Commodities
The Voice of Design: Commodities
Design
is a process of thoughtful consideration focused on a product, package,
building, experience, behavior or other cultural element.
is a process of thoughtful consideration focused on a product, package,
building, experience, behavior or other cultural element.
One perspective about
this and the time spent thinking about it is that it's an expense and should
contribute to more margin, sales or favorable behavior. Another perspective is this, if a brand creates unique margin for the brand owner, then
commodities are the exact opposite of brands. If design works for brands, can
it really be of value for commodities?
this and the time spent thinking about it is that it's an expense and should
contribute to more margin, sales or favorable behavior. Another perspective is this, if a brand creates unique margin for the brand owner, then
commodities are the exact opposite of brands. If design works for brands, can
it really be of value for commodities?
Let's
examine two commodities: concrete and milk.
examine two commodities: concrete and milk.
Both
of these commodities are optimally produced within a 100-mile radius and
distributed from that point. This doesn't allow a national or international
dominance where margin is created by significant scale (think oil, corn, etc).
The local competition allows for a natural marketplace of at least'and sometimes
more than'three players.
of these commodities are optimally produced within a 100-mile radius and
distributed from that point. This doesn't allow a national or international
dominance where margin is created by significant scale (think oil, corn, etc).
The local competition allows for a natural marketplace of at least'and sometimes
more than'three players.
The
real margin is created at a local level with a brand name, while it may not be
McDonalds, it is often a brand you know and see in your local community. In our
area there are two brands we've worked with, Cemstone in concrete (cementatious
materials) and Schroeder in milk (liquid dairy).
real margin is created at a local level with a brand name, while it may not be
McDonalds, it is often a brand you know and see in your local community. In our
area there are two brands we've worked with, Cemstone in concrete (cementatious
materials) and Schroeder in milk (liquid dairy).
The
difference here is a matter of how you think about the commodity. If you think
milk is milk and concrete is concrete, then design will never add margin. But,
the potential for adding margin is there for those unique management teams and
leaders who believe their concrete and milk is unique enough to be considered
more than a commodity.
difference here is a matter of how you think about the commodity. If you think
milk is milk and concrete is concrete, then design will never add margin. But,
the potential for adding margin is there for those unique management teams and
leaders who believe their concrete and milk is unique enough to be considered
more than a commodity.
While
this would seem to be universal and easy, because most teams believe they have
something unique, it isn't. It's where the (pardon the clich??) rubber meets the
road. Do you invest in design? Do you spend the resources, thinking time,
inside or outside mental activity to consider how different your commodity is
from others? Or, do you have a team that starts sentences with the phrase,
"well, it's just..."?
this would seem to be universal and easy, because most teams believe they have
something unique, it isn't. It's where the (pardon the clich??) rubber meets the
road. Do you invest in design? Do you spend the resources, thinking time,
inside or outside mental activity to consider how different your commodity is
from others? Or, do you have a team that starts sentences with the phrase,
"well, it's just..."?
Examples,
"do we really need to think about what color our trucks are? Well, it's
just on a construction site." If Cemstone had used this phrase, their
trucks would be white or some boring version of blue. Another example,
"do we really need to spend this much time and resources on our package
design? Does it really matter when in our retail accounts we are the only
choice of milk?" If Schroeder had asked this, the current design wouldn't
exist.
"do we really need to think about what color our trucks are? Well, it's
just on a construction site." If Cemstone had used this phrase, their
trucks would be white or some boring version of blue. Another example,
"do we really need to spend this much time and resources on our package
design? Does it really matter when in our retail accounts we are the only
choice of milk?" If Schroeder had asked this, the current design wouldn't
exist.
The
voice of design has always been there. There are just more people talking about
what it means in their category. The voice of design in commodities means you
can't think only about the penny you will save by not doing something but
rather about the extra three pennies you will earn by doing something.
voice of design has always been there. There are just more people talking about
what it means in their category. The voice of design in commodities means you
can't think only about the penny you will save by not doing something but
rather about the extra three pennies you will earn by doing something.
This
is listening to the voice of design inside your organization. It exists all
around you and certainly within every organization, yet in many organizations
it is silenced by the commodity majority and the voice of "well it's
just..."
is listening to the voice of design inside your organization. It exists all
around you and certainly within every organization, yet in many organizations
it is silenced by the commodity majority and the voice of "well it's
just..."
Aaron Keller
Managing Principal
Capsule