Strategic design
Brian Richards’ illuminating insights
Brand strategist Brian Richards believes understanding customer needs and creating a goldplated user experience, are the keys to unlocking innovation in businesses and organisations.
Richards has spent 30 years advising leading companies in New Zealand, Australia, Asia and Europe, and in 2007 was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the Design Institute of New Zealand.
But despite being at the top of his industry, Richards says there is still a lot to be done to bring companies closer to truly understanding their customers.
His business, Richards Partners, melds together strategy and design. It is tucked away in the Newmarket area of Auckland, along with a sister company, Chrysalis Partners. Senior executives spend time there, learning the difference between what people really want and what their businesses actually give them, said Richards.
For some companies, that experience even means sending ‘‘undercover’’ executives out with researchers to visit the homes of customers, to see and hear what people really think of their businesses, services and products.
‘‘I do spend a lot of my life in boardrooms, which can be quite challenging. But I also ask business leaders to look at their customers from the outside in – taking a senior executive to a solo mum’s house, for example, to immerse them into that customer’s world. That experience can reinvent the business.’’
Richards is passionate about encouraging the innovation and production of quality products in New Zealand, rather than simply producing more. His love for New Zealand’s primary industries is personal, as he owns and operates his own deer farm in Kaipara Harbour.
‘‘Often, companies are looking to globalise, and the moment they step into that area, they need to have internationally benchmarked products,’’ he said.
‘‘We have a wide-ranging clientele, and another strategic part of our business is about finding a point of difference in a crowded world of choice, looking at pricing for example, in a very granular way.
‘‘For many years now I have been challenging New Zealand about how to sell less for more. It is time to turn the corner, because we can’t be chasing volume as opposed to value.
‘‘We have the talent and the infrastructure, but we also need a vision.’’
Richards puts executive teams through a programme to bring them closer to their customer. With so much product parity and the ability to buy online, it is the relationship with the customers which unlocks innovation within organisations.
‘‘One major footwear brand had the inability to see the type of customer they were trying to attract.
‘‘They had too many products in store and the company changed lines every season. But by grouping styles in-store, by telling a story, that to me was what it was all about, understanding the customer and making something extraordinary.’’