Ask any consumer what they think of all the advertising messages they are exposed to on a daily basis and chances are the majority, as most surveys have revealed, believe there is far too much advertising noise – whether offline or online. A sizable percentage of consumers have also admitted that they avoid purchasing products that over-advertise. Read more
Archive for 2010
How experiential marketing is creating a sea-change in the world of branding
02.09.2010
by James D. Roumeliotis
The Importance of Service Design
30.08.2010
When you think of design, the first thing you think of may be designer furniture. Of course you know there is more to design than furniture, but what is service design? Service design is all about making physical design integrate into the functional service provided. So, what is the fuss about service design? Well, most modern economies are service oriented, i.e. where the money is, and if your services stand out, this will lead to a competitive advantage. Read more
by Stef Vloet
Dot Kite and Q Food
27.08.2010
Dot Kite is proud to announce the partnership with Rotterdam based company Q Food. We have just completed a new Total Consumer Experience (TCE) project with emphasis on branding and communication.
Q Food is a new concept in the HoReCa (Hotel Restaurant Cafe) industry which will provide high end catering solutions to the Dutch market. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Airline Branding and Scent Marketing
25.08.2010
Branding in competitive fields such as the aviation industry is crucial not only in order to attract new customers but mostly in order to create a loyal customer basis that will eventually become your brand ambassadors. As we have stated on a previous post, the world’s best airlines have one thing in common: excellence in design! Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Retail Store Design
23.08.2010
You can have your average retail store, a budget one, or one at the high end of the spectrum. You could even have one only selling exclusive products, but all retail stores share some design guidelines, whether you are selling IT equipment or groceries. So, how do you design your retail store?
First of all, there is the layout. Designing your layout will have effects on other parts of the store design, so this must align with you brand or store strategy. A store with straight aisles, in line with walls maximizes selling space. On the other hand, angled aisles, circles, or other curves makes for a more luxurious perception. Leaving a great deal of space for customers to browse is a big investment usually only practiced by high end retailers. Upon entering, each customer should also be greeted, especially in high end stores. Read more
by Stef Vloet
Upscale Restaurant Marketing with an Attitude
18.08.2010
What do we conjure-up in our minds when we see or hear the expressions, “upscale restaurant” and “high-end restaurant”? Undoubtedly, they denote “fine dining”. Expanding those adjectives further and we think of pricey, presentation, ambiance and service – including restaurants which could be described as “trendy” and “nouveau” anything. An upscale restaurant should strive for top ratings in every category which enhances its image and reputation. Therefore, focus is multi-dimensional as in good food, extensive wine selection, atmosphere, including striking and tidy washrooms, choice furniture, tableware, cutlery, glassware along with courteous and seasoned staff. It’s easy to see that these essentials combined can amount to sort of a “show” business within the dining experience. Read more
by James D. Roumeliotis
Smart Business Design: iPad vs. Monocle Mediterraneo
09.08.2010
In the era of mobile digital tablets, such as iPad, Kindle, etc., there are many praising the end of the traditional newspapers. Such devices have a lot of advantages but it will be very difficult to compete with bold and innovative moves like Monocle’s latest release. Monocle Mediterraneo is a new venture from the Monocle media. This bold and in a way controversy move by Monocle, besides its great content, the design of the newspaper is unique as well. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
How Design Significantly Increases Business Performance
02.08.2010
There are many ways of seeing the value of design. You can measure sales and relative value as an output of changes in design, for example. Design can also improve your standing amongst rivals and give you a competitive advantage. The Design Council published a report where facts and statistics concerning the value of design are highlighted. One interesting statistic is that design conscious businesses can expect a 125% return on their internal design investments. Try beating that with other investments. Read more
by Stef Vloet
Ambiance Marketing: A multi-sensory approach
27.07.2010
The dictionary conveys to us that “ambiance” is “the character and feeling of a place.“ A place which wants to attract the most discerning souls, should be unique and embody a complete lifestyle concept which combines a relaxed, spiritual ambiance amongst an elegant setting and decor with attention to detail. Staging an impressive, well executed upscale event, such as a product launch or promotion takes creativity, organizational skills, as well as savoir faire. Read more
by James D. Roumeliotis
Investing in the Total Consumer Experience (TCE): Is it worth it?
