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Does design really matter from a business perspective? The answer,
according to a recent study by the U.K.-based Design Council, is
a resounding "yes."
In a study published in February, the Design Council took a look
at the Financial Times and London Stock Exchange (FTS)E stock market
performance of companies that placed an emphasis on design. It then
tracked the performance of these stocks from 1994 to 2003. The results
are astounding.
After weeding out companies that were delisted during that period,
the Design Council discovered 166 "design-lead" companies
that outperformed the market by 200 percent during the study's span.
Even 2000-2003's bear market, companies that emphasized design (and
won design awards) performed better than those that didn't. They
lost less value when times were tough and recovered more when things
got better. There's more detail available in the study.
What does this have to do with Web development and marketing? Everything.
One of the biggest changes over the past decade, after the Internet
industry really got going, has been a move toward commoditization.
In the early days, when new technologies were developed at an amazing
pace, the industry changed daily, and money flew in at historic
rates, most of us in this biz were just beginning to figure out
what we were doing. Consumers were new to the industry, too. They
used to be excited about the Internet simply because it was the
Internet. Remember Web surfing?
Today the Internet is a fact of life for nearly everyone. It's ceased
being a novelty in its own right. No one sits down to randomly surf
anymore (who's got the time?). Instead, people have figured out
how the Web fits into their lives and how they need to use it. The
shift in behavior is toward the functional: Users go online to get
stuff done (even if that "stuff" is entertainment).
The crash changed everything. It popped both economic and emotional
bubbles. It made everyone step back and think about what they were
really excited about in the first place. Over time, most people
(especially consumers) have become blasé about the whole
thing. We use the Web because we have to, but using it is no longer
an activity in and of itself. It's a coming of age: When you're
underage, acquiring booze is the activity, which makes it all a
lot more exciting. Turn 21, and drinking ceases to become the exciting
activity once was. (At least, that's what people tell me.)
So far as Web development goes, things have gone the same way. In
the early days, we had to create all the tools we sold our clients
from scratch. There was little off-the-shelf software of note. Everything
from content management systems to databases to e-mail marketing
systems were homegrown. Differentiation stemmed from the ability
to do absolutely everything: design, market, develop, engineer.
Investment in companies that could do this ran high.
Things are no longer the same. The industry has matured and fragmented
into specialized disciplines. Few Web development firms do everything
anymore. Almost no one rolls his own e-mail systems, CMSs, registration
tools, or other fixtures of contemporary Web sites. We buy them
off the shelf, selecting from a pool of basically similar products
(within different price ranges), integrate them, and switch everything
on. There's little in the way of innovation when it comes to Web
applications these days; we all know what to expect, where to get
it, and what it's going to do.
All but the most naive clients understand this. Most companies,
if they know what they're doing, expect the Web companies they hire
will be able to do everything, from search engine optimization (SEO),
e-mail, and online advertising to application development, content
management, and design. They understand the various services are
often integrated and brought to them via partnerships or managed
independently in a vendor pool.
Performance matters, obviously, but the playing field is becoming
increasingly more level as consolidation occurs and more companies
turn to a mature base of off-the-shelf products. Need an HTTP server?
You're probably going to use Apache or Internet Information Services
(IIS), or (if you're a bit wacky) Apple's X server. Need e-mail
marketing? You're probably going to turn to one of the four or five
vendors most of us can name. Need a CMS? Your choices are limited
there, too. You get the point.
As companies that struggle to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace,
where do we turn? Design.
I mean design in its broadest sense: "Design" as a synonym
for a process that provides high value and superior experience to
the audiences we're communicating with. This could mean graphic
design, interactive design, even the design of a campaign that ties
multiple media together in a creative fashion.
Design and creativity -- innovation through creative thinking first
-- will keep the pipeline full and make us (no matter what our specialty)
stand out from the competition.
I've written about this before. I believe unless agencies return
to their roots and become the creative force behind the brand, they
risk becoming completely irrelevant. There's a measurable economic
value in design. It's time we embraced that value and became its
champions before we slide into irrelevance.
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