The proof is well documented both here in New Zealand and offshore:

Palmerston North company OBO has become the global leader in hockey goalie protective equipment. It sells to 61 countries and has more than 60 percent market share. Design has put them there. OBO has focused on immersing itself in the world of the hockey goalie and developing innovative, good looking products that allow the wearer to be more agile and more effective.

Fisher & Paykel’s revolutionary DishDrawer retails for more than double its standard dishwasher. The new product provided the company with a platform to enter new markets in UK/Europe and the Middle East. The company’s revenue from appliances increased from $500 million in the 1997/1998 financial year to $853 million for 2003/2004, and 150 additional staff were added for DishDrawer development and production alone. Perhaps most markedly, the operating profit before interest and tax for appliances leapt from $11.5 million in the 1997/1998 financial year to $102 million for 2003/2004. 

Formway Furniture’s award-winning Life chair has been designed with the human form in mind. Since its launch in 2002, the company has achieved $6.5 million in sales in Australasia alone. But more significantly, the company has negotiated the chair’s production under licence in the US, earning significant licensing fees and royalties. The chair took 20 person years to develop, but the investment was recouped in under three years from licensing fees alone. The patented IP for the Life chair is the most valuable asset for Formway.

“By athletes for athletes” is the philosophy that has earned triathlon clothing company Orca a 60 percent share of the world’s elite triathlon market, and is now allowing the company to retain its premium pricing for wetsuits and other clothing aimed at the entry level triathlon market. With the world’s top athletes wearing Orca, the brand cachet for a product that gives a proven competitive advantage is the result of a relentless focus on creating a design-led advantage.

“Great design is anything but skin deep. It only works – it only happens – when it goes right down to the heart and soul of the company that produces it. And such a company thrives only when its roots go right down into the culture and country that inspire it.” Rod Oram, media commentator and Adjunct Professor, New Zealand Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Unitec 

Internationally, a study carried out by the UK Design Council, showed that a hypothetical fund made up of 95 “design-embracing” companies outperformed their competitors on the FTSE index by an average of 10 percent, but with a range of 5-28 percent.

The World Competitive Forum’s Global Competitive Report is also very revealing. Without exception, all of the 24 countries ranked top for design appear in the top 25 in terms of competitiveness. Research by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, based on Return on Capital Employed found that the highest performing companies gave design a high strategic priority – 75 percent of the top 25 percent performers.

By contrast, 90 percent of the bottom 25 percent of companies did not accord design such importance. Brands such as Apple’s iconic iMac and iPod, Swatch, BMW, Nokia, Google and 3M have created their wealth through design-led thinking. But consumer brands aside, there are a great number of business-to-business companies providing less known but equally valued products and services at a premium to their loyal customers, often within very specific niche markets. And those niche markets are where New Zealand is well placed to perform.