From sports cars and chocolate

If brands have a message, then its products are their messengers.
Brand competence is based in large part on product competence, whether it is a sports car, a bar of chocolate or other consumer goods.

Today brands invest heavily in the advancement of their products; brands are an important motor for innovation. But many competitors vary the fruits of the innovators all too often, and thereby dilute their expertise.
Furthermore, the product life-cycle frequently progresses quicker than the development cycle. The consequence is, that improvements are not recognized enough by the market anymore, and more serious, cannot be classified anymore to a brand.

Therefore, what is still noticeable for the consumer, what distinguishes e.g. a sports car from another, if 300 BHP is standard, or a 100 g chocolate bar from another?
It is the appearance of a product, its design, both in a sports car with all its complexity, or in the packaging of a chocolate bar. It is the design, which carries the character of a product, which can make it unique and out of that brands recruit themselves significantly.
Successful design is therefore not only a parameter for aesthetics and a tool for differentiation, design is linked to all development and marketing related aspects.

The future must be designed.
The design of the product and thereby the aesthetic of the brand exert an immense influence to the buying patterns of the consumers, here lies great potential for brands in the future. Many successful examples prove the dynamic and the success of well designed products.

Text extracts from the lecture "Design in the marketing mix".