22.07.2010
Of course we would like to say that the Total Consumer Experience (TCE) is viable in all circumstances, but that is not the case. Many companies can benefit from the Total Consumer Experience (TCE), but in some situations, things may be better off in a different manner. Here we explain why the Total Consumer Experience (TCE) is relevant and in which cases it is the most applicable. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Branding: Creating Exclusive Food Design
16.07.2010
Fast moving consumer goods can be branded, but how do you make one exclusive? I’m not talking about your grade A brand of butter, but something beyond this standard. I mean something that is not a part of a multinational such as Unilever, but something so exclusive that it can only be hand crafted.
In that case, would there have to be a new name? Handicraft is not necessarily fast. It takes time to do things right with the utmost care for quality. At any rate, we would like to attest to the total control over quality, design, and branding that can create not a grade A brand, but something exclusive. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Designing Air Travel to be Special Again
13.07.2010
In the beginnings of passenger aviation, few individuals were fortunate enough to be able to fly. There was a whole aura around the few lucky people who were once airborne. Back then, fashion and flying went hand in hand and charismatic individuals were associated with the airlines. Nowadays many people can fly, it is not a special experience anymore, there is no heightened sense of fashion associated with flying, and airlines are mostly part of strategic alliances with no real figurehead. So, how do you get people excited about flying again? Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Restaurant Design
08.07.2010
How do you design your restaurant? First of all, you must have done market research and found a location. One of the two precedes the other. Find a location and do the research, or do the research and derive a location from your findings. Once you are set on that issue, you must design your restaurant, but how? Read more
by Stef Vloet
Quality Hotel Design, Fitting Hotel Guests
07.07.2010
There are many ways in which you can attempt to have the best hotel. You can be specialized in one way or another, but quality through and through is what is becoming the norm these days. Staying up to par is not easy, so you should also look into who you are allowing to stay in your hotel and for which reasons. Read more
by Stef Vloet
Dot Kite to Explore Seafood Industry
06.07.2010
Through the knowledge we have acquired in various industries, we are now going to put a focus on the seafood industry. We can add value through our full understanding of how consumers think and what they want. Therefore, Dot Kite is exploring into redefining the way in which a very traditional industry such as the seafood (fishing/aquaculture) industry is going to promote its products and how they increase the value of their goods to their partners, and ultimately, the end consumer. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Design, an Integral Part of the Value Chain
06.07.2010
Have you ever heard of the value chain? If so, then you know that design is not mentioned in it. So then why is design an important part of the value chain? To answer this question, we must investigate what the value chain is and how design adds value. Design is all about integrating the different parts of the process so that they add universal value. Read more
by Stef Vloet
Dot Kite and Cupid & Shu
05.07.2010
Dot Kite is proud to announce the partnership with Cupid & Shu. We have just completed a new Total Consumer Experience (TCE) project with emphasis on branding and communication.
Cupid & Shu is an Amsterdam based photography agency that provides its related services to local and international clients. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Branding strategies for a fundamental differentiation
02.07.2010
Most businesses have an opinion on what branding constitutes, though how do you go about standing-out apart from similar product or service categories? Let us begin the thought process on this issue by first looking at what the word “Branding” is defined as in the Cambridge English dictionary. “Branding” is “the act of giving a company a particular design or symbol in order to advertise its products and services.” Sounds very simplistic. However, we know that it takes plenty of thought, creativity and flawless execution to truly define a brand which radiates externally to produce notable customer experiences. A brand is essentially an intangible asset which is injected with personality – values that consumers like and can relate to. Moreover, a cleverly created and executed branding strategy develops an intangible association with consumers. Read more
by James D. Roumeliotis
Capturing Customer Attention
30.06.2010
Capturing and holding your customer’s attention is becoming more and more challenging by the day. Not only are we dealing with new forms and types of media that we are only slowly discovering for business purposes, but added to this, we are also dealing with an ever-shortening attention span affecting today’s average consumer.
