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The rise of the design democracy

lucidpress
March 28, 2019

The rise of the design democracy

In two decades, the digital world has transformed the way brands present themselves—and the bar for quality design is getting higher all the time. How can brands stay competitive in today's design-centric world? Explore the rise of the design democracy, then learn how your organization can ride it to the top.

What's inside:
1) Discover how brand marketing has evolved
2) See which brands have pulled ahead—and how
3) Learn the 4 principles of great design
4) Empower your org with brand templating

Source: https://www.lucidpress.com/pages/resources/report/rise-of-design-democracy

lucidpress

March 28, 2019
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Transcript

  1. 1 T H E R IS E O F T

    H E D E S IG N D E M O C R A C Y
  2. 2 In tw o d e ca d e s,

    W h o w ill w in ? the digital world has transformed the way brands present themselves? and the bar for quality design is getting higher all the time. As businesses search for new ways to capture consumer attention, one question remains: 3
  3. 3 I w a n t to sh o w

    yo u so m e th in g . 4
  4. 4 T h is is a sn a p sh

    o t o f A p p le 's w e b site in 1 9 9 7 ? n e a rly 22 ye a rs a g o . 5
  5. 5 A n d h e re 's w h

    a t it lo o ks like in 20 1 8 . 6
  6. 6 T h e w o rld n o w

    e xp e cts g re a t d e sig n . 7
  7. 7 Ten or twenty years ago, the answer was easy.

    Brand marketing was handled by a small group of experts who controlled every aspect of a company's message as it was delivered to a mass audience. But like it did to everything else, the internet changed all that. Today, nearly everyone is a content creator. Not just your marketers, but your sales team, your customer service team, your other employees, your vendors and partners. All of them are representing your brand to fragmented audiences on endless channels: web, email, social media, direct mail, etc. W h o is re sp o n sib le fo r d e liv e rin g g re a t d e sig n ? Now, let me ask you a question: 8 8
  8. 8 Back then: Eight guys went into a boardroom to

    strategize on one commercial that represented your brand to millions of people. Now: Employees across the company make decisions every day on how to represent your brand to the audiences they interact with. Design has been democratized. 9
  9. 9 A 2014 study by Content Marketing Institute found that

    72% of organizations say they're producing significantly more content than they did a year ago. If that was true in 2014, think how much more true it is today. So, what happens when the rising, urgent need for branded content turns everyone into content creators? You get, well... bad design. T h is m e a n s b ra n d s a re p ro d u cin g m o re co n te n t th a n e v e r. 10
  10. 10 A n d lis te n , b ra

    n d s ca n 't a ffo rd to le t th is slid e . I'm not here to make fun of bad design. It's all well-intentioned, and as a startup ourselves, we understand the time/resource crunch as well as anyone. But in a world that expects great design,
  11. 11 After all, the odds are already stacked against you.

    50% of the S&P 500 will disappear by 2027? just ten years from now. Their average lifespans are decreasing, from 33 years in 1964 to 24 years in 2016. In 2027, the average lifespan for an S&P 500 company is only expected to be 12 years. But. But. Design-centric companies outperform the others. Companies like Apple, Coca-Cola, Nike, Starbucks, Target and Disney have invested heavily in great design. According to the Design Management Institute, companies like these have experienced a marked increase in their design value index, outpacing their S&P peers by 211%. T h e la n d sca p e 12
  12. 12 W e re co g n iz e th

    e se n a m e s a s so m e o f th e w o rld 's s tro n g e s t, m o s t v a lu a b le b ra n d s. T h is is n o t a co in cid e n ce . 13
  13. 13 Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney, outlines all of

    this neatly with an observation: "A brand is a living entity? and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures." Gestures like... an email. A social media post. An event flyer. The kind of things employees at every level of your company are creating every day. 14
  14. 14 T h e w o rld n o w

    e xp e cts g re a t d e sig n . th e y'v e le a n e d in to th e d e sig n d e m o cra cy. And what design-centric companies have figured out is how to deliver great design consistently, every time someone interacts with their brand. In other words, 15
  15. 15 So now we have two types of businesses: -

