Through a joint venture relationship Heywood Innovation has in Singapore, I have met with IE Singapore, the equivalent to Austrade in Australia, whose role is to build awareness and advise companies of the need for strong and appropriate branding particularly for export. The contrast with Austrade is remarkable. Underpinned by an active workshop series, Singapore-based companies are offered around a 50% offset for any brand development work carried out by qualified branding agencies. This is a huge incentive for emerging companies to think more seriously on the prospects of lifting their game and setting their sights on export achievements. Austrade leaves this task to individual companies with little or no active support or advice, ultimately costing them dearly when trying to penetrate overseas markets with weak and ill conceived brands inappropriate for the markets they have targeted. Many innovative ideas coming out of Australia have failed because of poor brand perception and communication, relying on feeble home-grown promotional efforts lacking professional input.
Government needs to consider educating business on the benefits of creativity particularly in digital media, which inspires many arguments for a more effective rollout of broadband. The recently introduced legislation that allows listed companies to provide their annual reports online is a great step in the right direction and an admirable cost saving and environmental gesture, which sadly did not even register on the green groups’ radar. This initiative however is not enforced for Government agencies who continue to focus on and produce printed documents.
Ultimate creativity does not necessarily guarantee a job or take up by industry. Creative courses in universities and colleges need to better align talent with business. Over a 20 year period the situation has not changed. There are fundamental flaws in the experience students have in these institutions which disadvantages them considerably from understanding the way business works and how their talents can be aligned with business needs. As an employer of talent I regularly witness educational institutions churning out students ill equipped to be employed in the creative industry, an industry where low salaries and low respect are rife as a consequence – the long road to being accepted as a serious profession. The inability for most design graduates to write a simple business letter or understand basic business principles flabbergasts me.
It would be good to see industry-sponsored design awards that are fit for purpose in industry not purely for the sake of creativity.
The value of good design and communication has dropped substantially in the last few years fuelled by continuous cost cutting that inevitably increases our clients’ performance bonuses and their belief that new technologies make creative work faster and easier and therefore less expensive. There is sadly too much emphasis on ‘honing the process’ than on promoting and having confidence in the commercial benefits of good design that can inspire and influence partnerships with industry. Educating companies - particularly SMEs - on the long term value of their brands is a hard one but an essential one.
Australia has a wealth of creative talent, much of which is under-utilised. Making a determined attempt to improve education, offer creative advice to industry, build respect and stimulate large corporates and SMEs to invest in design is achievable. It requires open debate and continuing communication... and an inspired government.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
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