Sustainable Strategic Advantage - Design Management

Dr. Stefano Marzano, chief Creative Officer at Philips Design recently gave a very insiteful speech about design's ability to be a SUSTAINABLE point of differentiation. If design means styling in an organization then the design efforts are nothing more than a commodity because it can be readily copied and its effects diluted. Dr. Marzano says:

"Ideally, Design should be able to identify for companies what people value and want– and are prepared to pay a premium for even down to the level of the individual consumer. First of all, I should explain that, at Philips Design, we take a broad view of design. We see design as being –above all –about people: how they relate to themselves, each other and their surroundings. That means we make use of insights and methods from the human sciences: sociology, psychology, anthropology and cultural ethnology. Taking this as the basis, we then need to combine the knowledge we gain about people with knowledge of technology and materials, so that we can actually make the things people want, and we have to apply aesthetic design disciplines to give those things appropriate forms and colours, all the time taking account of the semiotic and sensory codes people use to interpret the world around them, so that we can, as it were, speak’ to them in the right language. And not least, of course, we have to have an eye for commercial realities and suitable business models. It’s only by combining all these skills that you can begin to bridge the gap between what people want and what technology and business can deliver."

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