In addition, while previously, brand communications to the customer were controlled by the brand (even testimonials used to be carefully chosen), today, communication possibilities have multiplied with the web: brand-to-consumer, consumer-to-consumer (social media, blogs, independent influencers, sharing product reviews), and consumer-to-brand (social media, UGC or user-generated-content, crowd sourcing, and more). Read more
by Rachna Sundaram
Think Small
28.06.2010
In 1959, VW started a campaign to sell the Beetle in the US. It was a tough job, and rightfully so. Why would Americans buy a small car from a nation they were at war with less than 15 years prior? At that time, the American economy was doing great, affording the middle class to purchase huge American cars. So, how did it sell in America and become one of the world’s best selling cars of all time? Read more
by Stef Vloet
Restaurant Design: How Can Design Improve Restaurant Service?
24.06.2010
Have you ever experienced perfect service at a restaurant? Maybe close to it, but things can always be improved. Remember, service has to do with everything from before being on location to having left. Great service of yesterday is today’s norm, so how can design improve restaurant service?
First of all, what is great service? It is hard to measure if service is good or bad, but you can set parameters. Not having to wait for more than 5 minutes for a waiter or not having to wait for more than 15 minutes for food could ways of measuring how good service is. Of course, there are other variables to take into account, but these are just examples. Read more
by Stef Vloet
Dot Kite and De Lastage
23.06.2010
Dot Kite | Lab is proud to announce the partnership with De Lastage. We have just completed a new Total Consumer Experience (TCE) project with emphasis on branding and communication.
De Lastage is a unique concept. They rent out new, furnished, luxurious apartments in the center of Amsterdam. They can range in size from as small as 56 square meters to over 150 square meters with four bedrooms. These apartments can be let for a short or longer period of time and are amongst the most popular specialty lodgings in Amsterdam. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
World Cup 2010, Jersey Designs
21.06.2010
There are 32 teams competing in the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. Each team has a unique uniform or kit with the shirts being the most defining factor. In this post, we will have a look at the home shirts for each of the 32 team in alphabetical order, with the exception of New Zealand for which we have the away jersey. Read more
by Stef Vloet
World Cup 2010, Jules Rimet and World Cup Trophy
14.06.2010
The World Cup has seen two trophy designs; the Jules Rimet Trophy and the FIFA World Cup Trophy. The reason why a second one was needed is because the Jules Rimet Trophy was to be kept by the 1970 world champions, which ended up being Brazil. Since then, the current FIFA World Cup Trophy has been awarded to the winning team of the world cup. What you may not know is that there are a few interesting design elements to both. Read more
by Stef Vloet
World Cup 2010, The Design of World Cup Footballs
09.06.2010
To most of us, the actual design of the ball in the sport is of little importance. To the select few who will play at the World Cup, the design of the ball is of high importance. Changes in its design effect how the ball looks and feels, but more importantly for the professionals is how the ball accelerates and moves when kicked. Read more
by Stef Vloet
World Cup 2010, Logo Designs
07.06.2010
Each World Cup from 1950 onwards had its own logo. The first three did not have logos, but posters instead. The logos represent a mixture of the sport and the host country. In this post, we analyzed the logos and compared them with criterion about what we agree is a good logo. So, what is a good logo? Read more
by Stef Vloet
The WOW Factor
02.06.2010
It is common knowledge that in order to be successful in business, promises to customers have to be delivered. But what differentiates offering more satisfaction from being able to create a lasting, positive impact, also known as the “wow factor”?
