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DesignManagementJournal

The Nuances of Designing for Global Markets

Thomas Walton, Editor, Professor, The School of Architecture and Planning

Copyright © Fall 2001 by the Design Management InstituteSM. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproducedin any form without written permission. To place an order or receive photocopy permission, contact DMI via phone at (617)338-6380, Fax (617) 338-6570, or E-mail: dmistaff@dmi.org. The Design Management Institute, DMI, and the design mark areservice marks of the Design Management Institute.

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Reprint #01124WAL06This article was first published in Design Management Journal Vol. 12, No. 4Managing Design for Global Value

6 Design Management Journal Fall 2001

E D I T O R ’ S N O T E S

The nuances of designing for global marketsMany years ago, packing for an interna-tional trip meant including a checklistof items that just couldn’t be foundoutside the States. Now, forgettingsomething translates into a quick stopalmost anywhere to pick it up; the realproblem is finding a unique souvenir.Whether you’re in Shanghai, Paris, orChicago, hotel rooms appear startlinglyalike, and to the chagrin of many, fastfood is ubiquitous. Trading and logisti-cal barriers are disappearing, andInternet communications—free ofthe constraints of time and location—amplify the global dimensions oftoday’s marketplace. In last quarter’sJournal, we published a case study onthe Xootr, a high-end scooter made inNew Hampshire, which was a successin Japan before it caught on in the U.S.

How do these facts shape businessstrategies? What implications do theyhold for designers and designmanagers? How should companiesapproach branding and product designin this context? What mechanisms helporganizations address these realities?Contributors to this fall issue offerfascinating responses to these ques-tions. From an overview of issues tocultural analysis to the nuts and boltsof international design and branding,this is our best-ever look into designmanagement as a global, rather thansimply a corporate, phenomenon.

Themes, trends, and a frameworkfor evaluating options

As director of design at the BritishDesign Council in London, CliveGrinyer has garnered many insights onglobal design, wisdom he shares in our

keynote essay. His premise is thatcorporations, broadly speaking, relateto international markets in one of twoways. Some are “value exporters.” Theseorganizations—companies such asBraun, Volvo, and Apple—have strongnational characteristics or uniquedesign profiles they carefully protectand elaborate on as exports to the restof the world. Their distinctiveness andconsistency are what make them mean-ingful and attractive. Other firms—companies such as Sony, Hoover, andBlack & Decker—are “value collectors.”They have a core philosophy and designvision but refine the details of theirproducts to suit local markets, oftenestablishing regional offices to enhancetheir responsiveness to cultural varia-tions. The exporters generally have acoherent, well-managed approach todesign, but their strong central visioncan cause them to overlook or fail tocapitalize on emerging prospects. Thecollectors are fresh and more open toinnovation, but they can suffer froma lack of focus and inconsistent goals.Grinyer doesn’t believe one approach isbetter than the other but, to the degreethat each generates compelling varietyover blandness, he hopes “the designworld will continue to connect localdifferences with global opportunities.”

Mario Gagliardi, a strategic designconsultant from Vienna, Austria, alsostresses the importance of differencesin understanding international markets.His strongly philosophical commentaryinvites readers to imagine looking“through other eyes” while realizingthat what they see there must inevitablybe colored by their own cultural

Thomas Walton, PhDEditor, DesignManagement Journal

background. Gagliardi compares the Westernemphasis on “uniqueness” with Eastern interestin “synthesis.” Newness and innovation in theWest are achieved through contrast—that is, bystaking out a position and defending it. Newnessand innovation in the East, on the other hand,embrace copying (mimesis) and assimilation.Like Grinyer, Gagliardi finds no “right” or“wrong” perspective. His message, instead, is torecognize these cultural options and integratethem into the design process. To guide such aneffort, Gagliardi discusses five domains in whichdifferences—and accompanying design possibili-ties—emerge: the functional arena, the culturalarena, the mythical arena, the symbolic arena,and the ethical arena. The key to effective globaldesign starts by studying human needs andhuman aspirations through these lenses.

Getting down to work—international branding and marketing

Moving into the more specific aspects of designmanagement, Larry Roellig, executive vice presi-dent for consumer branding at Enterprise IGconsultants in San Francisco, articulates sevenrecommendations for developing a global brand:

1. Create a captivating name, wordmark, orsymbol that is understood and has positiveconnotations around the world.

2. Determine whether it is best to accentuateor play down country associations.

3. Be willing to modify a strategy toaccommodate cultural diversity.

4. Devise packaging that strengthens brandimpressions.

5. In the development and execution ofproduct or service, be sensitive to environ-mental, social, and ethical considerations.

