Brand First, Design Second

Sun Lei

First published in Modern Weekly, Brand Thinking Column (December 23rd, 2005)

 The author is an experienced brand consultant, who has many

years’ experience in brand planning, marketing strategies and
integration of communication planning and implementation.

 Once worked as senior manager in multi-national and local

companies in marketing consulting and integrating
communications fields, experienced in strategic planning. He
formerly worked for CNC and was responsible for brand
management.
 Providing brand strategies, communication strategies and
implementation and training service for many international and
local clients. The brands include: FAW-Volkswagen, Jetta Cars,
263 Internet Communications, Dangdang Website, Aucma Air-
conditioner, FAW Toyota, Tour in Sichuan, CNC, LG, Beijing Yanli
Food, and more.
 He constantly ponders and develops professional settlement
methods in marketing, branding and communication fields, etc.
Lots of articles have been published in professional media such
as International Advertising, AD PANORAMA, Advertising
Pointer, China Marketing Communication Website (EMKT) and
so on.
 You are welcome to discuss your ideas and express your
opinions with the author.
Tel: 13901385424 E-mail: lei.sun@revobranding.com

What are the secrets behind the industrial designs of famous brands? What is the
relationship between their brand shaping and their products industrial designs? If the
questions above can be answered, creation efficiency will be greatly enhanced and
creation will become more effective.

Which is more important, product industrial design or the brand of products? Some
believe famous brands lead to solid success, while others believe outstanding products
are more important than famous brands. Enterprises actually must realize this: “brands”,
as a presupposition, should be fully considered in the creative process of product
development and industrial design. Let’s look at it and talk about this topic.

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 Brand Power Exceeding Product Power

If a company’s products industrial design are outstanding, whether it is a famous

brand or not, consumers would buy them. Is this point of view correct? Let’s have a look
at the following actual example: Flat Panel Displays (FPDs) of various brands and
models are exhibited on the 2nd floor of an electronic appliance store. Brands like PRIMA,
LG and other famous brands all have their own inquirers and purchasers. However, when
consumers see Chaojing FPDs, their dialogue becomes different.
“Oh, what brand is this?”
“I’ve never heard of it. I think it is Chinese made.”
“If we buy it, do you think the after-sales service is dependable?”
“After-sales service aside, is the quality reliable?”
“I think we’d better look at other brands.”

The dialogue above has given us a clear answer: at least for expensive and long-
term use products, no matter how good the product is consumers who have no
recognition or familiarity with the brand will not buy them.

The second misconception is: if the products’ industrial design is outstanding,

consumers will buy them no matter what the products brand image is. Let’s have a look
at another example: a white-collar lady wants to buy a new model of SIM card digital
camera (DC). After she reaches the store in Zhongguancun, The salesman
recommended two products, CASIO Exilim EX-S500 and Nikon Coolpix S2, both of
which were within her budget. For her the CASIO might be more suitable. Because it has
multiple models, many color choices, non-telescopic camera lens with professional
designs and practical unique anti-shake function.

Pic 1: CASIO
Pic 2: Nikon
ExilimCoolpix
EX-S500 S2

Although CASIO has the advantages above, she bought the Nikon Coolpix S2
instead. Why did this happen? Let’s make a hypothesis: if we exchanged the name and
logo of the two products, perhaps she would buy CASIO without hesitation. What factors
influenced her purchase decision? CASIO is not a professional digital camera brand with
a leading status in the field. The advertising mascot of CASIO is Astro Boy, which makes
her feel CASIO consumers tend to be younger. Therefore she thinks CASIO does not

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conform to her white-collar image.

Compared with CASIO, Nikon is considered to be a “professional imaging brand”.

Although she may actually like the CASIO model, whose technology parameters are very
similar to Nikon, Nikon, as a famous brand, is reliable in professional quality and
guarantee.

Products of ordinary brands, even with outstanding industrial designs, will not win all
the consumers. With equal splendid industrial designs, consumers tend to choose the
more approved brand in their mind; if the Benz Logo were taken off and replaced by the
Geely Logo, how much would this Geely S600 cost? There are many digital music
players of various outstanding designs in the global market, but only iPod sold 8.26
million, which counts up to 2/3 of the global market share.

Pic 3: CASIO Exilim EX-S500

These examples clearly tell us: Both good industrial designs and famous brands are
important.

Outstanding Designs Supporting Brands

When you hear the name Celine Dion, maybe you will immediately think of her

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songs, the classic tune and her appearance. What if when Rejoice or BMW is
mentioned? What do you think of? Have you ever seen it? Have you once used it? Have
you ever heard about it? Do you like it?

The “impressions” produced in your mind are brands. Industrial designs are
committed to producing creation in order to meet consumers’ needs, and brands come
into being after consumers’ try out the products.

Where do brands come from? They are rooted from consumers’ experience with the
products. If consumers could not obtain a unique driving pleasure when test-driving a
BMW, how else could BMW attract consumer? If SONY could not develop constantly
creative and leading electronic appliances, would consumers continue to be interested in
their brand? Consumers would gradually lose passion to these brands, because their
needs would soon be met by other brands.

