Great interview from Mark Hurst with Brian King on the re-design of Courtyard by Marriott. A great case study on segmentation, observation, user-centered design, branding, and prototyping. Fun to see these familiar concepts applied in a domain that’s less familiar (to me anyway). I loved the description of business travelers being invited to a life-size prototype of the new lobby, built out of foam core to see how they would react to Marriott’s innovations.
I’ll take these cans any day over the new ones.
Finally, wine for Mormons. First Blush, juice made from wine grapes (yes, it’s non-alcoholic), with a nice winey description: featuring “the unique, complex flavors of Merlot, Cabernet, Chardonnay and Syrah grapes.” I know someone here will have a problem with this, but check the design! Love the rich colors of the juice, which the design plays very well with.
Maybe now I can finally make good on my threat to start drinking..
From the Dieline blog.
“The brand is what you tell your friends about afterwards.”Mark Hurst of Good Experience, in one of the most concise and useful definitions of “branding” I think I’ve ever heard.
“Tap’d NY is a bottled water for the new age: an honest and local alternative for all New Yorkers. We purify and bottle New York City’s famous tap water, leaving out the malarkey and far journey included in other bottled waters.” Ah, the honesty tactic.
Friggin’ brilliant.
A New Brand World is my favorite book on branding. Scott Bedbury who was instrumental in creating the Nike and Starbuck brands shares insights from that work and more. Highly recommended. And you can get it used for $2.42 on Amazon!
“People use a Dell. They are an Apple.”Seth Godin writes about Brand as mythology