Designs
Posted: November 21, 2007
Poor Design Fails the Brand by Chris McCrory, Lead Strategist
Here’s the scene: It is Halloween night, and my wife and I, with our three costumed little ones, are at my in-laws celebrating my father-in-law’s birthday (yes, the fact that his birthday is on this annual day of fright lends itself to a joke, but I’ll refrain). Before the girls head out for trick-or-treating, we gather in the dining room for a round of “Happy Birthday to You” and the ceremonial blowing out of the candles.
Just as we are about to start, my wife reminds her mother to get the camera. Her answer was, “I don’t have any film.” Fortunately, my mother-in-law’s friend was there with her digital camera. Later that evening, the friend tells us that she wants us all to get my mother-in-law a digital camera for Christmas, and we gladly agreed.
Fast forward to the week before Thanksgiving, when the friend calls my wife and tells her that she wants to get the camera that day so my mother-in-law can use it the following week. The search begins. The friend goes to three stores in the morning looking at different cameras and finds a couple that she likes. She calls me to get my opinion, and I quickly informed her that my wife wants another friend, who is a professional photographer, to help with the purchase.
The friend’s response: “I know what kind of camera she says to get, but it’s ugly and too expensive. I want to get her a cute one like mine. Ooh! And this one is on sale!”
Product design has two characteristics—form and function. It is the marriage of these two that makes for a successful brand. And the combination of form and function can vary in their relative contribution, delivering a range of budget to premium items.
What we have seen in 2007 is a rash of products made with form and price as the two main characteristics. The most prevalent recalls have been related to lead paint on products coming from China. Most of those products were commodity items wanting to look shiny for the lowest possible price. Cheap products, no matter how shiny and pretty, are cheap for a reason.
Then, Mattel started issuing its recalls, blaming Chinese manufacturing. As reported by Supply Chain Digest (SCD), however, Mattel’s biggest problems were not with shoddy manufacturing on China’s part. Nearly 90% of the time it was their product design. And they weren’t the only ones: “It seems design issues, in fact, are the overwhelming cause of product recalls. According to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, of the 10 recalls of products manufactured in China over a 2-week period in late July to early August, only one, the Mattel lead paint issue, was clearly due to manufacturing deficiencies.”
So why does this happen? SCD offers that it is due to pressures in meeting market schedules and competing in the global marketplace, making it harder to design for product safety and safe manufacturing.
Are you kidding me?
Speed to market and profitability are worth choking hazards and a few infant deaths? Really. Have we as a society become so capitalistic that we are Darwinist in our product design? “Our products are a form of natural selection.”
As I started writing this piece, I asked my wife what her top three attributes were when it came to toys for our kids. She listed them in this order:
- Educational
- Entertaining
- They have to last
If you’ll notice, the words cheap, inexpensive and affordable aren’t mentioned. I’m sure at some level affordability is a factor, but it is not a primary one. Why? If we are going to invest—yes, invest—in toys, being affordable is meaningless if the kids won’t play with them; if the toys break; or if the toys pose a life-threatening hazard to our children.
A quick search of recalls from 2007 shows hundreds of products from all sectors. We had pet food killing animals, peanut butter with salmonella, cars catching fire from faulty switches and babies getting caught in cribs.
Recalls are going to happen. Humans will make errors. The way a prototype performs in a testing environment will differ from the actual manufactured product in real life. Those are givens.
The reason(s) for the recall, the way in which the organization handles it and the steps taken to fix the problem and prevent future recalls determine the ability of the brand to recover and survive for the long-term. Imagine if Tylenol had done anything less than it had in the wake of its historic recall. Or if a second incident had occurred. The brand as we know it today would be much weaker, if it continued to exist at all.
Some key points in designing a branded product:
- Its function
- The quality of the components
- Its ability to withstand its expected use
- Its physical appeal, given the function and relative price point
- The testing environment
- The manufacturing environment
- The quality and detail of the specifications
- The quality assurance measures
So about that whole camera situation. We decided to get the brand of camera the professional photographer recommended, without all of the features that mother-in-law isn’t going to use or need. While it may not be as cute as the friend’s, the camera’s reputation, form and function will be just what she needs. And the recommendation of a pro helps.
Also see "Not Paying Enough Attention" for a discussion of similar issues related to production capabilities and limitations.
Let Chris know what you think. E-mail him at chris.mccrory@kennen-bmc.com.