In the context of rapidly changing consumer tastes and aggressive competition from foreign firms, UK companies are recognising that they can no longer derive any kind of competitive advantage simply by reducing costs. In order to compete on a global scale it is now necessary for them to gain an advantage by creating and exploiting intangible intellectual assets.
Out of all these intellectual assets, creativity, innovation and design are the most vital sources of competitive advantage.
How design can make a difference
Investment in design can help companies compete more on quality and less on price, making them less vulnerable to competition from low cost producers. However, to be successful good design must be incorporated across all aspects of the business; its products and services, company processes and systems, its working and retail environments and its brand management and marketing. Design should act as an interface between a company and the international customer, ensuring that a company delivers a product or service that the customer wants and in a way that adds value to both.
When designing products or services for international markets companies are faced with a huge variety of tastes and cultures. It is not desirable to design a different product for each market, or possible to create a one-size fits all solution to respond to each set of demands. The challenge is to be able to understand cultural differences and to balance all variables within a general design, or set of designs - to cultivate product experiences that can work in several cultures and adapt themselves to local living conditions and regulations.
Markets don’t necessarily end at national borders, so your products and services need to survive in various cultures and environments. Design can help them not just to survive but to thrive in the international arena.
UK Trade & Investment estimates there are 80,000 small and medium-sized businesses selling goods and services abroad, although Robin Godfrey of the British Chambers of Commerce says that as many as 80% of small firms are merely responding to internet inquiries from overseas rather than dictating their own export strategy. 'We have too many companies not working to a plan,' he says.
Find out about a UKTI design seminar held in Korea which showcased the best of British design. Six British companies - Seymourpowell, PDD, Kinneir Dufort, Tangerine, Applied Information Group and Jackie Choi London – took part in the seminar and met potential Korean business partners. Over 60 people from various industries (ICT, automotive, medical device, food & drink, consumer good and interior design) took part.
Find out more about the Design Council's partnership with the BCC
Targeting the global consumer
To ensure continued export success, companies need to take a measured research-led approach which will identify key markets and opportunities and understand how its product or service can be specifically targeted at the varied needs of the global consumer.
Designing differentiation
Designers can develop strategies and technologies that bridge cultures, languages and living environments. In this competitive arena, design is a key factor that can provide business competitiveness in the global economy.
Design is crucial because it allows companies to couple technical possibilities to global market demands and new business opportunities. It can help in the creation of new markets and in framing customer expectations. Designers can be the key to finding means of differentiating a product or service in a way that your competitors will find hard to imitate.
Making products more usable
Design is the critical interface between all business disciplines and their customers or end users. Engineering needs design to make products usable, useful and desirable. Marketing needs design to create images and messages that tell the customer why a product or service is different.