resources and better protect the wellbeing of everyone involved if unnecessary travel and physical contact can be avoided.
This process won’t be suitable for all health conditions, of course, but this is where further user-centered considerations will come in, moving forward. However, this example highlights, in principle, the benefits that can be achieved, the speed at which a long-tried-and-tested service can be overhauled, and the agility with which even a staggeringly vast organization can work, when we reassess what it means to get ‘from A to B’.
There are countless examples of external pressures forcing such change, not least because of the current health landscape. What were once considered barriers to people working from home — technology, culture, and even basic levels of trust — have now been overcome, and the masses are proving it can be a success. Remote-working strategies won’t be without their trials and tribulations, it must be noted. There may be productivity dips, connectivity issues, and even morale concerns. But again, there’s no reason why this new workplace design cannot be tested, reflected upon, iterated, and enhanced, so that it becomes a successful ‘new normal’.
Communicate, don’t presume
Herein lies another important point. We cannot assume people understand what every element of process design means, or why every product feature exists. Design is sometimes open to misinterpretation and relying on presumptions is risky.
Employees new to remote working won’t necessarily know how to achieve a work-life balance when the line starts to become blurred, for example. They will need support to navigate this new experience, and employer communication will prove key to aiding this.
Shoppers being asked to observe a 2m distance sounds straightforward enough, but that’s because we simply assume everyone knows what 2m looks like. Many do not, so savvy supermarkets have been quick to react by introducing visual tools, such as floor and wayfinding graphics, to support this new way of shopping. There’s more design work to be done, however, because 2m distancing, in some stores, is practically impossible due to aisle spacing or the overall footprint of the shop itself. Entire store layouts may, therefore, have to be overhauled before long. But everything is now being reviewed and re-evaluated, to make things better for the consumer.
Will this make for a better retail experience? Yes, perhaps so.
Would any of these ‘traditions’ have been halted if an external factor had not forced us to look at these scenarios through a new lens? Not likely.
There is a sobering backdrop to so many examples of fantastic design at present. But as designers, we need challenges to solve, and a human-centered focus should be the way we do it.
Cover image source: Joshua Rawson-Harris
*By Darren Evans, originally featured on Brandingmag.com.
Brand awareness and brand equity are KPIs at the top of every brand marketer’s list. Rightly so. These KPIs are extremely important in terms of growth; without them, it is hard to know how an audience perceives a brand.
But there is one problem.
Too often, the terms are used interchangeably. They may be connected but they represent different things. If their specific roles are not distinguished, your brand strategy will be harmed. Let’s dive into the difference between the two so your brand swims rather than sinks.
Brand Awareness
What is it and why is it important?
Simply put, brand awareness is the familiarity an audience has with a brand through its qualities or images. Companies attribute much importance to this KPI because getting brand awareness right is the first step in driving a target audience to become a loyal customer base.
The term itself is pretty straight forward. Where companies can struggle is in implementing the best strategies to increase and improve brand awareness.
How to increase brand awareness
There are many ways to increase brand awareness. Admittedly, we all like to take inspiration from the bigger brands of the world. Like Coca-Cola, for example.
Coca-Cola has a very clear, consistent brand voice and they’ve successfully transferred over to the tone, visuals, and associations that we all connect to the soda brand. Almost 7.1 billion people around the world would be able to recognize the Coca-Cola label. That’s impressive.
But Coca-Cola doesn’t take things for granted. When brand awareness began to fall among millennials, the brand devised the “Share a Coke” campaign. Targeted toward the Mexican market, Coca-Cola achieved the following results:
- 1.7 million users reached;
- 81 million media impressions on display;
- 175 million social media views;
- 3.2 million views for the TV commercial;
- CTV average of 3.98 percent during the campaign;
- 80 percent of target reached;
- 51 percent of website traffic from mobile devices;
- 44 percent of Mexico shared a Coke.
And when it comes to brand awareness? This important KPI increased by 11%.
Your brand might not be Coca-Cola, but it is possible to reach higher levels of brand awareness if you set a solid marketing plan in place. It starts with knowing your target audience: who they are, what they value, how they are reacting to your competitors, and the best places to reach them. Once you have this information, you can start running campaigns specifically intended to increase brand awareness. Some easy-to-implement strategies to start you off include:
- Brand packaging;
- Collaborating with influencers;
- Referral programs;
- Guest articles;
- Podcast interviews.
Now that we know what brand awareness is, it’s time to look at how it differs from brand equity.
Brand Equity
What is it and why is it important?
Brand equity is a clear indicator of real product-value. Brand equity relies heavily on brand awareness, hence why people often confuse the two.
So, where is it that they overlap?
There are three different ways in which one can view brand equity: from a customer mindset, product marketing outcomes, and financial marketing outcomes. Brand awareness falls under the customer mindset. In addition, what determines brand awareness also determines financial marketing outcomes. To put it simply: brand awareness may be tied to brand equity but should be treated as a separate KPI. Consider brand awareness just one detail in the larger world of brand equity.
Brand equity is extremely important for brands on a growth path. Why? Because when a brand has positive equity, customers are willing to pay competitive, higher prices for a product they trust. Customers base this decision on their perception of that brand, how it affects them, and the end value. This, in turn, has a direct effect on brand sales.
Apple is probably the best example of a company with high brand equity. Apple isn’t the only company that produces smartphones; it probably doesn’t even produce the best smartphones (many argue that the more cheaply priced Huawei phones are just as good, if not better). Yet Apple is the biggest brand in the world. Let’s look at how Apple strategized to achieve this coveted position.
