brand experiences and infuse those experiences with the emotional and
inspirational power of brand thinking and creativity.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Accenture Interactive<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018We are big thinkers, and we are teaming with other big thinkers. While of course we have the need for great art directors and copywriters, and we hire them all the time, where we really sing\u2014and sing well\u2014is when we think big and apply that <\/em>to broader experiences<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Droga<\/p>\n\n\n\n What needs to be answered is not, therefore, why the consultants are buying agencies. What we should solve is why those who have always had a deep knowledge about social and consumer behaviors and are the first partners in the value chain hierarchy need creativity right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can\u2019t they create experiences with the great technological capacity that these consultants have?<\/p>\n\n\n\n They can’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Client experience, consumer experience, or simply experience is a direct appeal to people’s emotions. It is a return to a reality of consumption that has never gone away but that technology has made us forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experiences are neither created, nor generated, nor produced. Experiences are designed. <\/strong><\/strong>And when we talk about design we talk about creativity. And when we talk about creativity, we talk about emotions. And when we talk about emotions, we still talk about human beings. And this should be the central focus of every creative process where an experience is designed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So much so that it seems that now all marketing must be experiential (emotional), but this is not something new at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Already at the end of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century the worlds of design and art turned to marketing and advertising (and vice versa) in the shape of a poster<\/strong>,<\/strong> linked to the avant-garde. Impressionism, Surrealism, Cubism\u2026 absolute manifestations of human emotions that emanated from some of the most creative minds that the modern world has ever known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018In the last years of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century, the assumptions of both languages were in tune, in fact in many cases they were artists who advertised and viceversa<\/em><\/em><\/span>\u2019 (P\u00e9rez Gauli, 1998).<\/p>\n\n\n\n During this time department stores proliferated. Those retailers then became the first spaces where consumer experiences were designed conscientiously. And not only space, but also objects. Everything was designed to get customers excited and therefore sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is what the philosopher Gilles Lipovetsky has called Artistic Capitalism and that has its peak in the 60\u2019s in the US and in the 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s. Times when we were sure that creativity sold: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018With the Bon March\u00e9 creation, the first Paris department stores, retailing becomes a theater [\u2026] the product presentation and staging take on a top-rated importance\u2019.<\/em><\/em> <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Since the 50\u2019s, [\u2026] the link between art and economy becomes widespread. It el v\u00ednculo entre arte y econom\u00eda se generaliza. It gets institucionalizad within the capitalism this combination between benefits and aesthetics, profit and imagination, economical calculation and sensorial daydreaming\u2019.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018What\u2019s the difference between an art gallery and a fashion boutique today?<\/em><\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who were responsible for business and art merged and for the Artistic Capitalism that Lipovetsky refers to? <\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a time when large corporations attributed business value to creative minds. In fact, the first consultants were creative. Specifically designers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just to make a brief review, at the end of the 19th century, coinciding with the beginning of artistic capitalism, the Arts And Crafts movement emerges in England as a reaction to dehumanization and the lack of sensitivity that mass production systems and an excess of industrialization had provoked (Vogel, M. 2009).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018The Arts and Crafts movement was a reaction against the process of industrial production, emphasizing the quality of the product and <\/em>experience created for consumers<\/em><\/strong><\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018By the end of the nineteenth century, the two clear sides of the argument This \u2018ideology\u2019 of the design in defense of the human and the artistic as a reaction to the technological threat took over Europe between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, laying the conceptual foundations on which the Bauhaus would later be founded, a school that for the first time raised a ‘design science’ advocating the balance between art, science and business<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is what later on would be called Design Thinking<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n From the influences of the Bauhaus were born the first designers who made the first strategic consulting work and designed new business models <\/strong>joining design and engineering, science and art, “magic” and mathematics. This became especially relevant when these visions intermingled with the capitalist culture and mass production of the United States <\/strong>(Vogel, M. 2009).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Where the influence of the Bauhaus in America originated primarily in education and then moved into practice, the success of these designer influenced the content of the curriculum of American design programs, which began to graduate practitioners who could fill the demand<\/em> for corporate and consulting designers<\/em>\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To recall some of them and their recognized work of ‘strategic consulting’ through the design of experiences (Vogel, M. 2009):<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peter Behrens\u2019s & AEG<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Behrens\u2019s work is particularly notable in that he designed not only AEG\u2019s buildings and products but also the company\u2019s corporate identity and print advertising\u2019. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Walter Gropius y Ludwig Mies van der Rohe<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018The Bauhaus, founded in 1919 by Gropius, was the first school in<\/em> the twentieth century to take Behrens\u2019s ideas and translate them into a curriculum for higher education\u2019.