DARWIN’S CORNER

Just ask Target. Or Alessi. Or Chrysler.  Affordable design is a differentiator in so many aspects of our lives. In fact, we pretty much expect things to be well designed….that is, until they aren’t.

photos via Target, Alessi and Chrysler

Think about it for a moment: you can go to a store or shop online and purchase a household item or article of clothing knowing that it is attractively designed, reasonably priced, and of acceptable quality.

Yet, when you go to work there’s very good chance that the building and its interior hasn’t changed one bit since it was first built.

Essentially, you may be working in an obsolete environment. One designed for typewriters and drafting tables, not computers and collaboration.

And, if your company is like most others, you and your colleagues represent up to 70% of the fixed cost of the business. Meanwhile, the cost for the space you occupy costs your employer around 5% of fixed costs.

What this means is that you quite possibly may be suffering and adapting to an obsolete space, while becoming less and less efficient, because a relatively small amount of money isn’t spent to improve your working conditions.

photo via Micropress

I was visiting T2, a well-established Indianapolis tech company a week ago, and they had just moved into new headquarters. The building interior is beautifully designed and fitted out. Not just the lobby, mind you, but the entire space. In talking with Irena Goloschokin, a senior executive, she expressed how much everyone loved coming to work (of course, two craft beers on tap is a pretty nice inducement).

But well beyond the lunchroom amenities, the space was purpose-designed to meet the specific needs of each type of employee, from programmers to web developers, to hardware developers to marketing, customer service and management.

Here’s just one small example of how they made space that fit each type of task: software developers need privacy. They are normally shoved into cubicles away from windows and other people. But not here. Each developer gets a private “office” (about the same footprint as a cubicle but much nicer) that has a large exterior window, work surfaces designed for what they do (like a whiteboard wall directly behind their desk, so they can swivel and whiteboard ideas). And the glass door is on a track so they can easily slide it open or closed. Lighting is controlled in each individual office.

The result: developers are delighted. They work more productively than before, stay longer, interact with teammates.

So, I asked Irena about the cost. They hired a design firm, Schott Design, with lead designer Jessica Enright, and working together Schott and T2 used some of the existing furniture from their former space, and artfully incorporated it with the new furniture.

But Irena looked beyond the cost savings, and said that the investment had already paid dividends in improved engagement, higher productivity and overall employee satisfaction.

(By the way, we had this discussion at 7p over a glass of beer, and there were still plenty of people at work. Talk about an engaged workforce!)

The list of innovations could go on, but the point is that the cost was essentially the same as if they had done a standard issue design that wouldn’t have been purposefully thought out to meet the needs of employees, today and tomorrow.

-Tom Miller

So could your landscape or grounds truly reflect your brand…seriously?

At so many levels your grounds create the critical first impression for your new recruits, your potential clients, and your existing clients.

At the simplest level, do your grounds reflect the attention to detail that you provide your clients? “God is in the details” (attributed to architect Mies van der Rohe), clearly applies to all your company represents – doesn’t it? Are your beds edged, shrubs neatly pruned, the lawn weed free, and hard surfaces swept and cleared of trash? If the exterior of your building is a tired mess of overgrown plants and weedy turf, is that warning your visitors about what they can expect from your work product?

Taking it to the next level, do the grounds reflect the values of your company? It is amazing how many companies speak of being environmentally sensitive in their products and building recycling programs, yet they fail to address their grounds. Instead they have heavily irrigated over-fertilized lawn panels; they use plant material that requires extensive chemical pest management; they fail to use plant material in ways to naturally support the mechanical needs of the building; and/or they do nothing to clean the storm water runoff from their massive parking lots. Addressing these issues may change the accepted aesthetic norm we’ve become accustomed to, but what an opportunity to reinforce your values to clients or recruits.

At the highest level, we are seeing the introduction of wellness amenities on more corporate grounds. Most begin with designated multi-length fitness trails. Others have added outdoor sports courts (sand volleyball and basketball), while the most progressive have added community gardens for their staff. In each instance they tie these amenities to wellness programs through their HR department. Not only do these programs positively impact insurance costs, absenteeism, and general morale with existing employees, but also serve as a great recruitment tool for younger recruits!

So does your landscaping and grounds reflect your brand….absolutely!

