B7. Competitive Advantage Through Design

Having competitive advantage is vital for organisations in over-saturated markets, and those trying to tap in to new ones.

Classic theories devoted to competitive advantage:

• Michael Porter: low cost, differentiation, focus
• Philip Kotler: quality, service, value

These are becoming standard customer expectations, not distinctive, market-share winning attributes.

Design is obvious and practical way to make products and services more distinctive.

Customisation
is a invaluable way to achieve competitive advantage through design.
It creates 'unique' offers for customers.
With the emergence of new technologies, it is becoming more and more common to see mass customisation.

Speed to market
Getting a product or service to market before the competition.
It involves efficient and effective processes:

• information flow
• management
• actual logistics and operations
• internally: design teams, business units, global satellite offices
• externally: suppliers, partners, customers

Differentiation through design
Distinctive products amake themselves unique.
They can command premium prices if, in the mind of the customer, the difference is considered to be worth of extra cost.
Offers on:

• distinctive qualities
• brand atributes (style, appearance)

Details become important:

• aesthetics
• function
• shape
• each and every design detail
• expectation of quality and experience

Design and work environments
Retaining highly-talented staff is an increasingly critical factor to the success of an organisation.
Providing high-quality working environment is another way that design can add value to an organisation.
Company buildings can reinforce and reflect the brand and simultaniously strengthen the internal culture.
They are becoming more important factors than high salaries in staff retention.

Innovation or improvement?
increasing market share may rely on incremental and continuous evolutionary improvements, rather than revolutionary innovation or invention.
Feedback solicited from customers and users forms:

• improving customer service
• incresing satisfaction
• building customer loyalty

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For Major Project

Customisation
Our product itself isn't really customisable but it's content is. As it is digital content, each of the tube companies could require specific functions of the content while keeping the landscape as important part of the psychological help in the underground.

Speed to market
is quite issue as developments in the field of digital media is enormous.

Differentiation through design
The design would use in the later stages the newest technology (flexible displays) which would differentiate it from the other products used on the platforms (paper print, projections).

Design and work environments
n/a

Innovation or improvement?
Innovation