From: us To: you

This week we are proud to announce the change from the old slogan "Experience Design" to our brand new one: "Service Innovation".
This change was inspired by our recent discussions in events in which we spoke and presented our ideas, sales pitches and the Engine (www.enginegroup.co.uk) seminar that took place in London-UK last week and from which i just came back.
It is kinda simple to chunk down what Design Loyalty does, and that is : Service Design.

Problem is that, not only in Brazil but in the whole world, people get confused with the term "Design", often accepting it as a "way to do nice cute things". And that causes a contextual gap that ends up draining lots of effort in the part of the sales pitch we do not think is the most valuable one.

The "What" part of the sales pitch is the one we are suppose to defend Service Design inside the "What do we do" context. That's the worst context to do it, in our view we're rather to pitch the "service design clever way" of doing things in the "How we do it" part. That's when we have time and can get more deeply inside cases and examples.
The "What" phase is a "elevator speech", and don't allows the right amount of info to be shouted out.

So, what we do?
Service Design. But that's our job, our way of doing things, and it is completely about us.

The question that really matters is:
What you Brand/Business wins by work with us?
And that is Service Innovation.

Now, that's about you.

iCoffee: A perfect case of Experience Design

Nespresso is the premium coffee Brand division of Nestle. Despite the parenthood with the mother Brand, Nespresso is a totally independent Brand. This strategy is seriously taken by Nestle, which prevents customers to easily associate both Brands, and allows Nespresso to position itself as a new luxury (Masstige) Brand.

Nespresso is a perfect case of Experience Design.

In every interaction with the consumer the Brand creates a remarkable experience. This experience is orchestrated in all touch points and takes in deep consideration the customers rituals when drinking espresso coffees.

The Nespresso Brand is strategically positioned as a New Luxury or Masstige Brand. This way it holds a premium price while it keeps itself inside the trade-up wallet of the average consumer. Only brands that delivers real meaning can be positioned in the up wallet, as this means that consumers will be pleased to trade down and save in other commodities to keep buying these premium goods (that's why you should not aim to be a commodity in recession times).

The Nespresso Brand has deeply impacted the espresso machine market when it introduced a completely orchestration of services instead of simply selling the espresso machines. Following a business model very similar to the iPpd model, Nespresso has created an Experience Value Chain that empowered the Brand to sell superior technology machines for a price bellow the average espresso machine market price, concentrating most of it's revenues in the capsules of coffee.

This experience design strategy became even more powerful with the creation of the Nespresso Stores. The stores are full of incantation moments and storytelling strategies. To be at a Nespresso store It is always a nice trip around design and the premium Coffee world, and unlike Starbucks, the store is not targeting to position itself as a third place for people, instead, it is there to tell stories that convey elements of luxury that have the power to make the Brand desirable. These elements are:

1) Identity and personalization
The Nespresso Club makes you fell like you belong to a very exclusive club of people.

2) The value of scarcity.
Special seasonal blends of Coffees and special limited editions in accessories and machines.

3) The constant search for the aesthetical and technical perfection.
High Impact aesthetical and usability Design permeates all products and service interactions. The only drawback is the Nespresso web site experience that , in my view, does not delivery the same experience level of the other channels.

But what makes Nespresso a great case of Experience Design it is not only the experiential signals, but the capacity that the Brand has of keep itself as a market leader over time, while still holds a premium price on the capsules in comparison with the common coffee sachets other machines uses and also the ability to keep the Brand evolving and maintaining a great customer loyalty base. To perform that through the delivery of consistent great experiences is what makes Nespresso a great case of Experience Design.

This is what an Experience Design project is really about: Consistently enchanted customer + Brand differentiation = Loyalty customer base and revenue growth.

For those who didn't associate why that is similar to the iPpd business model: In an iPod touch of 229 usd you can load 10.000 usd on music. Take also in consideration that iTunes store is now the biggest music store in sales volume in the world.
It is easy to see that the core success of the iPod is not in the 229 usd gadget but in the experience value chain it creates.

The real deal behind: Bring meaning to people's lives.

