Book review – Do you matter? How great design will make people love your company
In anticipation of a long flight this last weekend I went to the library to see if they had any new branding or design books. I stumbed upon Do you Matter as I sifted through 
the design section. I pulled it out and read the cover. “How great design will make people love your company” seemed so true and straight and to the point. I checked it out.
In this 236 page book, Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery talk about how the intangible by-products of good design and positive user experience, can turn your company into an unstoppable force. The title , Do you matter, is a tough question to ask about your company. Does your company matter in the hearts of your customer? Will your customers care if you go away? Or will they simply buy your competitors products when your company is no longer there to offer service. If you do matter and your existence is important to your customers, then you have a great brand that is difficult to copy.
These days good products can be copied, even with good IP a product can be mimicked or an alternate design that provides a trade off can produced. Your competitor has then a comparable product. You are now not so special.
Brunner and Emery explain that to build true loyalty of your customers, a positive emotional tie must be developed with all contact you have with your customer. How do you do this? You have to build a company with “design culture”. A good company with design culture is very difficult to copy. A good design culture pumps out highly innovative and passionate products over and over again. It’s just in it’s DNA. Good design cultures put design thinking into every aspect of their business from HR to logistics, once this mindset is set, it is difficult to copy. If every part of your business puts positive customer experiences first with not a penny spared. Those pennies will come back in the form of more sales. It some times takes a leap of faith and dedication, but the intangible emotion of good design can buy lifelong loyalty of customers.
The books points out dozens of examples of companies that have built a culture around this premise and have built long lasting iconic brands, such as Apple, IKEA, BMW, Harley Davidson, and Samsung. These companies put design and experience first and subsequently moved to the top of their food chain in their industry.
Leave a comment