why design? the value of design to business‘91% of rapidly growing businesses are using design, compared with 49% of companies overall. Companies who said they’d grown rapidly over the last 12 months rate design highest of all, with 71% saying it was integral or significant... compared to an overall national average of 41%.’ Design Council research, 2007. In a challenging global economic climate, the need to stand out from the competition by adding value becomes ever more acute. Using design is a highly cost effective excellent way of achieving this, as design can help organisations achieve real competitive advantage when used as part of their strategy to communicate with their audience. Many organisations, small and medium sized in particular, are realising the need to base their competitiveness on far surer foundations than by simply competing on cost alone. Here’s why: ‘Design is an investment, not a cost. It is a continuous thought provoking process that effects every part of the business.’ Steven Byres, Managing Director, Ritec International. ‘Two thirds of companies who ignore design have to compete mainly on price. In companies where design is integral, just one third do so.’ ‘More than eight out of ten design-led companies have introduced a new product or service in the last three years, compared to just 40 per cent of UK companies overall.’ Data from the Design Council National Survey of Firms 2005. ‘Design is integral to 39% of rapidly growing companies but to only 7% of static ones.’ ‘83% of companies in which design is integral have seen their market share increase, compared to the UK average of 46%.’ ‘80% of design-led businesses have opened up new markets in the last three years. Only 42% of UK businesses overall have done so.’ ‘A business that increases its investment in design is more than twice as likely to see its turnover grow as a business that does not do so.’ Data from the Design Council National Survey of Firms 2005. ‘34% of businesses that see design as integral or significant say added value has had a great impact on their turnover. Where design plays only a limited role, the proportion is just 21%.’ ‘Businesses that add a lot of value are half as likely to compete on price and more than twice as likely to compete on innovation as businesses that rely on their core product or service.’ ‘Fast-growing businesses see design as the second most important ingredient of success, while for companies overall it ranks a lowly seventh.’ Data from the Design Council Added Value Research 2007. |