One of the key ways to achieving this is to ensure that you are giving your customers that little extra something. This can be accomplished by simple CRM or better yet, by ensuring that you’re providing Total Consumer Experience (TCE). To put it simply, this means that you are going above and beyond your core offering; you are placing your product or service into a neat package that makes the whole experience of dealing with your business, a remarkable one. Read more
by Rachna Sundaram
Designing for a Low Cost Airline
01.06.2010
How does one design for a low cost airline? There are a limited number of options if you want to save costs. As has been explained in a previous post, companies must know where it is crucial to ensure quality and where costs can be cut.
In order to win awards, such as the best low cost airline award, by Skytrax’s World Airline Awards, airline companies must save money on things such as extras/options and personnel costs by, for example, having them fill multiple roles. The money low cost airlines can save must be invested in increasing efficiency (further saving costs) and in areas passengers hold in high regard such as the feeling of safety. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Bars and Restaurants Revenues Decreasing, so Invest!
28.05.2010
The Dutch Horeca (hotel, restaurant, café) market has seen revenues decrease by almost 6 percent in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same quarter last year. The Dutch statistics bureau CBS (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek) published the figures. Read more
by Stef Vloet
World Airline Awards features Design Conscious Airlines
27.05.2010
The world’s best airlines are not in Europe, nor are they in North America. They are all found in the east and they have one thing in common: excellence in design. The World Airline Awards, or in other words, the Passenger’s Choice awards feature many methods, but when the people choose, two aspects of design stick out. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
The Economics of Design
26.05.2010
In general, economies such as the UK rely more heavily on financial services to create value, while other economies such as Germany’s economy rely more on manufacturing. The products and services are good, but there is something that could increase the value of products and services in highly competitive economies. Can you guess what that is? Read more
by Stef Vloet
Dot Kite | Lab signs contract with Hilton Athens Hotel
25.05.2010
We are pleased to announce that Dot Kite | Lab signed a contract with Hilton Athens Hotel.
Dot Kite | Lab, as in the case of Best Western | Hotel Selene, will provide Total Consumer Experience (TCE) solutions for the prestigious Hilton Athens Hotel which is situated in Greece’s capital. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Dot Kite as partner of the City of Amsterdam
21.05.2010
We are pleased to announce that today Dot Kite will participate as a partner of Hotelloods which is part of the city of Amsterdam.
This is a major Hotel related event that takes place in Amsterdam and there will take part more than 200 companies from the Netherlands and not only. Some of the people that will attend this event are professionals from the following industries:
- Bankers
- Hotel Developers
- Hotel Operators
- Brokers
- Entrepreneurs
- Investors
- Public Officials
For more information of this event, contact Amsterdam Financial Department
by Thomas Mylonas
Consumer Indecision
19.05.2010
When you head to the grocery store to pick up an everyday product such as, say, cereal, do you pick up the same favorite each time, or are you like many consumers, waiting, comparing and undecided about which one to grab?
When presented with a large range of choices to fulfill the same need, it is in human nature to become confused, and thus unable to quickly make a choice. When we spend too much time comparing the plethora of options we are presented with, the functional differences between each of them soon become blurry. Once the functional differences lose importance, the peripheral aspects take precedence. This means that whichever product’s ad, spokesperson, or packaging color stands out favorably in our minds, we will end up purchasing that product. Read more
by Rachna Sundaram
Dot Kite | Lab signs contract with Amsterdam based De Lastage
17.05.2010
We are pleased to announce that Dot Kite | Lab signed a contract with De Lastage.
Dot Kite | Lab will be responsible for the Strategic Branding and Communication of the company, helping De Lastage to establish a dynamic, fresh and of premium quality brand in the Hotel and Hospitality industry. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Why Design a Website?
12.05.2010
You probably know that people get a lot of information from the web nowadays. Did you know, however, that initial customer interaction with a company is via websites 90% of the time? That means 9 out of 10 people get information about your company not through their family, friends, peers, or via spam they get in the mail or advertising the see all around, but through company websites. That is why you should have a website in the first place. Why then, would someone delve into yours? Read more
by Stef Vloet
Emotionality in Branding
06.05.2010
Like two sides of a coin or yin and yang, meshing together the functional and emotional values of your brand and maintaining the balance between them is vital to building a long lasting brand.
