Professional Documents
Culture Documents
innovative consumer
product
d e s i g n - some case
studies
Mary Alexander
Institute of Advanced Studies, Manchester Polytechnic, All Saints, Manchester M15 6BH, UK
This paper uses three case studies to discuss the importance of a total integration between marketing
research and design at the concept stages of new consumer product development and throughout the design
development and marketing process of the product
Keywords: qualitative market research, design and marketing integration, diversification opportunities
and design, product visual identity and consumer recognition
The Institute of Marketing defines marketing as 'the
management function responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably'. This defmition, however, raises important questions concerning the role of design (or its absence) in
relation to the marketing function within new consumer
product development programmes. In 1982, Sir Kenneth
Corfield identified the common practice of separating
design and marketing in British industry as a major
contributory factor to the country's poor achievement in
commercially successful, innovative product design, by
asking: 'How many of those responsible for the future of
industry would include design as a basic cornerstone of
business, and how many more would describe manufacturing and sales as the key activities? All too often design
would be seen as the tool of manufacturing rather than
the partner of marketing '~.
This management perception of market research as an
activity carried out within marketing and sales departments, and therefore distinct from the designing of
products, is reflected in an extensive conventional
marketing literature. Research work in this area has been
concerned with market performance evaluation models,
Vol 6 No 1 January 1 9 8 5
0142-694x/85/010041-10
$03.00 1985 Butterworth& Co (Publishers) Ltd
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CASE S T U D Y 1--SERVIS
WASHING MACHINE
QUARTZ
600
Background
During the 1960s Servis Domestic Appliances, based in
Wednesbury in the Midlands, had established a reputation for the design of top-loading, twin-tub washing
machines but by the 1970s the market was moving
towards front-loading, automatic machines. By 1980
three-quarters of all washing machines sold in Britain
were automatics and two-fifths of these were imported,
mainly from Italy. Although there was strong brand
loyalty to the Servis twin-tub machine in Britain, the
market in general continued to decline to under 20 per
cent in 1980. At that time, the design of the company's
standard automatic machine did not enable it to compete
effectively against strong selling brand names such as
Hoover and Hotpoint.
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DESIGN STUDIES
43
tended to stress complexity and 'space age' sophistication. Similarly, the built-in microelectronic self-fault
diagnosis was designed to identify simple user errors and
eliminate anxieties about calling the service engineer
unnecessarily.
The consultant designer also put forward design
proposals for new uses of materials and methods of
manufacture, although a major design 'given' was the
specified use of an existing machine tool producing a
basic three-sided box.
A brown pre-coated steel top with radiused corners
was designed which provided a strong, chip-resistant
kitchen worktop surface that was easy to clean, warm to
the touch and was visually attractive. The worktop
concept produced positive consumer response in the field
trials, and also had potential manufacturing advantages
in reducing handling damage in the factory.
CASE
HOSE
STUDY
2--INHOME
diversification opportunities for the company, and similarities were indentified between the weaving technology
used in Rufflette curtain tape and the new lay-flal
domestic garden hoses which were then gradually
becoming available in Britain. After conducting a preliminary market appraisal, InHome marketing staff
identified the main disadvantages of competitors' products (mainly imported) as being:
very expensive (about 25 compared to 5 for a
conventional hose)
overdesigned or poorly detailed
confined to garden centres and not available in major
retail outlets and DIY stores etc.
The company contacted Buxton Wall McPeake, a
Manchester-based design group, for design advice and m
the first design brief in April 1981 the design consultants
were asked to examine competitors' products and to put
forward design proposals for new product concepts. The
overall objective in the initial brief was specified as being
'to design a better product'. InHome management
decided not to mention target cost price at this stage so as
not to restrict the initial scope of design possibilities.
Perceived advantages of lay-flat hoses (based on
fireman's hose principle) as opposed to the traditional
PVC-ribbed variety were:
light weight
compactness
ease of winding and unwinding
lack of kinks
durability and storage outside in winter without
cracking
E v a l u a t i o n a n d testing o f concepts
CASSETTE
Background
Thomas French and Sons is a Manchester-based company with a worldwide reputation for its expertise in
weaving narrow fabric tapes and webbs, in particular its
brand name 'Rufflette' curtain tape.
In 1980, two marketing staff were recruited to identify
new product diversification and marketing opportunities
for InHome Ltd, a recently established division of the
company specialising in home improvement and leisure
products.
Diversification opportunities
A Market Analysis Survey was carried out on product
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DESIGN STUDIES
45
Background
In September 1976, Redring Electric Ltd, a subsidiary of
GEC based in Peterborough, was contacted by Action
Design consultants with a concept proposal for an
electric plastic jug kettle. In his opening letter, designer
David Harris described Action Design Ltd as a 'marketoriented product design consultancy which pursues a
policy of innovation and speculative design'. Significantly, the design group had previously contacted major
brand-name manufacturers of traditional kettles in Britain but the design concept had been rejected on the
grounds of being 'too far ahead of the British market'.
46
Design development
Redring management invited David Harris of Action
DESIGN STUDIES
47
Discussion
Each of the three case studies discussed above are
examples of British companies in which a policy decision
was taken by senior management to create new business
and market opportunities by. using innovative design. In
each case, a member of senior management demonstrated
Case 1
Servis
Case 2
InHome
Case 3
Redring
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7 Company policy of
diversification into new market
Perceived opportunity to
increase sales in existing
market sector
U' e of qualitative 'group
discussions' for consumer
concept appraisal and prototype testing
11 Importance attached to
consumer communication,
through product graphics/
packaging/sales literature
12 Requirement of new safety/
testing procedures as result
of product innovation
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13 Reduction of manufacturing/
assembly costs
14 Increased market share/sales
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48
5 Involvement of designer in
initial evaluation of product
concept
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DESIGN STUDIES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
These design case studies are part of a series which is
being compiled at the Institute of Advanced Studies,
Manchester Polytechnic, for use in business and management education. The research is funded by a grant from
the Leverhulme Trust.
REFERENCES
1 Coriield, Sir Kenneth 'No Man is an Island--Design in
Context' S IAD/M aurice H ille Award lecture (1982)
2 Kofler, P Marketing management--analysis, planning and
control 4th edition, Prentice Hall, UK (1980)
3 Fishbein, M A Consideration of Beliefs and their Role in
Attitude Measurement John Wiley and Sons, New York
(1967)
4 Ehrenberg, A S C 'Towards an integrated theory of
consumer behaviour' Journal of the Market Research Society
Vol 11 No 4 (1969) pp 305-337
5 Peters, M 'Why market research must come second'
Design, No 370 (October 1979) pp 76-77
6 Grange, K 'Market research--the product designer's view'
Design No 420 (December 1983) pp 34-35
7 Factor, S and Sampson, P 'Making decisions about
launching new products' Journal of the Market Research
Society Vol 25, No 2 (1983) pp 185-197
8 Lorenz, C et al. 'Market research--a fear of feedback?'
Design No 420 (December 1983) pp 31-41
9 Krauschar, P M New Products and Diversification Business
Books Ltd, London (1977)
10 'Microelectronics research pays off for Servis' Financial
Times (November 26, 1981) p 31
11 Financial Times (July 3, 1982) Investors Chronicle (June 11,
1982)
12 Alexander, M 'Marketing Design for Profit' Education
Interface (Autumn 1983) p 8
13 Berridge, A E Product Innovation and Development Busin s
Books Ltd, London (1977)
*See the article by Bill Evans in this special issue of Design
Studies.
49
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DESIGN STUDIES