Inflation is the single most disruptive force in brand marketing today. For many brand managers, it brings the gloomy specter of internal cost cutting, delayed innovation launches, or consumer down-trading to less expensive brands. However, this need not be the case. Well-prepared managers see this market disruption as an opportunity, rather than a risk, to grow their business.

Nearly any brand you can think of is dealing with cost inflation. Despite temporary relief in commodity pressure in 2008-9, raw material and energy prices are rising again and are projected by some analysts to reach new highs in the near term. Furthermore, as the Chinese economy continues its torrid growth, increased labor costs in that country could have a profound knock-on effect to material and conversion costs globally. All of this is problematic for brands.

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Design/Management Annual Conference 36

New Feature: Editor's Choice Video
Designing Business Models: Strategic methods for visionaries, game changers, and challengers
Alexander Osterwalder, Entrepreneur & Co-Founder, Business Model Foundry
 
Introducing a new DMI feature: selected "editor's choice" video from recent DMI conferences! Twice a month, we'll give you complimentary access to video of a recent presentation from one of DMI's renowned conferences. We'll be selecting the video from the extensive DMI member library of more than 200 conference presentations. In addition to the video, DMI members have online access to more than 1,000 articles published in the DMI Review and Journal.
 

 
Our introductory video is Alexander Osterwalder's highly-rated talk from this year's European conference, which was held in May in Amsterdam. Failing to explore alternative business models before you choose a direction bears the great risk of getting 'anchored' with an inappropriate, mediocre, or even bad business model. Alexander introduces a new and pragmatic way to map, analyze, design, and reinvent your business model or to find the right models for new products and services.
View the video
 
Keep an eye on DMI’s Facebook page and twitter feeds for future Editor’s Choice Video announcements.
 

New DMI Academic Membership Categories
In the interest of broadening participation in the educational community, DMI has now extended academic pricing to all DMI membership categories. Academic pricing has now been extended to the two largest DMI categories: Organization (which includes eight members), and Forum (which includes 16 members). Eligibility has been extended to students, in addition to educators and administrators.
 
This new pricing and eligibility provides educational institutions with increased flexibility to provide more individuals and students with DMI member benefits at a lower per-person price point. In addition to the academic pricing, DMI also has an Individual Student category for fulltime degree students. For more information about DMI membership, visit the DMI website or call us at +617-338-6380.
 

DMI Member Research
 
This fall, DMI will be conducting research of our membership to understand what is most important to the DMI community. We want to hear your concerns, your suggestions, your hot issues, and your vision of the future. We'll be conducting surveys and interviews to determine the future direction of the DMI membership program and DMI offerings in general. We will, of course, be contacting existing members about this research, but we're also interested in hearing from the community at large and obtaining the broadest participation possible. If you are not currently a DMI member and would like to participate in our research, please contact us to be included.
 
 

Webinars:
 
Building Customer Relationships through Service Engagement
Ted Booth, Interaction Design Director, Smart Design
November 9, 2011, 1pm ET
 
How you build your brand and deepen customer engagement is changing. More and more, this is happening 'bottom up' through the experience of the product or service itself, not 'top down' through media campaigns and messaging. This shift is changing how marketing happens and how customers are engaged. Smart Design will share learnings from the retail consumer financial services industry and other industries such as consumer electronics and health care. In particular, this webinar will touch on three main themes:

Designing for access Taking a systems approach Leading diverse teams toward a common vision More information

Seminars:
 
Co-Creating Meaningful Brand Experiences
Dave Norton, PhD, Principal, Lead Strategist, Stone Mantel
October 27-28, 2011, Seattle, USA
 
"This seminar shed light on how to create meaningful brand experiences and differentiate those experiences from the old branding paradigm. I loved this seminar!"
—Allison Leeds, Art Director, AOL
More information
 
Design Research and the Customer-Driven Strategy
Darrel Rhea, CEO, 2nd Road, North America
October 27-28, 2011, New York City, USA
 
"This is the single most valuable, relevant, timely and enabling seminar that I have ever attended. In just two days, we learned tools and methods that will be immediately usable in my job."
—Jeff Lopes, UX Director, Autodesk, Inc.
More information
 
Service Design for Business: Key Methods and Strategies for In-House Teams
Engine Service Design
November 3-4, 2011, London, UK
 
Comments from participants: "Great overall! I don't usually give perfect scores but you really were excellent. Thanks and well done!" "I gained great insight, usable for my organization, both internal and external."
More information
 
Managing Creative Staff
Dr. Leonard Glick, Executive Professor, College of Business Administration, Northeastern University
November 16-17, 2011, Boston, USA (New session!)
 
In this engaging, interactive seminar, you'll learn tools and techniques that can be used immediately to increase the effectiveness of your group.
"I learned a lot of tips that I will be able to apply in my day-to-day."
—Gabrielle Anctil-Martin, Project Manager, Studio Symbiose
More information
 
 

Working as One: Creative Teams and Outside Agencies

By Beverly Bethge, Founder, Senior Partner, Chief Creative Officer, Ologie, LLC and William Faust, Senior Partner, Chief Strategy Officer, Ologie, LLC
DMI Review, Vol. 22, No. 3, 2011
 
Too often, the relationship between in-house creative team and outside design agency is one of mistrust, competition, and anxiety. But this can be avoided, to the betterment of both. Here are seven best practices to make your collaboration a win-win proposition.
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Call for DMI Review Article Submissions
March 2012 Issue: Design Collaboration

What are the benefits of collaborative design? Co-design? Open design? What information and processes are necessary to support effective collaboration? What talents are best maintained in-house, and what contributions can consultants make? How does one find the right partners? How can designers and design managers contribute a "design thinking" perspective to broader corporate challenges? Please send article proposals by October 15 to editor@dmi.org.
 
 

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