The functional offering fulfills the basic customer need – something that several brands are likely to be able to accomplish. A functional competitive advantage however is not a long lasting one because the competition can catch up, offering similar or even better functionalities in due time. Read more
by Rachna Sundaram
Life is a Design: Footwear
08.04.2010
What is one of the most important parts of your body? There are several good answers, but one of them is your feet. Doctors tell their patients that having shoes that do not support your feet well could negatively affect your knees, back, and posture. So, wearing shoes that are designed to fit you are very important for your health. Not only this, but they are a part of your identity and are a part of a first impression. That’s not all though. Shoes are just a part of footwear. Read more
by Stef Vloet
Life is a Design: Bicycles
30.03.2010
From the old penny-farthings to modern day’s racing bikes, all bicycles have been designed for a specific purpose. The penny-farthing was not the first bicycle design, but that design was simple and cheap to produce. Penny-farthings gave way to the safety bicycle. We know them today as the standard type of bicycle. They were called safety bicycles because they were designed so that the cyclist’s feet could touch the ground while being seated as opposed to being high up on a penny-farthing. Nowadays, bicycles are designed for many different purposes. Read more
by Stef Vloet
Dot Kite | Lab signs contract with Rotterdam based Q Food
24.03.2010
We are pleased to announce that Dot Kite | Lab signed a contract with Q Food.
Dot Kite | Lab will be responsible for the Strategic Branding and Communication of the company, helping Q Food to establish a dynamic, fresh and of premium quality brand in the HoReCa and catering industry. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
What kind of service is considered luxury?
24.03.2010
The answer to this question may seem obvious: if I’m paying a premium, I must be served well. However, it has a few layers of complexity.
Take for example, the elite restaurants, bars and lounges of the world. You are declined a reservation unless you have the right connections, or unless you book months in advance. Yet the premium price tag stays. A clear example of such an Intimidation policy that still attracts customer after customer is the legendary Hotel Costes on Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris where the waitresses are known for their unfriendly attitude. However, customers tend to feel so privileged just to be in the establishment that paying a premium price for a cocktail and enduring long waiting times doesn’t seem to be an issue. Read more
by Rachna Sundaram
How do you get more out of your design budget?
23.03.2010
Everyone wants to get more out of their budget. Saving money now means you can spend more on other things; new investments, or the next design. By having a thorough understanding of what you want and what you need to develop, we can create successful solutions that can be of added value without adding on the costs. Read more
by Seroj de Graaf
What happened to unique hotel experiences?
22.03.2010
Nowadays, there is a trend that sees hotels and even hotel chains being purchased by private equity firms. These firms hire third parties to operate the hotels. Everything is being outsourced to a diverse selection of firms. Even though one may think they are staying at a certain brand of hotel, it may be owned by a third party who hires say five other companies to do the service, catering, spa treatments, management, and bar. It is becoming increasingly complicated from a strategic to an operational point of view. Read more
by Stef Vloet
History of Design, the Case of Airlines
19.03.2010
One cannot say where the history of design started. Did it start with the beginning of time how nature designed itself through evolution? Did it start with prehistoric people making cave drawings, or did it only start with the creation of something more tangible than a drawing? The earliest weapons and watercrafts were designed, but when we think of design today, we usually think about the aspect of a product or service that is appealing to the senses and not the functional aspect of it. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
IT Center participates in Infrapedia 2010
18.03.2010
Dot Kite’s client, IT Center, which is the distributor in Greece and in Cyprus of the products of the entrepreneurial esosystem Virtual Trip has announced the participation in the 2nd Exhibition of Infrastructure and Equipment for Educational Centers- Infrapedia 2010. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
How design connects industry with consumers
18.03.2010
What makes an industrial product consumer ready? Well, that is one reason to have design. Designers basically work on two aspects of products; functionality and aesthetics. Through their work, designers connect the industry with consumers by translating a concept into something that adds extra value to consumers. Read more
by Seroj de Graaf
Recession? Invest in Design!
