YOUR COMPANY’SCOMPETITIVE ADVANTAGEdesign |

secret weapon

The COMPETITIVE WORLD is flat.Gone are the days when your better product offering

or superior customer service sets you apart from

your competitors. In fact, many of the ways you

tried to differentiate yourself in the past may not be

working for you in today’s competitive landscape.

Technology has created a more flattened landscape.

Small businesses can now play in the same pond

as big business. What was once only achievable by

big business can now be achieved by companies as

small as one person. This has created an increase

in competition and has pushed many companies

to reinvent themselves to survive in today’s digital

world.

Technology has effected how long-existing industries

are doing business. Call it the better mouse-trap.

This is demonstrated by Uber disrupting the

transportation industry by creating a well-designed

app that instantly connects riders to drivers. This

is also seen in the hospitality industry with Airbnb

changing how vacationers look for room choices

with the creation of their room sharing, elegantly

designed website and mobile app.

Both Uber and Airbnb had very innovative ideas that

launched their companies into the forefront of their

industry (one would even say, pave their own path),

but they used design to create an exceptional user

experience and attract customers.

In today’s competitive landscape, companies

that are getting noticed are leading with design.

Companies who are unwilling to invest in design are

finding themselves as a company stuck in their past

or appearing to their customers that they are no

longer relevant and stuck in the past. Thinking your

reputation will grab the attention of your potential

customer is no longer good enough. To advance in

your industry, design must be included as a key

differentiator - business as usual is no longer good

enough.

Indeed, competition is fierce. But don’t despair, hope

is not lost. Discover the secret weapon of business

that excel and discover for yourself - the design

advantage.

1Design: Your Companies Competitive Advantage [ © O’Daniel Designs, LLC ]

Better experiences with DESIGN.Design surrounds us and affects your buying

decisions, every day. You may not even realize it.

Why did you choose one coffee brand over the

other? It isn’t just about the taste. It is about the

experience you have with the coffee shop, the

design (and tactile experience) of their brand from

the logo on their door down to the coffee sleeve

you place on your cup. No longer can design be an

afterthought. The design of a brand differentiates

businesses in a crowded marketplace.

Design plays a key role in making your content

appealing. It attracts viewers and is a main reason

they stay on your website longer and want to

learn more about your business and offerings. It is

said that great design translates to great content.

Design is the connector between you and your

audience - your potential customer. With that deeper

connection customer loyalty is built and ultimately

boosts your revenue.

According to the study from Forrester on how

creativity impacts business results, companies that

foster creativity enjoy greater market share by a

factor of 1.5 when compared to their less creative

counterparts, and those companies that embrace

creativity achieved revenue growth.1

Companies who have a solid understanding of the

many ways that customers engage their brand build

deeply rooted connections with their customers.

This includes their brand experience on their

website, social media, print marketing, wearables

and every factor of business engagement.

In order for all of these personal connections to

thrive, businesses need to appear relevant and

timely to their audience.

Design: Your Companies Competitive Advantage [ © O’Daniel Designs, LLC ] 2

Design plays a key role in making your content appealing. It attracts viewers and is the main reason they stay on your website longer.

The now EXPERIENCE.

Consumers are not patient. They want amazing

content and experiences NOW. And, they want to

view this content and have these experiences on all

of their favorite devices. It is music to their ears (and

eyes) when they experience your business their way.

Brands need to know their audience and personalize

their website and marketing content to keep their

audience of customers and potential customer

engaged.

But how do you do this? The key is to have a

consistent brand design library of assets that can

be used online and in print to allow you to give a

consistent message across all online and offline

platforms.

3Design: Your Companies Competitive Advantage [ © O’Daniel Designs, LLC ]

Activating yourSECRET WEAPON.

Now that you have learned the advantage of design and

importance of building a design-led presence for your company,

it is time to activate your design secret weapon.

To begin activation, you will need to analyze the state of your

businesses’ current online and offline presence, and take the

necessary steps to digitally transform your company. Typically,

companies need to integrate design, personalization and

content. This is done by employing the right processes, using

the right technology platforms, and hiring the right people.

4Design: Your Companies Competitive Advantage [ © O’Daniel Designs, LLC ]

The DESIGN advantage.

Good Design requires Creative People

To become a design-led company, assembling a team of Creatives

is important. Creative teams are the driving force to keep your

brand’s relevance in today’s fast-paced technology-driven

world. Creative teams understand your brand, understand your

audience, and understand what it takes to keep your brand

advancing and breaking boundaries within your industry.

