One notable achievement for Mr. Vossoughi, who also held industrial
and product-design positions at Hewlett-Packard Corp., has been the
work his firm did a few years ago for Oregon bank Umpqua Bank,
which wanted to reinvent the retail-banking experience. Ziba
redesigned everything from furniture to fixtures to layout to
environmental graphics and collateral materials, including gift
cards and coffee coasters. "It was a very holistic kind of
experience that was in line with what they really were about, the
essence of their brand, and connected them to their core
customers," Mr. Vossoughi said.
In an interview with Advertising Age, at a time when connecting
with value-seeking, penny-pinching consumers has never been more
critical, he discussed the necessity for marketers to create
authentically designed experiences for them, from media platforms
to in-store environments to products. He also explained why many
marketers have faltered trying to get it right.
Ad Age: Do you think every brand is ripe for a
design overhaul?
Mr. Vossoughi: Most brands see design as a way
to differentiate themselves. Most PC companies and cellphone
companies have driven themselves into a fashion industry. Look at
Apple or Porsche: They don't change their design. Once in a while
they revive it, but they don't change every aspect of the product.
But most other companies, in order to lure people, [feel compelled
to] make changes and change the design along the way. It might work
in the short term, but in the long term it gets them into trouble.
You get into the fashion business, and then it's not sustainable,
because of the amount of resources you have to put into it but also
because you become obsolete very quickly.
It's easy to be different; it is very hard to be right -- right
for your brand, right for your target customer. Most brands try to
be everything to everybody, and then they become nothing to nobody.
They are more focused on reaching the masses. If you're not
delivering on your promise, consumers will go out and buy something
else. Most brands are ready for design, not to create something new
and different but to create something that is meaningful to
them.
Ad Age: How do you collaborate with
agencies?
Mr. Vossoughi: There's a huge potential for
companies like us to collaborate with advertising agencies. There
needs to be early collaboration. This is really important, to make
sure the actual experience and the actual story are the same
thing.
Let me briefly describe our collaboration on a recent Procter
& Gamble project. P&G is a unique company because they
understand the importance of using design to define the brand
DNA/identity based on consumer insights, and they do so in a
holistic way at the beginning of the product-design and
communications process. As a result, P&G created a team that
included a package-design agency, an advertising agency and Ziba at
the inception of the project.
Ziba created a brand framework from the consumer's perspective
so that design strategy and all communications tactics are derived
from the consumer's point of view. Ziba also provided insights into
the consumer journey with the product and explained how that
product connected with the individual user on a practical and
emotional level. This work takes place very early in the process,
before a product is created. Without this collaborative approach,
an advertising agency would likely create a campaign based on its
own perspective of the brand and not the consumer's
perspective.
Ad Age: Where is advertising failing
marketers?
Mr. Vossoughi: The essential failing is
actually on the strategic level within a company, which is where
brand definition should begin. Once this brand identity -- or story
-- is defined, it should guide all product development and
marketing tactics, such as web, retail and traditional advertising,
to complete the brand experience. So while advertising is one of
several marketing tactics, it often has a separate strategy. The
result is a brand experience that is inconsistent and inauthentic.
This occurs because most CEOs have not yet given brand strategy the
importance it deserves on top of the marketing hierarchy. Instead,
strategy is fragmented into silos -- one for advertising, one for
web, one for retail and so on.
Take Nike, for example. "Just do it" isn't just an advertising
slogan; it is a part of the brand's consistent identity that honors
athletes and does not fluctuate. All of the consumer experiences
Nike produces -- from products to events to public relations --
reflect this identity. Target is another example. Their CEO is
deeply immersed in the definition of brand's DNA and its identity.
He personally reviews all advertising to ensure it is consistent
with the brand story.
Ad Age: Let's consider Starbucks, seemingly a
poster child for intentionally designed customer experience. Where
do they succeed and where do they fail?
Mr. Vossoughi: They were succeeding for a
while. They had a great story; they were the "third place." And
they created these neighborhood coffee shops, and eventually it
became a platform to sell stuff; they became basically a channel
rather than a meaningful place. I'm so surprised to see them keep
adding stuff, extending their brand. ... They're selling instant
coffee and stuff like that. OK, so Starbucks is a coffee brand;
it's not about the place anymore. They've lost it, and I'm not sure
they'll be able to create the love, the loyalty they used to have.
For me, going to get a great cup of coffee in a great place, there
are plenty of other places I can go. Starbucks has become safe.
That's all.
Ad Age: So what brings consumers back for
more?
Mr. Vossoughi: Design is the process of
bringing the story to life. It's about making a connection between
the consumer and the story. If you tell it to the right audience,
then you create trust and meaning. Consumers want to love
something; meaningful, authentic relationships are what consumers
are after. You've got to go back to the core -- focus on what your
brand is about. You've got to focus on your tribe, not everybody.
Then you've got to use everything to bring that brand to life, and
then consumers will come back again and again for more.
