branding

Should PR Design? Should Design be about PR?

The eternal question of which came first is one that has entertained us many times over.

The arguments for the chicken and for the egg … and vice versa are often well thought out, rational and if you’re lucky hilarious. Thing is, there isn’t really a good answer to it.

Is the same true for the question of what role branding/ public relations (PR) and marketing have in terms of product design?

I think so. A long time advocate of the “PR at the head table” crowd, I can’t tell you how many times the grapple has come as the campaign’s I and the team worked on had to justify the ‘marketing’ and ‘pr’ pointers given by numerous companies for what they thought were great solutions, products or services. Thing is - they weren’t.

Sure they made better widgets. Of course they were incrementally better. Or maybe they came up with many colored widgets. But a widget is a widget is a widget and no matter how many times you spin it. The disconnect happened because the engineers were building what they taught consumers wanted. Consumers were talking to marketing and public relations people. No one was talking to each other.

On the other hand, some companies have everyone sitting at the same table. They talk about products and needs at the same time - and in real time. They stay focused on create products and services that actually answer a need. Remarkable products. Functional products. Marketable products.

Companies today are locked into an ever higher stake battle for the next big thing. The next ‘IT’ product, technology or service. Conversely, a designer/engineer/CEO who can think of function, form and marketing/branding/public relations at the same time is an ever more valuable commodity.

A recent piece by Fast Company on John Maeda -  Digital Thinking at Rhode Island School of Design echoes this point. A world reknowned design school bringing a world class technologist and two different schools of thought together. Imagine that!

Some would say that this is the only way to go - and I’d be one of them!

Design is good for business. More importantly, it makes sense.

Do you have examples of companies and brands that get users, designers, marketeers, public relations and brand people together at the same table? Who are they? What do they make?

© 2008 Journeys Through The Line.