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Harley Earl & GM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Harley Earl, GM\u2019s head of color and trim from 1927 to 1959, was the first designer in the United States to apply market segmentation in a strategic way to the design of cars<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Henry Dreyfuss & AT&T<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018The Dreyfuss phone for AT&T was the first attempt to integrate human factors into the integrated speaker\/receiver[\u2026]His work formed a unique argument within the emerging field of human factors\/ergonomics by always emphasizing the need for logical approaches that produced elegant solutions […]He expressed those ideas in his <\/em>1955 book, Designing for People<\/em><\/strong><\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond Loewy<\/strong> & Coldspot<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Loewy merged aesthetics, materials, and manufacturing to transform the loud and ugly electric refrigerator of the 1920s into a modern kitchen appliance. The consumer response was immediate. In one year, sales of the Sears\u2019 Cold Spot increased from 65,000 to 250,000 units\u2014without any significant change in core technology\u2019. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul Rand and Elliot Noyes & IBM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018One of the first strategic design decisions Rand and Noyes conceived for International Business Machines was to reduce its long and awkward name to IBM. Modern identities, they believed, needed to be easy to read and pronounce in all applications and all languages\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When art and business come together is when creativity begins to be theorized and turned into a process, which caused the techniques proliferated. Creativity was democratized as a tool that solved problems beyond the purely emotional<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1961 is published a book entitled Synectics<\/em> by William J.J. Gordon and George Prince who propose a creative methodology for problem solving. The book was based on the assumption that creativity could be learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a fact, this book was created within the consulting firm Arthur D. Little Invention Design Unit en los 50\u2019s,<\/a> where both worked: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Synectics is a way to approach creativity and problem-solving in a rational This trend reaches the world of advertising where Alex Fackney Osborn (BBDO’s O)<\/strong> develops the creative technique of brainstorming in the book How To Think Up<\/em>, 1963.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1971, comes a book entitled The Universal Traveler: A Soft-Systems Guide to Creativity, Problem-Solving, and the Process of Reaching Goals<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018The Universal Traveler is more than a guide to creative problem-solving and clear thinking; it is your passport to success. The process described is universally relevant; based on the premise that any problem, dream, or aspiration, no matter its size or degree of complexity, can benefit from the same logical and orderly \u2018systematic\u2019 process employed to solve world-level problems<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is worth mentioning the reasonable similarity of this last title with the stages of the one known and broken down by the use of design thinking methodology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018A curious metaphorical travel guide to creative problem-solving, originally published in 1971 by researchers Don Koberg and Jim Bagnall, offering However, it is a book that literally seeks to stimulate creative thinking.. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We see how creativity has been deeply integrated within corporations throughout the 20th century with the the design of brand experiences as main object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Design consultancy, strategic design, human-centered design, user experience, or design thinking <\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>are terms under which large consultancy companies have been created. Terms that are now fashionable in the business world and seem new and totally unrelated to its origin and purpose, which is creativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What happened? When does this breakdown in the emotionality of experience that only creativity is able to give to a brand occur?<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I said at the beginning, technology has made us forget. Being specific, it has been the data.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With the end of the 20th century the digital disruption and then the financial crisis arrive. Everything stops and everything seems to be reduced to start ups, platform economics, big data and artificial intelligence. Creativity seems to be at the service of technology and consultants become large technological conglomerates trained to make anything possible with technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This digital disruption also allows brands to have direct real-time contact with consumers for the first time, forcing them to have to design their own experiences, beyond the design of the object itself, which was previously the responsibility of retailers of all life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, back then it was El Corte Ingl\u00e9s<\/em> who designed and offered the experience and not the brand itself: they refunded the money if we were not satisfied and we were able to go to the movies or to a restaurant after going shopping. But if the TV didn\u2019t work or the shoes didn\u2019t fit we didn’t demand anything from Samsung or Nike on Twitter. We complained to El Corte Ingl\u00e9s<\/em>. But this changes, as we say, with the digital disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At this moment, brands have to ‘design’ their digital presence and offer an experience that runs on their own consultants begin to orchestrate large automated data collection ecosystems, then used to segment and customize. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the security that the data offers to the entrepreneur, creativity is then something that comes later, something secondary, something that cannot be measured and of which the return it gives cannot be known<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018CMOs found growth through technology investments to improve customer In this economy of big data is when the explosion of big techs that had been padding for years occurs (Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook). Padding as much that their technological origins weren\u2019t enough anymore. It is then when everything converges in the software, the technological companies are no longer technological but entertainers, retailers, banks or automotive business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Facebook is incessantly churning out new products and seems unfazed when they don\u2019t stick, Google has built an empire on diverse products, and Amazon is positioning itself to exploit developments in areas like the Internet of Things. <\/em>[…] The world\u2019s biggest tech companies are all in on diversification – it is often the difference between success and domination<\/em>\u2019.<\/em>(Monds, Ch. 