Designing Visual Recognition for the Brand*

Abstract

The present paper examines how companies strategically employ design to create visual recognition of their brands' core values. To address this question, an explorative in-depth case study was carried out concerning the strategic design efforts of two companies: Nokia (mobile phones) and Volvo (passenger cars). It was found that these two companies fostered design philosophies that lay out which approach to design and which design features are expressive of the core brand values. The communication of value through design was modeled as a process of semantic transformation. This process specifies how meaning is created by design in a three-way relation among design features, brand values, and the interpretation by a potential customer. By analyzing the design effort of Nokia and Volvo with the help of this model, it is shown that control over the process of semantic transformation enabled managers in both companies to make strategic decisions over the type, strength, and generality of the relation between design features and brand values. Another result is that the embodiment of brand values in a design can be strategically organized around lead products. Such products serve as reference points for what the brand stands for and can be used as such during subsequent new product development (NPD) projects for other products in the brand portfolio. The design philosophy of Nokia was found to depart from that of Volvo. Nokia had a bigger product portfolio and served more market segments. It therefore had to apply its design features more flexibly over its product portfolio, and in many of its designs the relation between design features and brand values was more implicit.Six key drivers for the differences between the two companies were derived from the data. Two external drivers were identified that relate to the product category, and four internal drivers were found to stem from the companies' past and present brand management strategies. These drivers show that the design of visual recognition for the brand depends on the particular circumstances of the company and that it is tightly connected to strategic decision making on branding. These results are relevant for brand, product, and design managers, because they provide two good examples of companies that have organized their design efforts in such a way that they communicate the core values of their brands. Other companies can learn from these examples by considering why these two companies acted as they did and how their communication goals of product design were aligned to those of brand management.

Study on Community-based Peripheral Attribute Attractiveness and Product Attractiveness Advantage: Bridging Product Innovation and Consumer Purchase Intention

“…The results also gave strong support to the arguments stated by Fuller et al (2008) [11], Oost et al (2009) [30] and Karjalainen and Snelders (2009) [23] that the community-based product innovation can increase the attractiveness of and confidence in the product produced, because this innovation improve the product characteristics that reflect the characteristics of the community.These results also proved that communitybased peripheral attribute attractiveness has a positive and significant effect on the attractiveness of product, which also provide strong support the research of Nancarrow et al (1998) [28], Rundh (2009) [36], De Angelis (2008) [6] and Seva, Gosiaco, Santos, and Pangilinan (2011) [38]found that the peripheral attributes play a key important role in developing the company's competitiveness advantage. This paper started from the research gap relating to the effect of product innovation to consumer purchase intention, in which there are studies found a significant effect of product innovation on consumer purchase intention, while other studies found no significant effect of product innovation on consumer purchase intention.…”

“…This also confirmed the result of research by Fuller, Jawecki, and Muhlbacher (2007) [11]and Oost, Verhaegh, and Oudshoorn (2009) [30] related to the community role in product innovation that ultimately produce product innovations that improve the characteristics of a product that also reflects the characteristics of the community. Karjalainen and Snelders (2009) [23]stated that introduction of the value of a product can be developed through explicit and implicit visual reference. Explicit reference inherently attaches in features designed with the intention of immediately felt and recognized.…”

Aesthetic Design Process: Descriptive Design Research and Ways Forward

“…Decisions to create brand recognition through product design are influenced by a number of factors. Karjalainen and Snelders [23] examined how Nokia (mobile phones) and Volvo (passenger cars) created visual recognition of their brands through product design. By analysing information collected through press releases, annual reports, Internet pages, and a number of in-depth interviews, they found that the design philosophy of creating visual recognition of brands was different in Nokia and Volvo.…”

Intentions and Inspiration in Shaping Visual Appearance of Products: The Practice of Professional Industrial Designers in India

“…While Crilly et al's (2009) research situates the eight general intentions within a broad context, there is research that has examined how companies attempt to elicit strategic intentions to foster brand recognition through product design (Karjalainen and Snelders, 2010). Furthermore, some studies have explored the strategies used by designers to elicit specific intentions through product design; in particular, to elicit the emotion 'surprise' (e.g.…”