Design-led Marketing in the DIGITAL AGE

According to popular understanding, there is a Chinese curse which goes something along the lines of this: ‘May you live in interesting times’.

Well, 2020 is certainly that. In addition to the great upheaval caused by Covid-19, we’re also at a moment when the digital landscape is changing everything we know about business. Markets and industries emerge and disappear almost overnight; consumers have access to a world of products at the click of a button, and those customers expect premium experiences every time.

Innovation itself has changed, evolving from a process focused on engineering, product and marketing concerns, to a design-centric, user-experience focus.

For organisations trying to solve the ever-evolving problem of meeting the market, design-centric thinking helps. By focusing squarely on the user, design-led thinking helps businesses figure out who their customers are, what those customers actually want, and is an approach that can help find clever and unique ways to creatively meet the customer’s needs.

And, for those who can realise the potential of design, the rewards are great. International megaliths such as Amazon, Pepsi, IBM, Uber, Netflix, and Nike prove as much.

But what does it actually mean to be design-led? And how does it affect the way you do business?

Well, it depends on who you ask.

“Design-thinking is about putting people and the needs of people at the heart of what you’re doing,” says Geoff Suvalko, principal at Michigan and Auckland-based design group, Thoughtfull.

“Then, it’s