16.03.2010
What? Invest during a recession? Invest in design? Yes, that’s true. A case has been mentioned before in the post Airline Design instigates Sustainable Competitive Advantage about airline design. It showed how a company invested in design during a recession and came out with a much larger market share afterwards and kept a hold of it. In order to come out on top, you should not just invest in marketing, but invest in Total Consumer Experience (TCE). Read more
by Stef Vloet
Best Hotels in Amsterdam have Best Design | pt. 3
15.03.2010
When the economy picks up again, hotels in Amsterdam should expect an increase in visitors from all backgrounds. On another note, the number of visitors from emerging economies will increase at a higher percentage than those from the traditional nations, but even though the percentage is high, the absolute increase is still relatively small. The biggest comfort for hotel owners in Amsterdam are the big spends. Who the big spenders are is discussed later, but what these visitors want is a high quality Total Consumer Experience (TCE). Read more
by Stef Vloet
The intricacies involved in Service Design
12.03.2010
The Services industry has several stakeholders – manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, sales personnel in a retail environment; in a hospitality environment, staff members that one faces, but also behind-the-scenes staff such as chefs & cleaners, & in both cases, the customer, of course. Read more
by Rachna Sundaram
Dot Kite expands Amsterdam office
11.03.2010
As we are about to conclude the first quarter of 2010, we have a lot of new developments at Dot Kite. The new quarter of this year a new member will join the Dot Kite team. With this news post I would like to officially welcome Seroj de Graaf to Dot Kite’s design team in our Amsterdam office. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Airline Design instigates Sustainable Competitive Advantage
09.03.2010
In the past, people were excited about flying. Airplanes were designed with exclusivity in mind. There were bars and lounges in the airplane, golden cutlery, and the travelers were served by a select few who could proudly call themselves air hosts. Nowadays, airline companies lack in giving such experiences to their customers, even their most loyal who get certain perks, but not the best service. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Best Hotels in Amsterdam have Best Design | pt. 2
08.03.2010
As we already mentioned, Amsterdam’s hotel guests are visitors from all over the world and stay for many different reasons. Like any metropolis, Amsterdam has a wide variety of hotels on offer. These can be anything from a backpacker’s cheap sleep, to five star luxury hotels, to boutique hotels. It is especially at the latter where guests feel a unique Total Consumer Experience (TCE). So, let us now take a closer look at the hotels themselves. Read more
by Stef Vloet
Dot Kite acquires Online Design and Experience start-up
08.03.2010
As I have already mentioned in the past, the world – and the way it does business – has changed dramatically in the last few years. Here at Dot Kite, we are always keen on new developments and always want to push the boundaries of design and also of online experiences. Willing to invest in new technologies in order to provide the best possible service to our partners and clients is our commitment. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Best Hotels in Amsterdam have Best Design | pt. 1
02.03.2010
From the UK and the US to India and China, there are many international visitors, both tourists and business visitors that come to the Netherlands and stay at one of Amsterdam’s many hotels. They can stay at one of many hotels including designer hotels and go through a new Total Consumer Experience (TCE). Why, you may ask, is the term visitor being used instead of tourist? This is because the term tourist would exclude the 40% of visitors who are on business. Read more
by Stef Vloet
How airlines can survive the crisis with great design
26.02.2010
The airline industry is defined by their customers. They hop from one airline to another depending on the price or the quality of the service. Great service, as a part of the branding experience, is what brings airlines to the top of rankings, such as Skytrax. When customers have the experience of a lifetime with one airline, they will come back for more and eventually become loyal. When you have loyal customers, they will perform the most powerful form of marketing for you – word of mouth. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
How design influences subconscious decisions
25.02.2010
Is design everything? Everything is designed! Or is it? Nature is designed for perfection. We know this as evolution; the survival of the fittest. Design is also developed through experience – a mistake now will not be repeated in the future, and knowledge – what designers learn through education and adoption of best practice. Read more
by Stef Vloet
Dot Kite | Lab signs contract with Amsterdam based Cupid & Shu
22.02.2010
We are pleased to announce that Dot Kite | Lab signed a contract with Cupid & Shu.
