Category: Brands

Brands Product design

Why The USPS Should Have Made Babies A Brand Priority

I was in New York recently and had to do a double take when I saw a USPS mail carrier delivering mail. The mail was being maneuvered through the streets using a device that greatly resembled the popular product design of the luxury baby stroller–

  • Two bigger wheels in the back that sit on a wider frame.
  • Two smaller wheels in the front that sit on a narrow frame.
  • Ability to house precious cargo safely.

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Could baby strollers have been the answer to the USPS’ financial crisis?

The mail carrier device and the baby stroller have similar functions and design. I’ll argue that the mail carrier has an even better design. The way the front wheel frame curves in the front, and the ratio in size of the front and back wheels, look vintage (An important aspect of the current luxury product offerings.) The mail carrier, unlike the baby stroller, uses one handle and gives the handler more flexibility with a free hand.

Part of discovering a great product idea is noticing where these kind of parallel’s exist. When needed functionality and good design exist in one place, chances are they may fill a need somewhere else.

Brands

Apple and why anything else is uncivilized

Apple-Logo-black

Apple’s brand strategy seems simple – Make people fall so in love with your product offerings that anything else is uncivilized.

What does this mean with the launch of products like the Apple Watch and Apple Music? What could possibly be next for the brand that seems to have it all? The answer, become a commodity brand. Make it so that anytime we think of looking at our Watch or uttering the word Music, Apple is living in our subconscious mind. These associations are  strong enough to create dominance in any product category.

It’s different than Q-tips, Kleenex and Google, which were basically the first of their kind. Apple has taken ideas that have been around, yet make people feel that it was not the right experience until introduced by them. It’s why the only smart phone or tablet worth having, for many, is an Apple one.

If someone say’s “Google it”, you know what they mean.

Apple will have people saying “…stream it on Music.”