Design: Your Companies Competitive Advantage [ © O’Daniel Designs, LLC ] 5

Designing with Faster Processes

Achieving your ultimate goal of standing out in a technology

driven world does not happen in a vacuum. To achieve this

goal, collaboration must happen. Your technology reach

must be evolutionary with the collaboration of a team that

understands the modern world and can quickly deliver

consistent experiences across multiple platforms - both online

and offline.

Designing for Technology

Technology is the driver for today’s businesses to be relevant.

With the evolution of today’s technology, hiring a design

team that understands your business, how it ticks, and the

tools to best reach your audience is a must. As the mobile

world continues to grow, so must your presence for today

and tomorrow’s technology-driven world. Staying relevant

is a MUST, and building a team that that understands how to

advance your business forward is key.

Standing out in a technology driven world doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

The ADVANTAGE is now yours.

In today’s era where digital takes the lead, customers make instant decisions. Leading

companies are using design to give their audience a brand experience that today’s technology-

savvy consumer is expecting. Design elevates the consumer’s experience at every touchpoint

online and offline. Smart organizations realize the impact that design has on the bottom line

and use it to guide their digital strategies.

In order to create this better experience, companies must adopt a synergy of design, through

being present on the right online platforms and collaborating with a creative team that can

see the vision from conception to implementation.

The result will be experiences that engage every customer where they are, when they want it.

This in turn, creates a deeper loyalty with the brand and makes an impact on business results.

In essence, companies won’t just create great design, They’ll have a secret weapon.

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Smart organizations realize the impact that design has on the bottom line and use it to guide their digital strategies.

Design: Your Companies Competitive Advantage [ © O’Daniel Designs, LLC ]

Assessing your ADVANTAGE.

Design: Your Companies Competitive Advantage [ © O’Daniel Designs, LLC ] 7

Y N¡¡ My brand’s website is current for my business of today. It’s design was created less than 2 years ago.¡¡ My brand’s website is designed to look great on all viewing devices (desktop computers, laptop computers and all mobile devices). ¡¡ I use new and innovative online and offline ideas to attract my audience.¡¡ I have created a library of design assets that can be used quickly to promote my brand with my social media audience.¡¡ My brand’s colors, graphic elements, typefaces and visual style are consistent across all of my online and offline marketing campaigns and materials.¡¡ My brand is focused. Others can quickly and easily tell what I do.¡¡ I am using a company website domain email address in both online and offline marketing.¡¡ My brand’s story and voice are consistent across all of my online and offline marketing efforts.¡¡ My brands business card is working for me and generates new leads.¡¡ I have a clear picture of my ideal customer and how to market myself online and offline to get their attention.¡¡ I reach out to my ideal customer/target market in more than one way.¡¡ I have a follow-up plan to turn one-time customers into repeat customers.

Answer Yes or Noto assess your brand’s

current design advantage.

And The Results Are...

Add up all of your “Yes” answers.

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Assessing your brand gives you to tools to keep your brand moving forward in a technolgy driven world.

Design: Your Companies Competitive Advantage [ © O’Daniel Designs, LLC ]

Assessing your ADVANTAGE.

12 YES Answers Congratulations! You are doing all the right things to keep your

brand innovative and current to attract your customers. Keep up the

good work.

8 - 11 YES Answers You are making great strides at keeping your brand relevant with

today’s technology-savvy customers. Keep working to

increasing your brands design advantage to keep your brand

moving forward.

0 - 7 YES Answers Seek out design professionals and build a team that can help you

get a design advantage in today’s technology-driven world.

Design: Your Companies Competitive Advantage [ © O’Daniel Designs, LLC ] 9

Now that you know the secret and you have assessed your brand’s state of technology and marketing, you can

achieve a design advantage. O’Daniel Designs can help you get you where you need to go to move your brand

forward.

For 20 years, O’Daniel Designs has worked with brands in industries around the world to design creative

solutions that help them reach their audience and excel in a technology-driven world.

We love challenges - dissecting and strategically planning the best solution for building (and rebuilding) brands

to best compete in a crowded industry and become shining beacons of attraction to their ideal customers. We

believe design isn’t just a pretty picture, but should be a tool to get you where you need to go.

Design Matters. Client attraction is a two part process. First you need to get them there, and then you need to

give them a reason to act. Our team of designers and developers work collaboratively with you - getting

to know you and your business, creating a strategic road map for your branding, marketing and website

success.

For more information, visit ODanielDesigns.com or contact our design team.

1. Forrester Consulting, commissioned by Adobe. The Creative Dividend: How Creativity Impacts Business Results. August 2014.

2. Adobe. Your business has a new secret weapon. June 2015

The O’Daniel Designs ADVANTAGE.