And if this isn’t enough, take your site branding more literally and purchase a hundred gallons of football field marking paint and have your staff paint your logo in the turf. Maybe Google Earth will map it on the next fly over!

Rick Roberts
Director of Construction Services, Engledow Group

More than you think.  Here’s a true story about the power – and importance – of business environments.

A friend of mine is the president of a bank. Over casual conversation with him and one of his vice presidents, they both expressed frustration in not being able to hire bright, young MBAs to come to work for them at their corporate offices.

Photo via SFU Public Affairs & Media Relations

Frustrated by continually being turned down, they started asking every person they interviewed if they would consider working at the bank. The unanimous answer was “No.” The reason: “The office is so boring and old fashioned I would go crazy working here.”

Eager to fix the problem, the president called in an interior designer to fix the problem. The solution looked suspiciously like the current space. The proposals of two additional designers had the same, predictable results. This really isn’t necessarily the fault of the designers. In fact, it happens more often than we realize.

What’s the problem here? The bank is struggling to adapt to radically changing expectations concerning work environments. Perhaps the designers hear the word “bankers” and assume

“conservative.” Ordinarily, this translates into traditional wood décor, private offices, thick carpet…and quiet.

Photo via the justified sinner

Now, bankers should be a conservative lot – especially considering their recent performance. But that’s still not the issue. The central issue is that the space is not in sync with the new generation of workers or with the evolving attitudes of the president and his management team. Business casual rules. iPhones and iPads are ubiquitous. But no one could look beyond the walls and the stolid, dark wood furniture to see that they were the real impediment to a productive work environment.

The bank doesn’t need to install foosball or pool tables and stock the fridge with beer (after all, managing other people’s money is serious business), but they do need to seriously look at how the physical layout, the function of the furniture, and the other “invisible” amenities like access to sunlight, the welcome sound of coworkers interacting, proper seating and task lighting play a key role in shaping an environment. Addressing some of these issues might have made all the difference.

Instead, they invested in some potted plants.

-Tom Miller

Photo ©Thomas Mayer via ARCspace.com

It’s been an interesting journey starting Darwin Branded Environments. The genesis of Darwin was the observation that there seemed to be an overwhelming amount of work environments that were not consistent with their company’s brand message. Historically, brand gurus and their creative staff work on creating logos, messaging, public relations, marketing collateral, and websites. Interior designers and architects design spaces that meet the needs of the client with the latest trends. It’s not too often that the two disciplines collaborate as a team in designing a physical environment. Ideally, a company communicates their brand through all touchpoints- not only externally with the clients, vendors and stakeholders, but also internally defining their culture. Why not use the office, distribution center, or manufacturing facility to tell the story of your brand promise?

Photo via The Online Investing AI Blog

When I’ve been asked to explain “what is a Branded Environment?” my initial response has been to state a few retail examples like Starbucks, BMW, McDonald’s, Apple and Nike. Their brand messages are consistent across all touchpoints: products, website, social media, marketing material, retail stores, corporate office, and even factories. All are part of the brand experience. These companies invest in developing their own unique culture that is also part of the brand experience.

Branded Environments seems easy enough to understand when it applies to retail. Could this same philosophy apply to corporate environments? We started looking at the workplace and found some interesting things going on. We found it interesting that companies typically have a very healthy budget for marketing products and services, while not considering the physical environment as a marketing tool. Typically companies will spend money on the spaces the client will see, such as the reception area and conference rooms. The staff area is often neglected, even though it is the heart and soul of the company, and where great things should be happening. Why not make this the showpiece? The world is changing; the workplace needs to change too. Gen Y replacing boomers, technology changes, economic recession, environmental sustainability, and globalization are all part of these challenging times. We need to do more with less and focus on authenticity. People do business with people- not the company. Does your workplace foster innovation, creativity, and collaboration? Is attaining/retaining the right talent important to building your culture?

Miller Brooks PR transformation

So, here is my answer to the original question: A Branded Environment is a place or space that extends a company’s brand experience and can be expressed though all senses. One of my favorite quotes that is timeless: “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”- Sir Winston Churchill. It’s a great time to analyze your current environments and leverage your brand through your most important assets: people, technology, and real estate. Give us a call or drop us an email if you would like to start a conversation!

-Carolyn Schlaifer