Frog Design Recap

Thanks to those who came out to our Frog Design event. For those of you who couldn't attend, the minutes are followed below:

Event: Frog Design
Date: Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Location: UC-19

Reminder:
1. E-Board Buddy Program
2. Guest Blogger---email Amy or Alex (check the website for their email addresses)

Branding: recognition, identity, communication
- All about how you can be perceived as the only one that do what you do
- Make competition irrelevant (to compete: “competere” means “to seek together”)

“I want Bob Dylan songs” –Steve Jobs
Bob Dylan songs are associated with counter-culture and longevity
Led to the development of Apple Macintosh

Markers need to learn the language of design

1. Brand as business concept
“Over time, certain brands came to connote quality. They provide a measure of insurance.”
Success is no longer being determined by name, but rather by performance of the business concept

Brief History
1770: Josiah Wedgwood
Catalog of pots; people know exactly what they want -> quality control becomes necessary
Led to Specialization
1893: Aunt Jemima
Personality was associated with brands
1908: US Industrial Revolution
Focus on product functionality
1940s: General Electric & General Motors
1965: TV
Marketers could reach 85% of viewers through three channels
1984: Apple Computer
1988: Philip Morris & Kraft
Brand was linked to the financial value of companies
Philip Morris paid 6 times the book value of Kraft
Late 90s: Starbucks
The experience
Early 2000s: Bugaboo
Performance of the product
Early 2000s: Apple iPod
The product sells itself
Late 2000s: Apple
Marketing success of a product needs to be built into the product development phase
That’s why you need to think like designers when you’re designing a business model
“The entire business concept is the starting point of brand strategy, rather than a product or service itself”
2007: Monocle
Multi-platform magazine
Pay double for subscription: WHY?
-You pay for premium content that other people don’t have access to
-Team up with manufacturers of high-end products
-Specifying the quality standards

2. The expectation gap
Ex. Darth Vader, Shining
Turning point/ Punch line: unexpected yet logical because it links back to where the joke started
Creative insight works the same way (linear narrative)
“You can’t dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper

3. Design tools

Conclusions:
Our focus needs to be at the business concept/model. Marketing needs to start at new product development. Marketers must be designers.