Rural India presents a big opportunity for oral care brands. As awareness of oral health grows, people are looking for alternatives to the less effective toothpowder they have always used and sales of toothbrushes are increasing, up by 11% across India.
With the nascent market growing at pace, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recognised that gaining early access with a new toothbrush for sensitive teeth could potentially deliver significant market share growth. But with low household incomes, price is a major barrier.
To persuade consumers to buy into the Sensodyne brand, the challenge for GSK and agency DCA Design International was to create a toothbrush specifically designed for the Indian market that would retail at the low-cost of no more than 30 rupees. That’s about 30 pence; and is a price considerably cheaper than any of GSK’s existing toothbrushes on the market.
In order to reach the target market, a vast and diverse network of small, independent store owners who only sell low cost items, would also need to be persuaded to stock the toothbrush. Whilst overcoming the price barrier was key, for GSK it was also fundamental that the toothbrush design retained the Sensodyne brand’s quality features and design cues; it needed to be ergonomic, with a high-quality look and feel. The strategic approach to the project was defined by finding a low-cost way of designing and manufacturing a toothbrush that didn’t compromise on quality.
It resulted in a skilful and holistic design approach which meticulously unpicked the entire process behind the design and manufacture of a toothbrush to meet these objectives, identifying as many efficiencies throughout the supply chain as possible. This fully integrated process led to the creation of a product that eliminates price as a barrier and has successfully persuaded rural dwellers to trial a more premium product. The number of Sensodyne Daily Care toothbrushes sold in the first six months alone exceeded delivery forecasts four times over, with the toothbrush encouraging millions of people to change their oral hygiene routine.
Merchandised using a simple point-of-sale hanger, attached to an existing shelf in the store, the toothbrush has to work hard by itself to catch shoppers’ attention and successfully stands out in a visually cluttered store environment. With its premium cues and bright colours, it is attractive, affordable, and communicates Sensodyne’s visual brand language and the product’s value proposition.
The smart use of materials and innovative design ensure the toothbrush is featherweight, weighing in at just 9.4 grams (7.6 grams less than industry standard) making it more efficient to produce and transport. The design solution’s manufacturing cycle is exceptionally rapid (37% faster than a typical toothbrush) and despite being made using 45% less material, it’s still premium looking, feels like a toothbrush should, and cleans sensitive teeth effectively.
These efficiencies have enabled crucial savings to be passed onto the consumer at point of sale. As a result, the Sensodyne Daily Care toothbrush is cost effective enough for thousands of small store owners, scattered across rural India, to sell and its driven wider distribution, increasing Sensodyne’s toothbrush retail outlets by 17%.
Crucially, as a direct result of the success of the low-cost, lightweight, premium-looking toothbrush, Sensodyne has increased its share of the toothbrush market in India. It’s opened up a whole new market for GSK and established the brand with a new segment of consumers.
Founded in 1989, the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards recognise impactful, wide-ranging examples of design that have had a tangible and measurable impact upon business and societal success. Judged by a broad range of business leaders and entered jointly by client and designer, the Awards draw focus onto design’s strategic and commercial value to business and society.
Prestigious and authoritative, the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards is the only award scheme that uses commercial data as a key judging criteria. Nowhere is the quality and effectiveness of the design industry’s offer more evident than across the case studies recognised in the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards.
To read about the 2019 DBA Design Effectiveness Award winners announced at the ceremony on Wednesday 12 June, or for details of next year’s awards programme, go to www.effectivedesign.org.uk
Winner of the prestigious Grand Prix this year was the Sensodyne Daily Care Toothbrush, by DCA Design International and GlaxoSmithKline.
And they had plenty to smile about, as the Sensodyne Daily Care Toothbrush is 37% faster to produce than a standard toothbrush, uses 45% less material and is significantly lighter to transport, delivering crucial cost savings. In creating a quality toothbrush which can retail at an affordable price, GlaxoSmithKline and DCA Design International have overcome price as a barrier to the emerging rural Indian market and exceeded delivery forecasts four times over in the first six months alone.
