This blog post was initially about Artificial Intelligence.
For over the past 18 months, AI has been quite the buzzword, taking the tech industry and our lives by storm. Well, sort of. For all the hype around the capabilities of AI, for now, its use cases remain niche, its ethics dubious and its implementation clunky. It has served largely as the tech industries’ attempt at bringing new innovation and bringing back the glory hype days of the late 90s – 2010s.
For a moment, it seemed like AI was poised to change everything about our lives, render jobs across industries obsolete, and either send us to the poor house or propel us to new heights. Before that, there was the hype around Crypto, NFTs, Virtual Reality, and the Metaverse.
So, I was going to write about branding, design, and business in the age of AI, covering the present state of the fields of branding and general design as they relate to business and how that may be disrupted or enhanced as AI rapidly encroaches into all areas of our lives.
As time passed, I thought a better way to frame the issue would be by looking at how to approach branding and design in times of uncertainty.
For all the false starts we have had by way of technological innovation, there was something that happened that did radically affect and change our lives. That was the 2020 pandemic.
In times of rapid change and upheaval like we have had since then, with shifting paradigms and global changes afoot, how do our businesses and brands weather the storm, surf the waves, and outlast the trends? What timeless principles would keep us anchored through it all?
Branding at its core, is all about connection.
It is having clarity on who you are, what you do, and who you do it for. It is connecting the needs of your audience with your offering. They have a problem, you help them solve it.
The way they feel about you, the way they view and respond to you is always the result of numerous factors – the prevailing cultural trends, the space you play in, their present identities, and your skill at communicating effectively.
All of these things shift over time, this is why branding is perpetual and emergent. You have to keep revising and evolving the brand to adapt.
In times of uncertainty, there are 6 key questions to ask to help your brand thrive:
- What is the problem we are solving?
- How is that problem changing?
- How is our thinking around the problem changing?
- How do we differentiate ourselves from others in the space (positioning)?
- How do we evolve our solutions to meet this change?
- How do we change our messaging around this problem and solution?
Branding is about nurturing the relationship between the business and the audience.
Design is about crafting products, services, spaces, communication that meets the customers needs and supports the intended brand experience.
At the core of their interaction are the 4 pillars of problem, solution, communication, and experience.
1. What problem are we solving?
Every business, every brand exists to solve a problem. And as you engage with the marketplace, you may find yourself changing your service offering as you find and maintain market fit. It is important to check in and figure out the problem that you are solving for your customer.
When your people buy from you, what are they trying to fix, avoid, or get done? What do you help them solve?
For instance, you might be an interior designer, helping people create the homes or offices of their dreams. If you dig deeper, you might unearth the problems you are solving for your clients. You might be helping them live more relaxed lives by streamlining their spaces to reduce overwhelm and friction. You might be enriching your clients’ lives with a focus on aesthetics and evocative design. Or you might be helping people adapt to new functional demands on their spaces.
The problem you focus on solving will influence the specific kinds of customers that are drawn to you and the experience they will have.
2. How is the problem changing?
As times change, technologies and realities emerge that may affect the problem being solved. In this time of disruption, ask yourself if the problem you are solving is also changing. Maybe people don’t need your services anymore, maybe they need it more than ever, maybe they need it solved differently. How is the problem changing?
In the times of lockdown during the global pandemic, we were all confronted with new ways of working, schooling and communicating. As an interior designer, perhaps all of a sudden, you did not need to design offices anymore, but rather help your clients reconfigure their spaces to allow them to work from home without disrupting the family dynamic.
The problem changed. Your business and brand have to evolve with it.
3. Is our thinking around the problem changing?
Culture shifts and trends affect the way we approach life and engage with our problems. What might have been taboo before, might become more normalised over time. What was taken for granted before, might be a non-starter today. How are these culture shifts and changes affecting the way you approach the problem you are solving?
In previous decades, there was a sharp divide between the office and the home. You went to the office early in the morning for work, at the end of the day, you left it all behind and headed home.
Today, for many people that line is much more blurred. Our work times might be much more flexible, and we may not even need to leave home.
We no longer see the problem of designing supportive spaces as being so sharply delineated between work and home, we now see new blended ways of working and living.
4. How do we differentiate ourselves from others in the space?
It is important to take a look at how our competitors in the field are approaching things. What are their responses to the shifting tides? How have they redefined and innovated on the problem? What are they doing well and what are they missing? How are we going to position ourselves differently from the competition? Why should our people keep choosing us?
Perhaps most service providers in our interior design space approach things by focusing on creating a specific fixed area in the home for the workspace. Our differentiating factor could be that we specialise in designing fluid and changing spaces, that can be easily adapted from one use to another.
5. How do we evolve our solutions to meet this change?
With change comes opportunity. We have to make sure that we are taking advantages of the openings given by the evolving times. How can we improve our solutions by leveraging new technologies, or methodologies, or collaborations with new partners? How can we re-imagine and transform the way we render service? How do we shift the conversation by reframing the issues?
Based on our findings, we could deliver our services online, instead of just one-on-one. We could add content to educate prospective clients on how to streamline their spaces and prime our audience to buy our consultation or products. We could embrace video as the predominant media format today and use that to build brand awareness.
6. How do we change our messaging?
To remain relevant to our audience and market, we have to update the way we address them. We have to demonstrate that we are aware of the changes going on, that we have looked to the future and staked a claim. We have to reassure our audience that we are the guides who can take them successfully into an uncertain future.
As an interior designer adapting to these uncertain times, you can signal to your clients that you are aware of their evolving needs, and that you have the paradigm, and the solutions to take them into the new future. In focusing on their need for harmony, productivity, and family time, you can soothe their anxieties and prove you are the right brand for the job
By answering these questions in your business, you will be able to get a firm footing on what’s really going on in your field, despite the many changes and disruptions, and with these insights in hand, you can now map out a strategy to just not survive, but thrive into the future.
Happy Brand Building!