    Those who allow employees to create off-brand content, which stunts brand growth. - Those who scale great design across all channels to build a strong, consistent brand. I'm willing to bet you can guess which side the winners are on. 16 16
  16. 16 So, how do winning brands scale great design? It's

    not as easy as flipping a switch and declaring that you care about design. It requires a new understanding of what great design is. 1. Great design is based on well-understood brand guidelines. 2. Great design is consistent across every channel. 3. Great design delivers personalized and relevant experiences. 4. Great design is easy for all (not a select few) to replicate. Why aren't more companies embracing this definition and cultivating winning brands? T h e ch a lle n g e 17
  17. 17 In my time at Lucidpress, I've had the opportunity

    to observe many companies who are struggling to scale great design. The vast majority are trapped in one of two camps: the brand prison or the Wild West. In th e b ra n d p riso n , a central creative team controls all content (much like it used to be in the old days). Designers are overloaded and stressed because the demand for content is increasing, but their system is not scalable. And, whether you realize it or not, many employees are taking matters into their own hands, creating off-brand, renegade content that dilutes your message. In th e W ild W e s t, there are no rules or brand guidelines. Everyone creates their own branded content without guidance or direction, and as a result, your brand suffers from a lack of consistent identity. The market is confused about who you really are, and they don't know which messages to trust. 18
  18. 18 Do either of these scenarios ring true for your

    organization? If so, I'm really excited to be talking with you, because there is a better way. At Lucidpress, we call it brand templating. 19
  19. 19 In tro d u cin g b ra n

    d te m p la tin g 20
  20. 20 Earlier, I defined great design as having the following

    attributes: - based on brand guidelines - consistent - personalized - easy to replicate By incorporating each of these elements in our software, Lucidpress has developed a process to help brands scale their design. We call it brand templating, and here's how it works. 1. Create a template from scratch, or import an existing one from InDesign. 2. Lock down the important elements of your brand: logos, fonts, colors, etc. 3. Give non-designers access to customize the template with approved brand assets. 4. Distribute the document via web, print, email, social media? whatever channel it's destined for. 21
  21. 21 The results of implementing this process are profound. Customers

    who use Lucidpress for brand templating see a huge difference in the consistency of their content. "We needed a new marketing system," said Kwan Cheung of MHA. "Each location operated completely independently, with no commonality or branding. We needed unity, and Lucidpress gave us that." 22
  22. 22 Our customers also enjoy increased efficiency, reducing the stress

    and workload of their creative teams without sacrificing brand integrity. "Before Lucidpress, we always had to start from scratch with our designs. Now our Lucidpress templates help us stay consistent across the board," said Saroya Wronski of The Bar Method. 23
  23. 23 Claudia Sherman of Club Pilates puts this in numerical

    perspective: "In the past 7 months we've been able to get almost 300 pieces of creative up for our franchisees using Lucidpress." Again and again, we've seen how transformative brand templating can be for our customers, to the point that they would never go back. 24
  24. 24 So, what does the rise of the design democracy

    mean for Lucidpress and the brands we serve? It means we continue to refine the brand templating process, making it easier for people to create and customize their templates. It means we elevate more brands, so that their customers and audiences know who they really are. The design democracy is here? there is no turning back. We've reached over 5 million users so far. Only a few billion more to go. 26
  25. 25 T h e w o rld n o w

    e xp e cts g re a t d e sig n . A n d w ith b ra n d te m p la tin g , b ra n d s o f e v e ry sh a p e a n d siz e ca n d e liv e r it. 27
  26. 26 Lucidpress is the intuitive design & brand templating platform

    that makes it easy to create & share beautifully branded collateral. Y our brand matters, and Lucidpress offers the consistency your brand needs to deliver its message effectively wherever it goes. Over 5 million people use Lucidpress to create, customize & distribute their brand? s content. J oin us. 29