Service design and brands

The best service design piece I’ve read over the last couple of weeks is Service design: a robust way to build brands at Brands Create Customers.

Brian Phipps says brand managers should look to service design as a robust methodology to evolve brands. In the three-phase evolution of brands, service design can move a brand towards being a service and unlock more value than a product alone could provide.

Phipps also argues service design is more strategic than traditional brand myths and symbols: “Because service design is customer-focused and results-oriented, it contains more strategic potential than traditional brand myths and symbols. Brands built on symbols, myths and stories are not strategic. They’re customer dead ends.” I couldn’t agree more.

It’s great to get people’s perspective on service design from other disciplines. I’m looking for more of this type of stuff.