6. Research the laws in each country as theyaffect sales and marketing.

7. Balance economies of scale with a localpresence.

Roellig provides a well-rounded discussion ofeach topic and illustrates points with vignettesand examples that translate his general counselinto memorable hands-on lessons.

The Cat Rental Store—a case study written byBonnie Briggs, manager, corporate identity andcommunications at Caterpillar’s headquarters inPeoria, Illinois, and by Jill Dorjath, a brand mar-keting consultant working out of Caterpillar’s

office in Geneva, Switzerland—explores someof the dilemmas that executives face in globalbranding. In 1997, Caterpillar determined toenter the equipment rental business in order tosustain its strong growth and to leverage a lineof compact construction equipment it was intro-ducing. This was a new business for the companyaimed at attracting new customers, a situationthat generated manybrand issues. Howshould the rental storebrand be positioned?How closely should itbe aligned with theexisting corporatebrand? With locationsin Asia, Europe, andNorth and SouthAmerica, should thename of the new enter-prise be translated intodifferent languages oralways be expressed in English? What was thebest way to convince dealers, many of whomalready had rental operations, that they shouldinvest in new facilities and a new identity? Howshould brand guidelines and information be dis-seminated? Briggs and Dorjath describe not onlythe decisions that were made but also how theywere made, illuminating a global brand manage-ment strategy that, due to a strong positiveresponse on the part of small contractorsaround the world, has been a significant help inexpanding corporate revenues.

Extrapolating the principles and work ofDiane Beecher, senior partner and chief brandcommunications officer for The BrandConsultancy, in Washington, DC, DannielleBlumenthal suggests how a very flexible strategyknown as “face of the brand” (FOTB) might beapplied across international markets. FOTB is analternative to monolithic branding. Instead offocusing on the corporate logo, it uses a paletteof images, colors, shapes, and language to conveythe attributes and tell a story about a company.It is about conveying the personality, strengths,and position of an organization, and because itdoesn’t mandate a single visual format, it can bethoughtfully adapted to various cultures andaudiences. It creates enduring relationships withconsumers—the essence of branding—becauseits impact is emotional rather than graphic. As a

The nuances of designing for a global market

Design Management Journal Fall 2001 7

This is our best-ever look into design

management as a

global, rather than

simply a corporate,

phenomenon

practical consideration, the brand palette can beupdated and expanded with modest effort. Onthe other hand, to be credible, FOTB depends oncareful research and monitoring and works bestwhen implemented as an ongoing partnershipbetween a company and the FOTB consultant.It’s a different way of approaching global brand-ing, another choice for design managers whohave to deal with a world in which one sizedefinitely does not fit all.

An examination of branding in developingmarkets by Sanjeev Malhotra, a director ofAliagroup, in Mumbai, India, and SeemaMangrulkar, an associate at the same firm,demonstrates how important it is to have options.Their central theme is that successful branding incounties such as China and India should empha-size relevance, experience, and local packagingrather than simply import and advertise existingproducts. The potential for sales is enormous,

but small retail outletsand limited incomesrequire different tactics.Items have to fit orenhance the lifestyle,which may mean devel-oping new products oradapting existing ones.In India, for instance,Kellogg’s didn’t havemuch luck sellingbreakfast cereal, so itbroke into the marketwith snack biscuits,which were a huge hit.People can’t afford largequantities, so single-usebottles, boxes, andsachets are a way toentice someone to try

and to continue to buy a product he or she wouldotherwise perceive as too expensive. In addition,for areas in which reading skills are low, packag-ing should help customers recognize the product.It should have a name that is easy to pronounceor an easily translatable symbol. With tips likethese and lots of interesting examples, Malhotraand Mangrulkar extend the investigation of glob-al branding in developing countries with usefuladvice and an admonition to watch out for localcompetitors who may be more agile than theirinternational counterparts.

Product design for global marketsAn interview with Peter Schneider, director ofcorporate design for Braun in Kronberg,Germany—an exchange conducted by designmanagement consultant Ralf Beuker—revealshow this highly respected company addressesproduct design for the global market. AlthoughBraun conducts extensive consumer research,explains Schneider, one of its fundamental tenetshas always been to combine “the best possiblefunctionality and the best possible aesthetics. It’sthe synthesis of these values that gives a productits credibility, and that’s always the basis foracceptance of our products.” Recently, this hasled to greater diversity in the Braun “look”—shavers are soft and round while coffee makersare characterized by straight lines. But once aproduct is designed, the goal is to offer featurevariations but avoid regional changes: “We try tofind a common denominator that enhances theglobal validity of the products,” says Schneider.Success comes with targeted marketing—usingresearch to pinpoint which items to advertiseand sell in various countries. This strategy,echoed by an equally targeted focus on develop-ment and manufacturing, reinforces the Braunreputation for quality and consumer loyalty—which, in turn, becomes a platform for growth.