Dot Kite | Lab will be responsible for the Strategic Branding and Communication of the company, helping Cupid & Shu to establish a solid and dynamic brand in a highly competitive industry. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
What comes after Best Hotel Design?
22.02.2010
Total Consumer Experience (TCE) design is nothing without Total Quality Management (TQM). Without TQM, the effects of TCE are diminished. Total Consumer Experience is about perfecting every detail of a customer’s experience. TQM is about managing this experience from strategic to operational levels. Designing a perfectly tailored Total Consumer Experience (TCE) is what Dot Kite excels at. Cases from their website attest to this. Read more
by Stef Vloet
Luxury hotels online experience and design
19.02.2010
In the recent past, I have worked extensively with the hotel industry’s visual palette, and one thing they almost all have in common: the first impression on their websites do not deliver the product a luxury hotel really is. There are, by guarantee, sizeable budgets at spa and wellness areas, large fine conference rooms, an overwhelming foyer, and rooms where comfort, design and safety are presented in higher unity. These websites, which are the first impression you get, should to be a good sales argument for choosing the specific hotel, instead of the one on the other side of the street. However, it seems as if they have not been able to get those sales arguments moved over to the digital part of marketing. Read more
by Line Oehlenschlaeger
Consumer environments designed for experience sharing
27.01.2010
Global population grows at a very fast pace, faster than ever before; people flood major cities, with urban citizens growing by 3 million per week for the last two decades. According to the Global Report on Human Settlements 2009, by 2050 the global urban population will reach a 70 per cent, representing 6.4 billion people. As a result, more urban consumers are “born” every day, with customer satisfaction gaining even greater importance and global competition becoming more intensive. Read more
by Panos Sarlanis
A tip of the hat to Industrial Designers
22.01.2010
What is Industrial Design and why should you care? Take almost any product you touch in your daily life and I trust it has passed through the hands of at least one Industrial Designer from concept to shelf delivery. Who are we? Where did we come from? Who makes the things you use without thought? Your toothbrush? The shopping cart you push to get groceries? The packing to your favorite gourmet coffee? Read more
by Kristen Beck
Dot Kite | Lab welcomes new member in Amsterdam
20.01.2010
As 2010 entered, this new year brings us a new member in the Dot Kite team. With this news post I would like to officially welcome Johan de Letter to Dot Kite’s business development team in our Amsterdam office. Read more
by Thomas Mylonas
Olive Country Design | before and after
18.01.2010
Dot Kite | Lab has recently designed Total Consumer Experience for Olive Country in order to create a solid brand image and to help the client boost its sales into the Dutch market through major retail stores in Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands.
In this post we show you how we transformed Olive Country into a high-end brand. We invite you to have a look at the images below and understand how we added value to our client by creating a profitable business, as shortly after the project completion and delivery, Olive Country products have already penetrated the Dutch market with great success.
Read more
by Panos Sarlanis
Evolution and design in the air-traveling experience
11.01.2010
Travel has changed much over the last hundred years. It is hard to believe that within 2 generations we have evolved from the horse and buggy to the family car to simply owning a personal vehicle for the sake of luxury. It is not ancient history the commercial airline industry took flight -wherever you want or need to go, you can get there- so as long as your wallet is limitless. Read more
by Kristen Beck
Imagine life in the future by design
06.01.2010
Graphic design has been essential to every (single) era of publishing history. Nowadays, where the digital media become more important and are available for everyone, the profession of graphic design is in the midst of enormous change. Some people think that the new technology is about to diminish the graphic business but in fact it enhances it. If we see these changes as a chance to advance our skills and deepen our knowledge, we become stronger and get up with new and good solutions. But what will the future bring in detail? Read more
by Sabrina M. Vogt