Golds went to 8 winners, including Calm Harm, a life-saving app for young people at risk of self harm. Design agency HMA and client stem4 celebrated downloads of around a million across the world in more than 170 countries. Over 60% of users have used the ‘Calm Harm’ app more than once and 93% report a reduction in the urge to self-harm after completing one of its exercises.
Gold also went to Anglian Water and design agency Spring’s funfair-themed, interactive, community event, which captured the imagination of the public. Over three million people were reached, and there were over 20,000 actual interactions – three times more than the target – thanks to the radically different corporate communications.
And following the launch of Quorn’s new look by Bulletproof, two million new customers have tried the brand for the first time. To keep up with demand, one hundred more employees have been hired and £150 million invested in a new production capacity, earning it a Gold award too.
There were also 33 Silvers and 18 Bronze awards, click here for the full winners list.
Deborah Dawton is Chief Executive of the Design Business Association. “Uniquely, the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards are entered jointly by both client and agency and determined on the evidence and data of the impact design has had in those businesses. Three rigorous rounds of judging culminate on the final Grand Prix winner being selected by CEOs of FTSE 100 companies.
We bring the best and brightest of the design world together to celebrate the difference design makes, its impact measured across a broad section of industry, from global brands to small charities, all of whom saw the benefit that embedding design can bring.”
Clive Grinyer was Chairman of the Judges for the first time this year. “For all these companies and organisations, design was fundamental to their success and the driver of differentiation. Whether competing in complex markets, improving customer satisfaction or striving for social improvement, it was clear that for every entry there was never any doubt that it was design that made the difference.
These are great days for design, great human talent from around world centred in the UK to create design impact in commerce, government, the services we use and the products we buy.”
You can find all the photos of the Awards Ceremony here.
The Design Business Association is the world’s most vocal champion of the role of effective design in the creation of business growth. The most important way of communicating the value of design is by measuring its true effectiveness.
The annual DBA Design Effectiveness Awards are both prestigious and authoritative, covering the broad spectrum of the design industry by measuring entries against their own design brief metrics and not against each other.
By integrating business aims and objectives from the start of the partnership, you set the stage for a transparent and accountable relationship between client and designer that provides the best creative and commercial environment for success. Award-winning case studies serve to demonstrate the excellent value for money and return on investment that a coherent, well-thought-out and professionally executed design strategy can achieve.
In 2019 the DBA have stripped the survey back and removed some questions that will only be included on a bi-annual basis, as results rarely differ in a two-year period. This will make completing the survey slightly quicker for everyone.
2019 also welcomes a shorter survey for smaller agencies to take part in which should make it easier for small creative businesses to benchmark their financial performance, salaries and rates – essential to managing your business.
Only DBA member businesses are surveyed and only these businesses get access to the final results – a printed report and full access to the online dynamic data tables. All responses are treated in the utmost confidence, and members derive real benefit from the information supplied year on year.
The final on-line report features salary and utilisation rates, hourly fee rates and staff benefit levels for over 50 job titles. Results can be filtered on location, size of business and design disciple meaning that the data is particularly relevant to YOUR business.
Access to the results allows companies to benchmark figures against those of their peers. Are you charging enough? Are you not recovering enough of your time costs? Completing the survey helps develop your financial processes, having this type of information at your fingertips is essential for managing a successful profitable design business.
If you would like further information or have any questions about the annual survey, please contact me directly eleanor.singh@dba.org.uk
The shift towards ‘experience’ is a well-documented one. However, experience is a very broad topic today, and can be misunderstood. For us at D&P, experience isn’t just something that is layered into existing stores or spaces; it’s everything a brand does to connect with a customer. It includes its brand positioning, identity and storytelling, content, digital platforms, service, spaces, products and people – all of these components together make the brand experience. This is why, rather than defining ourselves as a retail design agency, we’ve been working on a holistic approach to become a creative agency that specialises in total brand experience.
As an agency, we’ve been reflecting on the diversity of work we’ve been doing and recognising the shift in the role we have with our diverse range of clients. We’ve faced fresh challenges from the ambitious brands we’ve worked with, helping them define and implement their next chapters.