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n As it happens, these four great \u2018digital natives\u2019 are the first to base their innovations on the user experience, applying \u2018human sciences\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apple is what it is for offering one of the best consumer experiences, both in digital and retail. Amazon opened its physical store precisely for this. Google is the homepage of virtually all Western Internet users… and Facebook has Instagram, where millions of people spend hours and hours a day. All this with philosophies based on \u2018putting the user at the center\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apple developed its iMac together with the consultancy FrogDesign, founded by Hartmut Esslinger<\/strong> (from the school of Ulm, originally founded by students of the Bauhauss).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Previously Apple had designed its mouse together with IDEO (consultancy who popularized the term Design Thinking, a technique that we have already seen where it comes from).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also know that these techs have been managed by top managers defending the potential of creativity to generate business, something uncommon in board members of big \u2018traditional\u2019 companies where decisions are made. Steve Jobs is the one that first comes to mind. But we just need to take a look on what kind of profiles are leading the work of these companies. Some of them even with advertising backgrounds. To name a few:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve Selzer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018As Design Manager at Airbnb,<\/strong> Steve led a multi-disciplinary team of researchers, designers, content strategists, and program managers. He was instrumental in the launch of Airbnb for Work<\/a> \u2014 Airbnb\u2019s first B2B offering and fastest growing new business \u2014 as well as Airbnb Experiences<\/a>, Payments, and more. Prior to Airbnb, Steve was a Creative Director at <\/strong>Frog<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>There he led research and design for clients including Disney, Verizon, Chase, Westfield, and more\u2019. <\/em>(https:\/\/www.steveselzer.com\/about<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forest Young <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Prior to joining Wolff Olins, I led design at West alongside Allison Johnson \u2014 former Apple CMO, creating categories for the world\u2019s most promising early stage companies. Earlier in my career, I served as Interbrand\u2019s Senior Creative Director, supporting a portfolio of critical technology accounts including AT&T, Google, Microsoft and Vine.<\/em>\u2019 (https:\/\/www.wolffolins.com\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ratna Desai <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Product Design. Strategy. Vision. Reconciling humanity + technology + business + policy. Director of Product Design @Netflix<\/a>. Formerly UX Lead @Google<\/a>. (https:\/\/twitter.com\/ratnadesai1?lang=es<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowing the current transversal domain of the technological companies, let\u2019s say that I am the Santaner Bank, Barcel\u00f3 Hotels or Movistar and I need to compete with Apple, Airbnb or Netflix and I go to my consultant to ask how to do it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first thing my consultant would think (but wouldn\u2019t tell me) is that at a time when technology converges on everything, we cannot compete with a technology company with more technology. Because technology for these companies is only a tool at the service of what really has the ability to generate business value and differentiation in the market: creativity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next thing my consultant would do, after realizing about this and after looking at himself, is to think that if he doesn\u2019t act creativity would eat his piece of the cake. Because Santander, Inditex or Movistar would go in search of what they really need. What IBM, AEG or General Motors already looked for. And creativity could easily be placed on the first place in the value chain and become a core part of long-term business decision making. In fact this is what has actually happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because there is no industry that doesn\u2019t need to rethink itself to continue existing. Because to sell, it is not enough just with technology, or with data, or with TV spots. Because the experience is to design a way of relating to people by offering them real value that has a potential for brand building greater than any advertising piece that is conceived in isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advertising agencies have reduced creative capital to copies and graphic designers, that is, to the communication execution phase, without being able to see that business consulting is a creative-based environment.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We are at a time in which big companies and the world in general doesn\u2019t need to invent but reinvent. And that is exactly what creative minds are capable of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Creativity is not limited to creating new things but to make us rethink our way of seeing the world, something that a machine will never be able to do.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/improvisedplanning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/art-gallery-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1\")
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about how best to manage change were fully developed. On one side were the
industrialists, represented by Carnegie, Rockefeller,J.P. Morgan, and Ford.
Supported by Fredrick Taylor\u2019s theories of scientiVic production, they promoted the rapid growth of the modern corporation. The opposing position was held by Arts and Crafts advocates, represented at that time by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the Viennese Secessionists, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Gustav Stickley, who extolled human-scale production and consumption.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
way<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"experience_design_2\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/improvisedplanning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/experience_design_2.jpg?resize=231%2C297&ssl=1\")
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what\u2019s essentially a blueprint to design thinking nearly four decades before
design thinking was a buzzword\u2019.<\/em> (Popova, M. 2011)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"experience_design_1\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/improvisedplanning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/experience_design_1.jpg?resize=327%2C231&ssl=1\")
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experiences and loyalty (while also insourcing and slashing agency fees\u2019.<\/em>(Patisall, J. 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/improvisedplanning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Consultants_experience.jpg?resize=349%2C296&ssl=1\")
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\n\n\n\nOn the author:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n