How to increase brand equity
Bynder has been watching Apple closely and pinpointed the following steps the company has taken to increase its brand equity:
- Apple has an aura of secrecy around its product development that creates hype and conversation;
- They position themselves as different from all the other tech companies out there;
- Apple products make consumers feel good and part of something exclusive;
- Customers are placed at the center of the brand (for example, this iPhone campaign).
Apple may be the world’s biggest brand, but they certainly have brand strategies that even the smallest of companies can easily take on board.
There you have it, the difference between brand equity and brand awareness explained. While the exact definitions may slip your mind over time, the important thing to remember is that they are not one and the same — and shouldn’t be treated so. Take a look at your brand strategy! Are you substituting one for another? If the answer is “yes”, it’s time to change things up. Target both these important KPIs, target them correctly, and enjoy better growth for your brand.
Cover image source: Alejandro Barba
*By Joy Corkery, originally featured on Brandingmag.com.
The ongoing crisis has witnessed vast demonstrations of compassion and generosity by individuals, communities, and a wide range of brands. The numerous acts of kindness and genuine expressions of goodwill are heartening and, without a doubt, greatly appreciated by those on the receiving end. This sheltering in place has given me ample time to observe many things but, as a marketer, I have focused special attention on what my cohorts in the brand world are doing. From Dove to Burger King, Ikea to Uber, along with many other brands, a wide variety of actions are being undertaken that acknowledge a shared understanding of the difficulties we are all going through. The brands’ initiatives range from the offering of free products to medical professionals on the front line, to a reduction in prices or special financing for cash-strapped consumers, or just the simple message to stay home and stay safe. Some of the branding communications take a poignant, touching tone, while others try for a bit of humor to help ease the daily gnaw of anxiety. These gestures of help and concern are, for the most part, wonderful. And, in one way or another, they provide insight into the respective brand’s values, decency being a critical value for success in a transparent world.
As a marketer, I recognize that these pandemic-related branding gestures are valuable, each in their own way, and a benefit to many consumers at this moment in time. However, I also recognize that they are short-term fixes for an unprecedented time in business and marketing, and for society at large. In times of crisis, it’s always difficult for marketers to know how to navigate, as worried and distracted consumers naturally shift their attention to their families’ health, their finances, and their communities. But this crisis is of a different order of magnitude.
What hasn’t sunk in for most marketers, yet, is that the emotional and behavioral changes to daily living wrought by current events will have effects that last a long time. The way consumers are now shopping, working, being schooled, or sharing a happy hour are changing, out of necessity. But, it’s likely all of us will become accustomed to doing things in new ways, which has intense ramifications for our future marketplace. While some businesses will be more affected than others, this is the time for all businesses to think and operate in new ways. To succeed in the months and years ahead, brands and marketers are going to have to move beyond how they change their messaging to how they change their business models. To succeed in the long term, they will be required to disrupt the experiences of their current businesses to reflect the new realities. The smartest of them will stop being preoccupied with the here-and-now and look for ways to reimagine their businesses and the experiences they provide to consumers. Powerful brands become powerful by making life better or more convenient for people in a relevantly different way. If ever there was a time to become a proof point for this brand tenet, it is now. Brands and businesses in every category should already be reimagining their businesses in the context of how the world will be working, literally and figuratively, how students will be learning, and how consumers will be consuming. There will be no going “back to the future”.
A good example? Take the vast number of people currently staying home — and working from home. Allstate is among the brands that immediately recognized the short-term implications of this. It instituted the Allstate Shelter-in-Place Payback, a program that will reimburse more than $600 million in policy premiums to its auto insurance customers in April and May as a result of the reduction in their driving. As CEO, Thomas Wilson said about the company’s campaign: “Being in good hands means protecting people. We all have to buddy up and do what’s right.” His subsequent comments during a CNBC interview made clear that Allstate also recognizes the future effects of the crisis. What if people find there are significant benefits to working and shopping from home? “We’ve been in business for 89 years,” he told his interviewer. “This is not a concentrated crisis, like a hurricane. Our lives have become very virtual. We’ve all moved into the digital world. As a result of that, we’re looking at other opportunities. We’ve seen that people are driving less and we are looking for how this will play out for the long term.”
GM and Ford are not going to get into the ventilator business, but they will have to reimagine cars for the new reality. With its sales and delivery service, Carvana is already doing what Cadillac is offering short-term. Zoom, which is becoming as mission-critical as email, is giving FaceTime and Google Hangouts fierce competition. Frictionless payment systems are replacing cash and credit cards. More than anything else, social distancing is forcing multiple seismic shifts in behavioral trends. As noted above, people are driving less. The demand for e-commerce is rising exponentially. The demand for home delivery of goods and services, equally so. Consumers are returning to broadcast and cable television for their local news and information. People hunkered down are looking for more virtual ways to escape, downloading gaming apps, and streaming more movies and entertainment than ever before. From online music lessons to live-streamed yoga classes, college lectures, or social engagements, people are moving beyond their current ways and means of doing things.
As the intense consequences of this pandemic sink in, as people recognize the scope of its impact on heretofore normal ways of doing things, businesses will be forced to look at their core offerings and determine how to disrupt the status quo, to change the experiences of their brands to reflect the new realities. The most prescient, those flexible enough, are already doing so. Short-term fixes are just that. The most innovative brands are planning for life beyond this crisis. Experience disruption will become the way forward. Or, to quote Albert Einstein: “In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.”
*By Allen Adamson, originally featured on Brandingmag.com.
Cover image source: Hannes Richter