Therefore, good brands constantly strive to develop outstanding products, splendid

industrial designs and creative consumers’ experience. Motorola’s V3 is a typical
example of good industrial design. When a fashionable young man puts a shiny V3 on
the table; when a young lady carrying a Louis Vuitton bag is holding a black, light and
thin V3, it has been established that the V3 has become the symbol of fashion and taste.
Its sales have doubled that of what Motorola has predicted. Actually, V3 has become the
symbol of fashion and because of this MOTO has emphasized its fashionable, sexy and
technical attributes.

NOKIA, another cell phone leader, expresses its top industrial designs by its user-
friendly menu, bold keyboard layout and fashionable product appearance. It was NOKIA
8110 that first developed the now classic downward slide phone. The creative metal
casing of NOKIA 8800 have also impressed most people. All the NOKIA products are
actually emphasizing to consumers the belief that science is based on humans. In other
words, the foundation of NOKIA brand status originates from outstanding products and
splendid industrial designs.

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 Pic 4: NOKIA8800 Pic 5：MOTOROLA V3

Design Definition Focusing on Core Values

With the understanding of the relationship between industrial designs and brands, it
is necessary for designers to consider present brand status and add the present brand
analysis to the producing framework.

Why? This can be explained through comparisons. Take Celine Dion as an example,
if she were a singer who had outstanding strength and beautiful songs but no fame, how
many of her CDs would sell? If she completely ignored current consumers’ expectations
of her music and developed a Hip Hop album, would fans be willing to buy her CDs?

Before developing product definitions, industrial designers must find the exact
answers to the following questions: Do we possess a brand? Who knows our brands?
What about their brand perceptions? What about their brand experience? What about
their satisfaction? What are their expectations on brands? What do they think of
competitors’ brands?

If you were a VOLVO designer who likes sports cars and thirsts for designing a
completely new sports car, what advantages should be involved in your dream car? Is it
best handling, the most beautiful appearance or the fastest speed? If consumers’
perceptions, attitudes and expectations on VOLVO were unknown before product
development began, it would be difficult to clearly answer the questions above.

From the perspective of consumers, let’s see whether this sports car will be
successful. Due to VOLVO’s many years of constant endeavors in product design and
brand publicity, “safety” has become a synonym of the VOLVO brand. This has been the

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core motive for consumers to buy a VOLVO. The meaning of “safety” for consumers has
exceeded its handling, appearance and speed aspects. Therefore, if industrial designers
excessively emphasize appearance, function or handling in the definition of creation, it
would be unpredictable whether the VOLVO C.E.O would agree with the design or not.

It is easier for VOLVO to develop saloon cars and travel cars but not sports cars. If a
sports car had to be designed, what should its direction be? The answer would be “the
safest sports car.” Of course, handling, appearance and acceleration must also be
excellent as to conform to its high-level car brand status. This direction would strengthen
VOLVO’s core value and will attract consumers who recognize the brand for this.

Insisting on the Persistent Design Principles

After fully understanding brand perception and finishing other preparations, formal
designing may begin. At this point, not only product, structure, effect, function, and
culture should be considered, brand persistent style should be emphasized in design so
that consumers can easily recognize it.

Benz’s words may be clearest and easiest to understand: “Benz cars must always
look like Benz cars!” Since Benz S class has developed many generations of products, if
they were arranged side by side in chronological order, it would be obvious that the
change of appearance in its’ models is actually a very gradual one. Therefore, the last
generation will not immediately seem out-of-date when the following generation is
developed. Meanwhile, all the models are the further development of the former
generation as to maintain continuity.

Pic 6: Benz

If different Benz models of the same generation such as C class, E Class and S
Class are compared side by side, we would discover there are certain internal and
external similarities so that consumers can recognize them as Benz’s. Likewise, if Benz,
BMW and Audi’s logos were all removed, they could still easily be distinguished by
appearance and internal decoration. In the auto field, different car companies have
formed clear brand styles which will be affirmed through continuous creation. When Benz

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cooperates with its’ external designers, it will insist on the persistent design principle,
which is continuing its own tradition in materials, surface craftwork and color so as to
ensure the continuity in appearance.

Thus it can be seen that brand style needs continuity and focus on directly
perceptive steps, parts and fields. For example, if iPod develops a brand-new product, it
can be predicted that it will inherit the following features: smooth body, high-quality
material and familiar interface utilization. What consumers can see and touch would
make them immediately recognize it as a product belonging to the iPod family. Therefore,
memories in consumers’ mind such as quality, practicality, fashion, creativity and
attitudes are aroused. Thereafter, when consumers have experienced the specialties and
advantages of the new product, they will still be very satisfied. The related perception and
attitudes are thus emphasized, so iPod achieves its’ high brand loyalty.

Brands should be regarded as having a kind of material existence, which exists in

the consumers’ minds. Not only functionality and style should be considered in
outstanding industrial designs, but consumers’ brand perception and brand styling must
also be considered as a premise for brand perception. “Brand first, Design second” must
be rooted deeply in the minds of these companies.

Chinese enterprises are confronting many problems in management, most of which

are originate from no consensus on basic definitions. If we can correctly understand the
relations between brands and industrial designs, creative efficiency will be enhanced
greatly.

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