Design core to success at top global brands

The study follows interviews with multinationals such as Microsoft, Starbucks and Sony, in a bid to highlight how design can sit at the heart of the innovation process.

Championed today on Radio 4’s Today programme and Radio 5 Live by the outgoing Design Council chairman Sir George Cox, the research is called Eleven Lessons: Managing Design in Eleven Global Corporations. It follows interviews by the Design Council with chief creatives at a raft of leading companies, which also included Alessi, BT, BSkyB, Lego, Whirlpool, Yahoo, Virgin Atlantic and Xerox.

According to the research, these companies not only place design high on their agenda, but also have set processes for how it is managed internally to contribute to innovation and new product and service development. It also sheds light on exactly how these global leaders manage design and integrate their design teams into their businesses to stay competitive.

Key findings are that design is a key driver, design processes taking project from insight and idea to implementation are similar in each company, design functions are tied to senior management and design is creative but also corporate.

See www.designcouncil.org.uk/elevenlessons for case studies and supporting analysis.