What can IDEO teach us about branding?
Who in the design industry doesn’t know IDEO? or even dream to work there someday?
IDEO has a strong presence and branding that makes it among the first firms to come to mind when we talk about things like “Design Thinking,” “Innovation” or related terms or synonyms. Many consider IDEO to be the biggest and the most famous Design and Innovation Consulting Firm worldwide.
All this reputation and fame it has not only among businesses as their customers but also other Design & Innovation professionals and firms give IDEO some critical advantages such as easily charging premium prices for their services and attracting hidden-gem talents so easily.
This article argues the secret for such a place they’ve occupied and reserved — besides quality work of course — lies not only in anticipating the change The Internet especially social media has brought upon businesses and their relations with competitors, customers & collaborators but also taming it!
Relationships with a spectrum of natures.
Internet and social media had ended the unidirectional, monotonic relationships firms had long had with their customers.
In his best-seller book “The Digital Transformation Playbook,” David L. Rogers emphasized change or disruption where customers now aren’t only defined as people who purchase the product, but any group of people or entities who can affect a company’s survival and growth, thus he proposed a framework to manage relations with them — Access, Engage, Customize, Connect, Collaborate.
So, from the press, collaborators, competitors, non-gov and governmental organizations can all be called customers, but neither should they all be managed and served in the same way as focusing solely on the typical customers — who purchase your product — while marginalizing other types is likely to lead to commoditization cemetery in the long run and suck resources dry without hitting impactful innovation opportunities.
Goals define the spectrums of customers.
Think of IDEO’s goals, I’m sure they want things like:
- To be the biggest and the most well-known Design and Innovation Consulting Firm worldwide.
- To be considered as a reference to Innovation and value creation craft.
- To be the dreamland for design-industry professionals, their Valhalla!
Multiple types of people and organizations undoubtedly influence IDEO to achieve these goals, from clients, press, media, design & innovation experts, non-gov organizations, clients’ customers, etc. and IDEO nearly manages most of them in a state of art way, let’s take 3 of their products or solutions that can show what I mean:
IDEO Org
Born as a nonprofit organization in 2011, its mission is to improve the lives of people in poor and vulnerable communities through design.
By promoting Design Thinking potential to help make people’s lives actually better, the press and media rewarded IDEO in return which helped establish their place as more than just a Design and Innovation consultancy firm.
IDEO leveraged the value it creates for both non-profit organizations and media channels by using its capabilities to stand for what they stand for, maybe they’re not paying for IDEO’s services but undoubtedly it gave it a momentum that helped solidify its place.
Promoting what IDEO.Org is doing, and clapping for it, they got engaged by what it offers, by IDEO as a whole not only the Non-profit organization.
To give you a glimpse, here are some of the articles were written about their IDEO.Org initiative:
- Fast Company “****How Ideo.org Helps Fight Global Poverty With Design”**
- Knowledge At Wharton “IDEO.org’s Mission to Tackle Global Social Challenges Through Design for All”
- Global WA “How IDEO’s Design-Thinking Methodology Supports Innovative Solutions to Global Challenges”
IDEO has turned non-profit organizations, media, and even normal people interested in humanitarian initiatives into customers who although not purchasing their services directly, contribute to its growth.
IDEOU
Founded in 2015 as an online school where learners can unlock their creative potential and solve complex problems through design thinking. The courses are taught by IDEO employees.
Although the high costs of their courses can make some really good revenues for IDEO, the biggest gains they get come from establishing themselves as a reference for Design Thinking, Innovation & Value Creation.
Although the courses can enhance professionals in the design industry it targets also leaders and decision-makers in different businesses who can evangelize Design Thinking in their companies and give a chance for IDEO to be consulted by them in the future.
IDEOU is accompanied by periodically held webinars and the Creative Confidence podcast, the two are discussing topics related to the course’s topics, and the two are highly interactive which builds a community of design thinkers around IDEO that are invaluable for leveraging their reputation, and makes it super easy for them to find talented professionals.
IDEO Journal
First issued in 2000, the IDEO journal audience wasn’t exclusive to designers but also entrepreneurs, business leaders, and anyone interested in learning how to solve wicked problems creatively.
Again, regardless of turning business leaders, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers into non-typical customers, IDEO had made the press contribute to its success; Take their work with Mayo-Clinic in 2017 on a new way to diagnose cancer which helped to leverage its place and reputation as a leading design firm in the healthcare sector — which is known to be one that has very complicated issues.
As you’ve seen, businesses not embracing that shift digital had brought upon us the perception of customers is just making growth more and more difficult for them, or in the best-case scenario, they’re just missing great opportunities. So, how can we do it?
#1 Start from the End.
Think of IDEO, they might have never thought of any of these products we’ve just mentioned of them unless they had some of the goals we described earlier, so you need to define your goals in a more high-level way first, then take into consideration your current resources, challenges.
#2 Work Backwards.
Now think of what exactly needs to happen for your goals to be achieved, or what if it happened you will know by then that your goals are successfully achieved.
Do you want the press to write about you? Do you want to build a big community of fans and people who advocate for you?
You’ve to decide carefully and in a more focused way.
#3 Identify stakeholders & Study them carefully.
From the earlier step 2, you will have some kind of a perception of what needs to take place, now you need to know who will carry out that thing that needs to take place, and you need to identify them and you need to run some research on them to identify what you can offer them so that they can offer you what you want in return.
#4 A Plan in Action.
If you left your efforts to meet your goals to be chaotic without key milestones and metrics to keep an eye on your performance it’s less likely that you’re to succeed.
A plan should cover How will you get to study those customers you’ve selected? how are you going to deliver value to them that’s aligned with the value you provide to your typical customers? how well will you capture the value you need in return? how will you decide whether such a relationship you keep with a specific customer type really worth it? etc.
Conclusion.
To thrive in today’s world, businesses must engage diverse stakeholders beyond traditional customers. Embracing non-typical customers and tailoring offerings to their needs will be essential for sustained growth and innovation opportunities.
By setting high-level goals, working strategically, and studying stakeholders carefully, businesses can learn valuable lessons from IDEO’s approach to branding.
