From Design with Love

Dear Marketer, 

Remember me? It’s your old friend, design. Not so long ago, we were joined at the hip.

We moved culture, minds and bottom lines. People marvelled at us. Envied us. We were the talk of boardrooms and watercoolers across the city, the internet, the world! 

I often think back to those times when we truly made a difference. When people talked about us, posted about us, queued down the street for us, paid more for us, and kept coming back for more. We’ve transformed products into icons (Nike’s Air Bubble, Coca-Cola’s bottle), rejuvenated brands (Starbucks), and transformed businesses (Liquid Death, Airbnb).

Sure, we’ve had a few bumps along the road (yeah, those Tropicana years). And it’s true not all design is the same. But when we truly understand what we’re trying to achieve, when we’ve asked “why” (and then a few more times), and sprinkle in some intelligence and magic, we create something special. Something that stands out, taps into existing memory structures, and connects emotionally.

This isn’t about meaningless decoration. It’s about meaningful connection.

But recently, it feels like we’ve been at arms length. Things have become a bit too casual. I feel like a “nice to have.” It’s like you’re only interested in me when awards season comes around. But I’m not just arm candy. I’m not a fling. I make you and your brands the best versions of themselves more memorable, more desirable, and more valuable. If you treat me right. I’m a long-term commitment.

And know that we’re not all the same, there are those in the design business, and those in the business of design. While I know it may not sound sexy, I’m a commercial accelerator.

And this doesn’t have to be a monogamous thing. I see you talk about my creative friend, Advertising, in a different way. You’ve read Binet & Field’s The Long and the Short of It. You’ve invested in System1 testing studies. You understand that in advertising, standing out from a sea of sameness matters to the bottom line. Their charts and graphs have convinced you of the importance of distinctiveness, emotion, and fame in creating and growing long-term brand value.

But sometimes it’s me—not you. I’m still trying to win you over with nothing but a mood board.

For too long, my ambassadors have spoken with intuition, not evidence. They’ve hoped that charisma could close the sale. They showed up in sneakers, hoping that you’d just get it or that you’d “be brave”, take a risk and defy the conventions of the category for no good reason. But they need to understand you. Your motivations. Your worries.

They need to understand that you need reason—and that’s okay. You need to be convinced. You need to be taken on the journey. You need to understand the decisions and insights that have brought us to where we are today. You need to be shown the pre-testing, the eye tracking, the biometrics, the shelf standout tests. These will demonstrate the potential of great design. But you also need the proof. The brand tracking. The brand equity shifts. The sell-through rate. The retailer feedback. And you need to see the stats with a touch of storytelling to marry the metrics with the magic.

Our love language needs to be the language of business cases, not beauty contests.

And I, of all people, know that design is not just skin deep. It can be systematic, part of the soul and the operation of your business.

Great design is about creativity, craft, consistency, and customer centricity—internally and externally. Apply these principles from the moment before someone joins your business, to their onboarding, and every day that they work for you. This creates a culture driven by design. A culture of excellence, imagination, fulfilment, and focus. And what C-suite wouldn’t want that? An engaged, motivated workforce focused on providing the best experience for their customers. Call it design thinking if you want. Don’t, if you don’t. Either way, it’s valuable.

Look at Apple, the most valuable company on Earth and a design company to its core. Coincidence? Please. They don’t just invest in how things look. They invest in the mentality of design. Inside and out.

So let’s not drift. We can be more than the occasional trips to Cannes or SXSW. Let’s wander the aisles of Walmart every weekend, scroll the homepage of Amazon every evening. I know that we can have a bright future together, one of delighting customers, fulfilling employees, and driving profitability for many years to come.

This is a decision for your heart and your head. We have to commit. Because if you don’t, you might lose me forever.

With love, thoughtfulness, commitment, and rigour,
Design xox