Strategic Design as Branding

STRATEGIC DESIGN
as BRANDING
Giacomo Colombo

Milan, May 22 2012

AGENDA
‣ A long Journey

‣ Branding & Strategic Design - a deep relationship

‣ Arrigoni - a CB’a Case History

‣ The Future of Strategic Design

Giacomo Colombo – DesignLibrary, May 22 2012

MY WAY TO STRATEGIC DESIGN
My first three steps before approaching the Master in Strategic Design have
been:

‣ Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi

‣ Domus Academy - Industrial Design Summer Course

‣ Central Saint Martins - Graphic Design Summer Course


A MINDSET SHIFT
The MDS was the time and place where I realized the different values of
Design.


THE FIRST APPROACH TO BRANDING
The first Branding agency I worked for has been
Landor Associates.

Important goals I achieved:

‣ What’s Branding

‣ How to manage projects

‣ How to apply Strategic Design principles


CB’a

The place where I daily apply Strategic Design, CB’a Brand Vision & Design
Solutions, is a French agency borned in Paris in 1983 and part of the WPP
Group.


THE NETWORK
‣ CB’a has 12 offices worldwide
‣ a group of 285 professionals
‣ coming from 17 different nationalities
‣ 20 Global Clients working with more than one CB’a Office


THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
Our approach to the Brand originates from the combination of creativity,
strategy and a strong sense of partnership with our clients. Every project is
a new challenge, putting the dialogue process at the fore, instead of rigid
methodologies.

‣ Branding and Packaging

‣ Corporate Branding

‣ Branded Environment

‣ Digital Branding


CB’a MAIN CLIENTS


A NEW BRANDING UNIVERSE
In the past years we witnessed a shift in people’s focus from product to
Brands, then from Brands to the story a particular Brand can tell.

From the Brand image to the Brand Storytelling

Consumers, choosing a specific product, start an emotional relationship
with the Brand, and it needs to be meaningful.


YEARS AGO...
to attract customers and establish your position on the market you needed
to be competitive on quality, delivery time and price.

YESTERDAY...
a price gap was no more sustainable for a company, and you would need
to support your tangible assets with a strong Brand.

TODAY...
you need to tell a Story, and it has to be true.


SOMETHING IN COMMON
Branding is a discipline which applies strategic insights to the relationship
between a Company and its Stakeholders, using design to leverage its
proposition.

Strategic Design is an approach, is a way of interpreting “design thinking”
and more in depth the integrated body of products, services and
communication strategies with which a company presents itself to the
market and sets itself in society.


THE TEN PRINCIPLES
Back in the early 1980s, Dieter Rams was becoming increasingly concerned
by the state of the world around him – “an impenetrable confusion of
forms, colours and noises.”

Aware that he was a significant contributor to that world, he asked himself
an important question: is my design good design?


1. GOOD DESIGN IS INNOVATIVE
The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted.
Technological development is always offering new opportunities for
innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with
innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.


1. GOOD BRANDING IS INNOVATIVE


2. GOOD DESIGN MAKES A PRODUCT
USEFUL
A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only
functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasizes
the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly
detract from it.


2. GOOD BRANDING MAKES A PRODUCT
USEFUL


3. GOOD DESIGN IS AESTHETIC
The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because
products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. But only
well-executed objects can be beautiful.


3. GOOD BRANDING IS AESTHETIC


4. GOOD DESIGN MAKES A PRODUCT
UNDERSTANDABLE
It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk.
At best, it is self-explanatory.


4. GOOD BRANDING MAKES A
PROPOSITION UNDERSTANDABLE


5. GOOD DESIGN IS UNOBTRUSIVE
Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative
objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and
restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.


5. GOOD BRANDING IS UNOBTRUSIVE


6. GOOD DESIGN IS HONEST
It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it
really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises
that cannot be kept.


6. GOOD BRANDING IS HONEST


7. GOOD DESIGN IS LONG-LASTING
It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike
fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway
society.


7. GOOD BRANDING IS LONG-LASTING


8. GOOD DESIGN IS THOROUGH, DOWN
TO THE LAST DETAIL
Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the
design process show respect towards the consumer.


8. GOOD BRANDING IS THOROUGH,
DOWN TO THE LAST DETAIL


9. GOOD DESIGN IS CONCERNED WITH
ENVIRONMENT
Design must contribute towards a stable environment and a sensible use
of raw materials. This means considering not only actual pollution, but also
the visual pollution and destruction of our environment.


9. GOOD BRANDING IS CONCERNED
WITH ENVIRONMENT


10. GOOD DESIGN IS AS LITTLE DESIGN
AS POSSIBLE
Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the
products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to
simplicity.


10. GOOD BRANDING IS AS LITTLE
BRANDING AS POSSIBLE


REBRANDING
BACKGROUND
Arrigoni is a historic dairy company, located
in Lombardy not far from Milan. Since 1914
it consolidated its reputation as producer of
high quality products, working for important
brands and producing for the best european
private labels.

BRAND VISION
The entire project aimed to rebuild Arrigoni
awareness and relevance as a Brand and no
longer just as a producer. Starting from the
differentiating values and personality, the
Brand image emerged to deﬁne a new
Brand identity, along with an entirely new
look & feel, which ultimately came together
to express the Brand image through a new
packaging system.

DESIGN SOLUTION
The new image is emotional and genuine at
the same time, coupled with a simple pack
system able to transmit the differentiated
values of the Brand and the product. The
project led to the restyling of the entire pack
system, the corporate identity, as well as a
new website and company proﬁle.


The Future of
Strategic Design

THE FUTURE
The Future of Strategic Design lies in his nature, in the fact that Strategic
Design is neither a subject nor a discipline.

I rather prefer to define it as a meta-subject, a mindset, to be used as a tool
to face the challenge in our very own field.


Strategic Design as Branding

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