A huge challenge for brands today is to differentiate themselves in saturated markets. Consumers are also changing their spending habits, prioritising experiences over possessions and brands with purpose over brands without. For retailers, these drivers are having a significant impact on how they create and develop their retail spaces. The brief has changed; interior design remains important, but brands have to take more into consideration. A more insightful, strategic approach is needed to help clients find their position in this ever-shifting consumer landscape and it’s leading to a change in the way agencies partner with clients.
That being said, the role of the store hasn’t changed for every brand. A lot depends on the brand’s purpose and the role of the store in the entire brand ecosystem. For some stores, remaining a purely commercial platform will make sense. For other stores, their role could become more about raising awareness and building advocacy. Some store concepts have even transformed beyond anything we’ve seen before – just look at the Lego Wear x Snapchat store.
Joining the dots across physical and digital channels is another ongoing challenge for retailers. Omni-channel is a significant undertaking, and one that’s very much needed for many brands, however there should be a shift in focus to ‘complementary channels’. Not every channel has to do the same job; working out where each channel’s strengths are and the benefits they can bring the brand is more effective than simply applying the same strategy. Making sure online and in-store experiences work together in harmony is another area where we believe a holistic approach can make a big difference to retailers, creating the highest impact for the customer.
Whether it’s instant fulfilment and convenience or entirely experience-led spaces, stores will need to find their purpose and serve it well to thrive in this new era. In some ways, it has never been a more creative time for retail. The role of the store will continue to diversify as it adapts to new consumer needs and brand ambitions, and agencies will similarly evolve their offering to better serve clients.
Regardless of how diverse our role becomes, and how broad our expertise is applied across the total brand experience, we still believe that stores, whatever form they evolve into, will always be a fundamental part of any brand ecosystem and marketing strategy.
Paul West is the Strategy Director at Dalziel & Pow, a leading, independent creative agency with an ambition to create the world’s favourite brand experiences.
At D&P, we define and design brands, and bring them to life as physical and digital experiences using our expertise across strategy, branding, communications, environments and digital. In our 35 years of partnering with some of the world’s leading retailers across the globe, we believe that the most fundamental factor to success is an impactful and differentiating brand experience. Everything we do is designed to help our clients thrive in today’s new consumer landscape and deliver measurable shifts in brand awareness and engagement, sales and advocacy.
Image credit:
Ian Parker on Unsplash
Scott Webb on Unsplash
But before you do – we thought it would be useful to hear about the benefits of lifelong learning and development from two experts in the field of CPD – continuing professional development:
Caroline McDonald, Director of Access and Engagement at Birkbeck, University of London.
Jordan Scammell, Development Team Manager at the University of Westminster.
DBA: Let’s face it, people are busy – why does CPD matter?
Caroline: Learning is a lifelong commitment, it doesn’t stop when you’re 18 or 21. You’ve got to keep up and stay on top. But it’s not just about learning for learning’s sake. It contributes to better mental health and happiness, and usually leads to an increase in salary! It’s interesting that in the USA, they’re more progressive about continuing professional development, they’re more reflective and self-aware than we give ourselves space to be, they are committed to investing in themselves.
Jordan: It can be a challenge to find the time of course but committing to it is really important. It might take two days, and you might have a lot on your plate, but you have to think about it strategically. If you make time for development, it could have a favourable impact on your efficiency, help you manage conflict better. You could be saving a lot of time going forward if you invest in this training now. You have to really think about what the return on investment will be.
DBA: Do you practice what you preach?
Jordan: I do! Once a month, I block out three hours for my professional development, to step away from the day job, and do some horizon-scanning, of the sector, of my colleagues, benchmarking myself and what we do against others. I’m head of development and fundraising and I must protect that time.
Caroline: Absolutely! We offer a really generous scheme where staff have the majority of their fees covered to undertake study at Birkbeck – the individual only contributes 5% and individual departments subsidise further. Our careers team are really helpful in helping staff apply for internal positions as well. We are also advocates for peer mentoring to offer other support to staff and navigate progression. We have a core training offer around project management, line management, how to deal with difficult situations – it’s more pragmatic ‘how do I do my job better’ stuff. And we undergo an annual development review of all staff and training and learning needs are assessed and then passed on to professional development colleagues. That way we can identify common themes and needs.