It's not news anymore that we are living in an experience society. That means: Consumers will pay more for experience than they will do for products and services.
We live in a highly social-connected society indeed but this is still a highly social needy society. People feels lonely like never before although we have so much new ways to connect. In this context Brands that delivery delight and incantation drives consumers to a very much appreciated, and rare nowadays, excitement state that helps fulfill unmet needs that are rare to find these days.
According to the world famous life coach Tony Robbins people will search in every interaction for six basic human needs. And they are:

1) Certainty
2) Variety (surprise)
3) Significance (relevance)
4) Connection
5) Growth
6) Love

If these are the six basic needs we search for, and if we were always humans... So what changed?
During the information age the lack of the natural availability of some of these needs had expanded, which made consumers turn their expectations on finding a way to fulfill those needs through their Brand interactions.
In that process of fulfillment consumers started to look for Brands that:

1) Brings more certainty to their lives.
2) Fulfills their lives with more variety, by surprise them more often.
3) Helps them be more relevant and state their personalities.
4) Helps them connect better and more.
5) Teaches them stories, help them learn and growth.
6) Brings more love to their lives.

All brand interactions, to be relevant, must to be aligned and aware of this endless search. And I think that's the real deal behind the cliché: Bring meaning to people's lives.

Think about your interactions. Is your Brand ready?

... Maybe they got lost?

Pão de Açucar is a Brazilian supermarket known by its premium positioning, and prices a little above the competition.It holds a good product mix and it claims to provide a good organized enviromnent and 10 graded service.
With stores 24hs open and always near you, they promote the "Convenience and comfort at any time" experience.

Brand Promisse: "It's your way. The way you like it."

A Brand which aims to provide this kind of experience cannot make basic mistakes at its touchpoints with the consumer. As i am insisting in my posts: A good experience is the one you can manipulate and control. Coincidences are not included.

The Pão de Açucar holding has acquired a lot of companies recently and its brand portfolio had grown substancially, as follow.


Besides that brands it recently bought "Ponto Frio" a huge chain of eletronics store.

Let's take a look at a consumer journey in a Pão de Açucar store.

Time: 0:30
Store: Ana Rosa (São Paulo)

1) The shopping cart.
In a premium supermarket the shopping cart should not be a problem for the consumer. This is the basics for any supermarket. Shopping carts are critical touchpoints in the consumer experience.
It is clear that this shopcart is in bad, bad shape.

2) Entrance hall
The moment you go into the store you face the fruits hall. In the picture you can see the stock "refill" boxes that stands in the way of the consumers.


3) Corridors
Full of boxes, difficult to move the shoppingcart.



4) Products Shelfs
Empty shelfs all the way through the store.


This is a private label Brand.

5) Checkout
Paper Boxes instead of plastic bags.But paper boxes that once holded products. Not special "takeaway" boxes.



6) Parking lot




After speak with some employees here are some things that they told us:
1) Bad timing.
2) Running with less employees
3) Paper Boxes are for sustainability purpose.
4) Corridors are not so messy.
5) At that hour it was always like that.

Brand Promisse: "It's your way. The way you like it."


... Maybe they got lost?

Innovation… Now what?

For a long time now people have been talking about Innovation. Thereʼs no doubt about the buzz this word has generated already. What is often left behind is the “how” part of it.

So letʼs say… “Yes I know I need to Innovate”… but now What? Really, now what?

Pure R&D will not put you on the right track. Innovation is not about invention, innovation is about people and what is really relevant to them. And thatʼs where (and why) Design must come first when the subject is Innovation.

Design is also about people. And even better than that, design is about transform ordinary things in peopleʼs preferred ones. And on that Design have done a lot in terms of bringing meaning to peopleʼs life.

But how Design can be integrated in the process of Innovation in a way it helps bring innovation to Life? And by innovation I mean: Things that you had never seen before, but that after you experiment it on your life, it becomes part of who you are. (e.g. The iPod. Ok… itʼs an old case, but it is still a major and effective one). The whole Design process and the way it tackles problems, and not just aesthetics, is what will lead you to the path of building (really) innovative solutions.

Design Research, Design Thinking and Design Strategy are three good examples of Design fields that are not directly correlated to aesthetics and can be used to construct the basis of a well-balanced innovation strategy.

Also consider that by Innovation I donʼt only mean products, but also services. You can, and please should, design innovative services if you are interested in promoting a differentiated Brand experience. This is the equivalent of saying, “If you are still interested in surviving”, these days.
Every Product and Service Design to be effective in a world of rapid commoditization must be constructed considering four basic aspects:

1) Human
2) People
3) Culture
4) Brand.

By designing from the basic principles of human centric usability, then take in consideration peopleʼs behavior, then include social and cultural aspects and then dig deep on the Brand essence, right channels and signals you will be on the right track to do something extraordinary. Yep… not so easy as just buzz around about Innovation, but become a “doer” instead of just a “talker”, will certainly pay-off.

(article released at WENOVSKI design thinkers network)