db#3 Emotional design

“... It’s becoming harder and harder to differentiate...”

This is a phrase that is heard time and time again in a wide range of companies. Those mentioned earlier, including Camper, Apple, Ikea, Philips, Coca-Cola, BMW, Audi, Alessi, Bang & Olufsen and others, know this only too well. They are perfectly aware of the problem, and for years they have been developing the right mechanisms to solve it. Judging from the results achieved by all of these companies, and the positive perception we have today of their brands, emotional design has paid off. Not all of them have taken the same path, but they all have a common goal: to create a brand that transmits values and establishes an emotional bond with people.

Such different concepts as humour, roots, democracy and exclusive design are woven together in the history of these brands. All of them presuppose a good product design, something that many of their competitors have not managed to equal, but they have also succeeded in differentiating themselves by communicating these values to their target audience, which in turn has connected with even more people.

The marketing gurus say that only the major brands can offer a world of values, emotions and relationships. In our opinion, this is only partly true. Some of the companies mentioned offered all of those things when they were small; in fact, many of us know of small businesses (hotels, clothing companies, shops) that also offer them.

The only thing that sets these small businesses apart from the major brands is the repercussion and, in every case, the resources they have available to publicize the product to a larger audience. Denying this would be like refusing to acknowledge the efforts made by the major brands from the time they began.

Ikea is a good example of a company that has been associated with values from the time it was created. Founded by Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden in 1943 as a catalogue sales furniture outfit, it has now managed to enter homes around the world with its Nordic aesthetics and simple yet warm products.

But what exactly are the keys to their success? The Ikea phenomenon is undoubtedly tied to ‘the shopping experience’, which reinforces customer involvement. And, of course, the other major argument is the democratisation of design backed by a very intelligent cost policy: self-service, self-delivery and self-assembly. Taking furniture home straight from the warehouse in flat packages cuts costs by 70%.

There is no doubt in Ingvar Kamprad’s mind that the essence of design lies in searching for what is missing and trying to solve the problem by seeking solutions that make our lives more comfortable. Not only is this point of view resoundingly practical, but it is also very much in line with Scandinavian tradition.

In contrast with this approach is Bang & Olufsen which, like Ikea, is a Nordic company with an emphasis on design – but that is about all the two have in common. This is because B&O, beyond its performance, represents an exercise in styling. Exquisite materials at the service of sophisticated design results in a deluxe product not fit for every pocketbook. When someone buys a piece of equipment from B&O, or a chair designed by Eames, the main reason is not comfort but the image they convey. From this perspective, design is a luxury that is not so different from art.