DBA: There’s a difference between practical upskilling and the more ‘coaching-style’ type of training course isn’t there?
Caroline: We refer to what we call ‘the second chancers’ – you left education 20 years ago and you’ve learned everything there is to know on the job, but are you future-proofed? If you were to leave that job tomorrow, would your skills translate and resonate across fast-evolving sectors? Of course, different training resonates for different reasons. If you’re in a leadership role you need to be self-reflective, but if you’re organising training for your team, you need to reflect ‘with’ them on what they really need.
Jordan: Practical courses are always popular because there is a clear output to your time invested. It’s tangible, you’re upskilling, and there is a direct benefit to your role immediately. But when you’re in a senior or a leadership role, it’s less about the practical and more about strategic thinking and getting the best out of your team – although I would say it is important that you keep pace with developments in technology.
DBA: Speaking of accessing training, how easy is it?
Caroline: If you’re an articulate, senior level member of staff, you’re probably going to have no problem accessing training. Often it’s the quieter less established staff members who are more overlooked. Giving people the confidence to put themselves forward is key.
Annual reviews can help identify training needs, but they don’t always marry up with what’s in the budget, so as a boss, you have to be prepared to be flexible about timing and give people the tools they need to pursue development on an individual basis.
DBA: So an important message for the decision-makers in any company?
Caroline: To bosses, I would say, there’s a lot of evidence that increasingly, if you want to sustain and maintain a good employee base – they need to feel valued, particularly in this political climate, it makes them feel secure. One way to do this is to invest in staff training. If you want to be a 21stcentury, forward-facing employee-focussed business, you will attract new staff and offer a better commitment for your existing staff, so they don’t take their new skills elsewhere.
DBA: What does the future look like in the world of CPD?
Jordan: Online development is very popular. We have an online portal with video tutorials, you’ll be set tasks and get a digital certificate when you complete them, which can be shared on LinkedIn. It’s really valuable and lots of people find online training easier because it’s accessible and can be undertaken in your own time.
Caroline: Training tends to be thought of at a very localised level, if you’re lucky enough to have a good line manager for example, or perhaps a good regional manager. We have to change the narrative as CPD makes you better, happier, and more successful, and boosts your mental health.
As the Director of Access and Engagement, Caroline’s remit reflects the continued strategic importance Birkbeck gives to its ambitions and mission in relation to widening access. Her role includes leadership within the College on matters relating to access and the establishment and delivery of initiatives, but also cross sector working with governmental bodies, London Local Authorities, think tanks associated with this sector, broader education providers and the third sector.
Jordan heads up the Development Team at the University of Westminster with responsibility for major gift fundraising, regular giving, project and proposal development, the disbursement of an annual fund of over £4m and all Development operations including donor stewardship, prospect research, database management and gift processing.
It was a beautiful morning overlooking the Thames when six prestigious judges entered the glass-walled boardroom to take on the challenge of naming the winner of the Grand Prix in the Design Effectiveness Awards 2019.
An introduction from Chairman of the judges Clive Grinyer set the scene – as always – the judges measure the effectiveness and impact of design. As CEO Deborah Dawton says, it’s about ‘the difference design makes’.
Businesswoman and entrepreneur Deborah Meaden, CEO of London & Partners Laura Citron, Arup Deputy Chairman Tristram Carfrae, Cisco Chief Executive, UK & Ireland, Scot Gardner, James Cain OBE, Chief Executive, Harrogate Spring Water and Mark Fairweather, CEO of Whitworths, came together at Coley Porter Bell for the third and final round of judging.
Heated debate, persuasive points of view, for a while, the outcome seemed to lay in the balance – but in the end, a clear winner emerged.
Of course, it’s top secret until the Awards ceremony on June 12th at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London.
The overriding impression when looking through the Design Effectiveness Awards winning entries is that every one of the applicants is being conscious of the decisions they make. They have realised that considering what they do, who it is for and taking deliberate actions to create impact, are essential to achieving their objectives. And it’s this conscious awareness of design at the heart of how they think that’s led to these businesses standing out in crowded markets, driving engagement through enhanced or simplified user experiences, reacting to the changing and future needs of customers.
