PLAN: 1. Assess areas of improvement and define a timeline; 2. Identify the KPI’s; 3. Implement a CRM system; 4. Rejuvenate the image involving key stakeholders; 5. Reassess the strategy every 3 months
VISION: We aim at a better understanding of the current customer base; what they like, what they need, what experience they seek. To do so, we must strengthen the line of communication and interaction between brand and target. We expect the current target to feel even more engaged with the brand. This is a quiet conservative, but methodic strategy; therefore we expect a slow but steady improvement in Character, Desire and Empathy.
STRATEGY II - SOPHISTICATION
This second strategy will focus on elevating both our offerings and our image and identity.
GOAL: Position Sausalito as the shop that delivers the true Bay Area coffee experience. We want to re-ignite the passion for coffee and gathering towards our current customer base, as well as attracting a new target customer — a more adventurous one — the type that is thrilled to discover the hidden gems. We are aiming to double foot traffic every three months for the next 3-5 years.
ENVIRONMENT: Our competitive advantage must shift from being the first-mover to being the BEST-MOVER. To do so, we must have a relentless focus on delivering great products and services at fair prices to consumers we understand intimately. We must elevate our offerings above the standard of the segment and service a targeted customer base, increasing the average spending.
RESOURCES: Even in this scenario the most important investment should be on quality, focus the financial resources on fewer most relevant items, a greater investment of time should be dedicated to elevating the quality of service and product. Focus on better sourcing of ingredients and staff. Some resource must be allocated to refresh the decor of the location and the brand collaterals. Allocate appropriate staff to the customer relationship.
PLAN: 1. Identify what people expect from a Bay Area experience; 2. Restyle Image and identity to meet the new standard; 3. Plan for or evaluate a renovation and focus on core menu items; 4. Restructure the communication strategy to a higher standard; 5. Engage key influencers to boost popularity.
VISION: We see this strategy as slightly more daring and capital intensive, so we expect a quite higher level of engagement in the brand, boosting Character and Desirability in a relatively fast way, for Empathy and Consistency we expect a little slower adoption particularly from the newly acquired customer base.
STRATEGY III - ABSTRACTION
This strategy will focus on creating a very significant impact on the target by introducing a new service experience.
GOAL: Focus our attention on delivering a unique life experience, the atmosphere and interaction between brand and customers. Create an Identity that will be much more organic, expressive and unique. The goal is to challenge the standard offering, dedicating our attention more to coffee events and live music. Abstraction involves induction of ideas and values on a much deeper level. We want to provide at least three to four events monthly. Reach a completely new customer base that will be willing to travel to our location for our special events. We should be able to double foot traffic every 1-2 months for the next 3-5 years.
ENVIRONMENT: Our competitive advantage will be shifting from a commodity (coffee shop) to a Brand. We will disrupt the segment by introducing a completely new service experience focusing on environment, offerings and merchandise. We might redesign our business model more towards a subscription/brokerage fee, rather than a goods sale model.
RESOURCES: This will be the most capital intensive of all the strategies. Significant financial resources must be allocated to the creation of the new image and identity. Every detail will be redesigned towards the creation of a new brand, from interior to communication materials, any touchpoint between brand and customer. Human resources must be trained and selected to meet the new brand vision. The offering must align with the new brand direction.
PLAN: 1. Prepare an accurate budget for the strategy; 2. Gather the necessary resources to implement the strategy; 3. Run a trial for the new business model, adjust and modify accordingly; 4. Engage key stakeholders for the launch of the new strategy; 5. Form strategic alliances between competitors and non-competitors that will reduce the time to market.
VISION: This we believe to be the most disruptive and challenging strategy of all, but as you can expect, the one that eventually, if well executed, will be the most rewarding of all three. We see a new opportunity to then expand in other locations, both nationally and internationally. The brand should be able to transcend location, product and service; delivering a new experience to customers.
CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS
As you can imagine, these are not the ultimate business design strategies; We created three different strategies that might be appropriate for our client’s business. Another important factor to take into consideration is that these strategies are not mutually exclusive; they could be reformulated and combined to create an entirely new or a hybrid strategy.
In a way, you could also look at them as sequential strategies, from the most straightforward and less capital intensive, to the most sophisticated and more capital intensive. In their own way, each of the presented business design strategies addresses the challenges to first harmonise the model and then grow the value of each principles.
Each of the strategies will affect the principles in a different way: some might boost Character and Desire faster than Empathy and Consistency, and some others will have a milder approach, gradually increasing each principle.
For this reason, we must keep our business design model constantly monitored and evaluate each principle as we implant our business design strategy.
I will never get tired of repeating this: Business Design isn’t a static process, but a dynamic one. Therefore, we must maintain a flexible mindset and be ready to react to external conditions.
I sincerely hope this simple case study was useful to help you understand how to apply the model, and can guide you in developing unique and sustainable, innovative and remarkable design businesses.
RECOMMENDED READING
Anderson, C. (2009). Free: the future of a radical price. New York: Hyperion.
Anderson, C. (2012). Makers: the new industrial revolution. New York: Crown Business.
Botton, A. D. (2004). Status anxiety. London: Hamish Hamilton.
Brown, T., & Kātz, B. (2009). Change by design: how design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation. New York: Harper Business.
Dixit, A. K., & Nalebuff, B. (2010). The art of strategy: a game theorist’s guide to success in business and life. New York: Norton.
Fried, J., & Hansson, D. H. (2010). Rework. New York: Crown Business.
Godin, S. (2001). Unleashing the ideavirus: stop marketing at people! turn your ideas into epidemics by helping your customers do the marketing for you. Chicago, IL: Dearborn.
Godin, S. (2003). Purple cow: transform your business by being remarkable. New York: Portfolio.
Godin, S. (2012). The Icarus deception: how high will you fly? New York: Portfolio/Penguin.
Kelley, D., & Kelley, T. (2013). Creative confidence: unleashing the creative potential within us all. New York: Crown Business.
Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2005). Blue ocean strategy: how to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Maeda, J. (2006). The laws of simplicity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Martin, R. L. (2009). The design of business: why design thinking is the next competitive advantage. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Moore, G. A., & McKenna, R. (2000). Crossing the chasm. Oxford, Eng.: Capstone Pub.
Movshovitz, D. (2015). Pixar storytelling: rules for effective storytelling based on Pixar’s greatest films North Charleston, SC: Createspace.
Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Clark, T., & Smith, A. (2010). Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game c
hangers, and challengers. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Sinek, S. (2009). Start with why: how great leaders inspire everyone to take action. New York: Portfolio.
Westley, F., Patton, M. Q., & Zimmerman, B. (2006). Getting to maybe: how the world is changed. Toronto: Random House Canada.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & CREDITS
A big thank you to all of the people that made this book possible
Contributors in random order: Melissa Albarus, Angie Newman, Zachary Stark, Dave Leung, Yuk Man Chan, Lau Yi, Adam Newbold, Alexander de Neree tot Babberiche.
Special thanks to Michael Tam from Cafè Sausalito for letting us use his brand as a case study.
All of my wonderful colleagues and students that pushed me to finish this book.
All the kind friends and partners that had the patience to review and sustain this book.
Copyright
© 2017 1.618 Limited
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders. The publisher will be glad to rectify in future editions any errors or omissions brought to their attention.
Printed in Hong Kong
Edited by Melissa Albarus, Angie Newman, Adam Newbold
Design & Illustrations by Gianluca Cinquepalmi
First Printing, July 2017
Hard copy: ISBN 978-988-12850-0-3
PDF-ePub: ISBN 978-988-12850-1-0
www.timeless.design
www.glc.live
Instagram: @glc.live
@tmlssdesign
Digital book(s) (epub and mobi) produced by Booknook.biz.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Gianluca Cinquepalmi, Associate Chair of Communication Arts and Professor of Advertising and Graphic Design at SCAD Hong Kong (Savannah College of Art and Design). In more than ten years working in the Design & Branding Industry Gianluca has managed and developed award winning agencies in Milan, Hong Kong, Barcelona and Sydney. He is now devoted to educate & train talented students, companies and institutions in the ways of attaining sustainable growth through business design.
“Most of my career has been dedicated to developing an expertise in the processes of innovation and strategical thinking; creating change-agents and teams capable of providing sustainable competitive advantage within most industries through the means of business design.”
Business Beyond Design Page 8