Insights into the automobile industry comefrom Tom Lockwood, the global brand anddesign strategy manager for StorageTek, a datastorage company with headquarters inLouisville, Colorado. Lockwood has studiedthe design processes and interviewed designmanagers of car companies from around theworld and has distilled two critical conclusionsabout how they operate to maximize valueacross international markets. First, they arecontinuously streamlining their design method-ologies and engineering—establishing interdisci-plinary teams; modeling with computers insteadof clay; identifying and solving interfaceproblems earlier; linking designers, productionexperts and suppliers with an integrated com-munications network; reducing the number ofcomponents; and sharing platforms amongdifferent product lines. This has dramaticallyreduced the time and investment needed tobring a car to market. Second, this emphasis onstreamlining has allowed companies to increasethe attention they give design and styling so thatthey can develop a greater frequency and range

Managing Design for Global Value

8 Design Management Journal Fall 2001

The nuances of designing for global markets

Trading and logistical barriers are

disappearing,

and Internet

communications—

free of the constraints

of time and location—

amplify the global

dimensions of today’s

marketplace

The nuances of designing for a global market

Design Management Journal Fall 2001 9

of new models, sharpen the image of eachbrand, and encourage innovation through thehiring of consultants. It’s an intriguing combina-tion, as technical and process improvementssimultaneously yield savings and expand thedesign possibilities.

Proposing a holistic framework for organizingglobal product design alternatives, Yang Cai, asenior scientist of the Biovision Lab and researchfellow of the Studio for Creative Inquiry atCarnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh,groups strategies into three categories. In adap-tive design, companies tailor or modify a basicproduct to meet the needs of particular countriesor regions. Configurable design lets firms createmodular components that managers and con-sumers can select and rearrange to satisfy prefer-ences. In interface design, software serves as themedium for transforming a generic product intoa market-specific product. Cai illustrates histypology with numerous examples of objectsdeveloped for China, but the structure he out-lines is broadly applicable and can be interpretedas an effective summary of product design in theglobal context.

Design center support

We conclude this issue with two articles aboutdesign centers. Under the direction of Dr.Zbynek Vokrouhlicky, Design Centrum—theDesign Council of the Czech Republic—hashelped stimulate an entrepreneurial spirit thatconsciously seeks to establish a presence inworld markets. It regularly sponsors themedcompetitions to expand design awareness andrecognize products with the potential for export.In addition to carrying an endorsement of quali-ty, winning entries are promoted in national andinternational exhibits, publications, and on tele-vision. The Council also has a grant program forsmall and medium-size firms, which under-writes the cost of selecting and hiring designconsultants. Funds can be used for research,presentations, and design fees. When combinedwith other government marketing initiatives,Vokrouhlicky is convinced the Design Centrum

is a force that enhances the commitment to amarket-based economy, improving industrialproduction and Czech exports, and that theorganization has contributed to a modest buthistoric rise in the country’s gross nationalproduct.

In Japan, Leimei Julia Chiu, director of globalcommunications for the International DesignCenter NAGOYA (IdcN), recounts severalactivities her organization and other groupshave undertaken in support of global design.In Re Design: Daily Products of the twenty-firstCentury, professionals were invited to reinventa wide range of everyday objects from toiletpaper and matches to greeting cards and CDholders. The goal was to stimulate creativethinking, and the results—illustrated with manyphotographs and exhibited in Japan—are origi-nal, provocative, and witty. An annual confer-ence is another IdcN event that brings togetherinternational leaders in design. Each year offersa new theme, such as Cultural Identity andDigital Magic—The New Driver of Innovation.There is also a yearly competition for studentsand young designers that has attracted entriesfrom more than 60 countries and that awardswinners a trip to a designers’ workshop in Japan.A fourth competition is the Good DesignAwards, which offers an opportunity for corpo-rations to reveal some of their most daringlyinnovative concepts, including robots, informa-tion systems, design-to-order processes, andvirtual reality displays. Clearly, in Japan thestress is on design ideas rather than on thedesign process. And maybe that’s where the realglobal challenges lie. It’s certainly where globaldesign success begins.

We hope you find many insights in ourexploration of design for a world that is quicklybecoming one dynamic and diverse internationalmarketplace. � Reprint # 01124WAL06

Find related articles on www.dmi.org withthese keywords (see page 89): brand,globalization, cross-cultural relations,cultural change, design management