Although there are still those who see design as something to layer on afterwards (and in doing so, miss the opportunity to deliver the true breadth and depth of impact of which design is capable), increasingly we see a shift in the positioning of design inside business and beyond. Leaders can see the impact of understanding what triggers impact and success, of experimenting and going further to deliver delight, surprise or even just simply working as you want something to work.
The start-up phenomenon of the last two decades has had an impact on how we see design. A host of exciting new products and services, often with designers as their founders, have emerged and disrupted more traditional businesses. For many new companies, their launch pad and energy are rooted in a desire to reshape the world as it should be, not in how it has evolved. Legacy technology, traditional market thinking and simple lack of imagination have held both business and public sector thinking back.
But a start-up has a blank piece of paper, often accompanied by real insight into the frustrations of using existing ways of doing things. Banks are the obvious example. Our major banks still hold most customers, but they are being forced to innovate and move fast by a host of new banks who start with design. Banks who are prioritising design from their outset to smash conventions, to focus on simplicity (which is never simple to deliver) and to identify what people wanted, but could never previously get.
Innovation has been top of mind for a long time, but the relationship with design has not always been strong. The drive to digital and social media bring great advantages to customers and marketeers, from better government services to youth engagement of your brand. But it’s taken a while to see that great innovation needs great design to speed adoption and make new ideas relevant.
But now we can see the two marching in step. The best performers are those where great design has not just communicated a product or service. The winners take design to their heart and find the insights that will drive creativity that leads to a step change, not just a new lick of paint. Whether a major brand, a charity or an infrastructure project, we can see how design is the start of the conversation. That conversation is less ‘what do we have?’ but more ‘what should we have?’. How can we make those conscious decisions that make the most of our resources and efforts and deliver real impact?
The DBA Design Effectiveness Awards are more than just a celebration of a huge range of proven and often incredible examples of the impact of design. They are becoming a record of how design is taking the centre stage, filing the first page and driving the strategy and delivery of everything from packaging, customer experience or operating system.
I’ve spent much of my career evangelising, coercing and persuading organisations to give design a chance to show the impact it will have. The wonderful feeling in seeing this year’s awards is that design has made it; it is front and centre, embraced throughout organisations and a vital part of their success. Of course this is not yet true for all business, but it is true for the Design Effectiveness Award winners – their conversation started, and ended, happily, with design.
Entered jointly by client and designer, and rigorously judged by industry leaders in three rounds of judging, the Awards represent independent and authoritative recognition of the unambiguous value of design.
This year – we saw the impact of design across the spectrum.
View the shortlist of 59 winning entries here.
The shortlisted entries will find out if they have won Gold, Silver or Bronze at the black-tie award ceremony and dinner at the Royal Horticultural Halls on the 12 of June.
Book your tickets for the 2019 Design Effectiveness Awards ceremony here and find out what a difference design makes.
“Clive Grinyer has been a passionate advocate for the transformational potential of design for some three decades. Today’s focus on the value of digital product design and on design’s value in leading customer experience in the UK is, in large part, due to his work.” Creative Review, Top 50 Creative Leaders, 2018
For more than three decades Clive has led innovation teams developing human centred solutions for the modern world. At Barclays Bank Clive pioneered service design and built a team that bought customer insight and agile design methodology to create solutions that transformed customer problems and developed new products and services.
Clive joined Barclays from Cisco where he led innovation projects for their major customers in financial services, retail and and public services. He has led award-winning design teams for Orange, Samsung and IDEO and founded the design consultancy Tangerine along with Apple design chief Jony Ive.
Clive is an acknowledged expert in design thinking, digital and technology innovation and customer experience, speaks at national and international conferences, write articles and blogs and has published the book “Smart Design” on design and technology. He was a trustee of the Royal Society of Arts, is a Visiting Professor at Glasgow School of Art and visiting tutor at the Royal College of Art.
Clive is the Chairman of the Judges for the 2019 DBA Design Effectiveness Awards. Hear from Clive and read about his role here.
Image credits:
Photo by Tom Hill on Unsplash
Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash