Merchandising of products and services

Products and services as part of the brand experience

However good the advertisements and promotion, the value promise of the brand remains meaningless if it is not first of all expressed in the form of products and services. The prime driver in branding is the product. How to reflect the product in finished goods and services is the most important issue. For instance, the first strategic task in the branding of airline companies is how to express the special nature of the service in keeping with the brand concept; in the branding of car manufacturers, it involves the special character of the flagship vehicle model. Advertising promotions not featuring the product may bring a temporary sales growth, but this will not last long. Branding should not mean the promotion of a false image which makes the product look better than it really is.

Design projects that drive branding

The Japanese mobile telephone brand au was formed through the merger of three telecommunications companies. Immediately following its formation, the company faced a sudden fall in the number of subscribers. To counter this, a ‘design project’ was launched in-house to develop a handset that symbolised the au brand.

Until then, mobile telephone design had been undertaken by the various handset manufacturers. Now, to create an individual character for the au brand, a unique product design was introduced. As a result, au became the most popular brand with young people and in the last three years has pulled far ahead of its competitor NTT’s DoCoMo to boast the highest net rate of increase in subscriber numbers.

Product design guidelines

To accompany its brand renewal, the office furniture manufacturer Wilkhahn took measures to bring the position of its corporate brand into line with that of its product brand by instituting product design guidelines in accordance with the new concept, thus ensuring that product design was directly linked to brand concept.

Design corridor of Wilkhahn