Design does matter Marketing Articles | June 8 Claudio Reyna USA Jersey , 2005 The idea that good design can improve how people perceive your business has long been a part of a designer?s sales tools.
They try to convince you that by improving your image, maybe creating a new logo or changing the way you communicate with your customers you can somehow improve sales and improve your bottom line. But are they right? Over the years many companies have been sceptical about these claims because of a lack of concrete evidence. Designers struggle to back up their claims with written evidence and so this argument for good design often falls down at the first hurdle.
Companies fail to understand why they should invest time and money in improving their visual identity if there is no tangible result. However, last year The Design Council released the results of a groundbreaking study on the link between the use of design and financial performance. The study published in March 2004 finally recognised the direct relationship between effective use of design and financial performance.
The study looked at 166 design-led UK quoted companies over a period of ten years from 1994 to 2003. A group of 63 companies were recognised as effective users of design. This was based on the fact that they consistently appeared in the listings at various design award schemes.
The study reveals these 63 companies outperformed both the FTSE All Share and FTSE 100 indices by around 200% between 1994 and 2003. The Design Council is a professional body which supports the work of the UK design industry. It works to demonstrate and promote the vital role of design within business and the wider UK economy.
A recent study by the Design Council, Design in Britain 2004-05, based on an annual business survey of 1 Christian Pulisic USA Jersey ,500 companies of all sizes and sectors, shows companies using design to innovate and stand out are growing faster than their competitors are.
According to the in-depth research, a third of the UK's fastest growing companies see design as integral to their business, while only 11 per cent of businesses with a decreasing turnover have this view.
The figures confirm the impact of design across sales, profits Chris Wondolowski USA Jersey , quality, share price, market share and competitiveness.
Using design throughout your business ultimately boosts the bottom line by helping you create better products and services that compete on value rather than price.
Article Tags: Design Council
DON?T talk to me about education for entrepreneurs. They're pouring far too much public money into it already - not counting the millions some well-known Scottish entrepreneurs are prepared to waste on it.
And all because far too few of our youngsters these days are prepared to attend the University of Life. They would rather "go to college", where they experience a soft-centred existence and end up just as unprepared for the real world. You'd get more enterprise out of a trained circus animal - at least a lion sometimes shows a bit of spark and turns on its trainer. Kids schooled to be entrepreneurs will simply turn out as managers. They'll know all the techniques but won't be able to take a decision without someone holding their hands.
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It's all part of the culture we have developed that values paper qualifications over finding out on the job. Mostly, however, we need our young people to climb out of their own indifference to take charge of their own futures. And this, from my experience, means being your own boss to as great a degree as possible.
Having left school at 16 with five O grades Brek Shea USA Jersey , I served an apprenticeship as an electrician with Glasgow City Council. No shortage of work there, believe me. But, after four years, it was time for something different. So, as travel is said to broaden the mind Brad Guzan USA Jersey , I travelled. I was a waiter in Greece, an electrician in Zimbabwe. Everywhere, I absorbed other people's experiences, and gathered my own.
Back in Scotland, I took a job as a door-to-door salesman for cavity wall insulation. Then I sold photocopiers on a commission-only basis Brad Evans USA Jersey , cold calling. These are the tough schools of life, when you learn about other people's behaviour and your own abilities. My next sales job was a flop. But I learned that failure, too, can be a great instructor. After three years of little or no consequence or challenge, I took my life back into my own hands and left to join Lloyds Bowmaker as a senior account executive.
All this was Brad Davis USA Jersey , I now realise, providing me with the building blocks for starting my own business, to join the wealth-creating community. So, to any youngster not sure whether to go to college or get a job, I say: "Go out into the big wide world and experience life. Go abroad and come back a better person. Grind out the road miles and you'll have a better future. Discover yourself and no-one will take advantage of you. Be your own boss and never look back."
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