the challenge: To gain insight in the daily routines of oral health care consumers in Germany and deeply understand their underlying motivations and needs, in order to enhance new product development. 

our process: desk research, 7daysinmylife.com, inhome interviews, opportunity workshop, insight mapping, developing personas, experience flow mapping.

our solution: Based on our research, we indicated different kinds of oral healthcare consumers, all having their own rituals and motivations. For each type of consumer we developed an experience flow, which provides insight in the kinds of products they use, how they use them and why. 

the result: The experience flows help Philips OHC to develop product or service concepts that match the actual needs of German OHC consumers. Next to that, the workshop helped Philips to understand their consumers better and to learn how to turn consumer insights into ideas. 

the challenge: To translate Virgin Mobile's differentiation strategy into products and services that resonate with the Australian end-user. Connecting brand strategy, service design, user insights and business models to the lives of real people to deliver an ecellent customer experience.

our process: desk research, interviews, Net Promotor Score, 7daysinmylife.com, customer journey mapping, service design, business model design,business cases.

our solution: a service delivery framework, with clear and usable service principles. Applied to all the brand touch points in the customer journey. New concepts and business cases to deliver better customer services and to enhance the Virgin Mobile brand.

the result: we helped Virgin mobile understand how to deliver unique and relevant value to its end users. We transformed this understanding into clear business propositions, throughout the entire customer journey.

project conducted with Protopartners

The challenge: Gain insight in the underlying needs and motivations of cross-media usage in Belgium

Our process: Together with Claro Partners Barcelona, we conducted an extensive user research, including 7daysinmylife.com, house visits, generative user sessions, opportunity identification and client workshops. 

Our solution: Our research resulted in deep understanding of cross-media usage among Belgian consumers, resulting in new media opportunities for Sanoma Magazines Belgium. 

The result: Implemented media concepts for Sanoma Magazines to adapt to the changing cross-media behaviour among media consumers in Belgium.

the challenge: Douwe Ergberts asked us to help them explore and visualise  the future of the Senseo coffee platform, based on end-user research performed by Clear. Zilver worked with Roy Gilsing Design for this project.

our process: Zilver analysed Clear’s research results and combined them with Sara Lee’s brand platform and strategic goals for the coming 5 years. This analysis was used for a future scenario study, resulting in opportunity themes for innovation, illustrated with concept designs by Roy. The results of our study formed the basis for a series of internal strategic workshops with the front end innovation team and ideation sessions with R&D and product management. These sessions led to agreement of the Senseo innovation domain, and a roadmap for the coming 5 years.

our solution: What we delivered was a broad exploration of Senseo’s innovation opportunities, culminating in an innovation domain and an innovation roadmap, to be used as internal guideline for NPD projects and front end R&D projects

the result: The roadmap and domain have been approved by the Sara Lee board and implemented, giving guidance to various NPD and R&D projects. The results of the first NPD project, with which Zilver has been involved as well, will be on the market in the fall of 2010.

the challenge: ETNA, The 150 year old Dutch household appliance brand, came to us with the question: “how can we reconnect to our customer, to strengthen our brand and develop better products and services based on those insights.” ETNA had access to a lot of marketing data, and they had a very well defined brand communication manual. But that wasn’t enough for their ambitions to become the number one accessible A-brand.

our process: Zilver went through the first three stages of our BDI process in a 1.5 year time span:

1: building a human centred brand. We used www.7daysinmylife.com, house visits and creative workshops to complete an extensive context mapping research into the hearts and minds of the people that form the basis of ETNA: their end-users on the one hand, and their product development, marketing and sales team on the other. The resulting personas, brand insights, and consumer journey were used to enrich, deepen and support the brand circle that Etna already used.

2: building an innovation strategy. We built a brand based innovation strategy with the ETNA team, that pin pointed opportunities for product, service and marketing innovation in each stage of the consumer journey. This innovation strategy was captured in the form of guidelines, tips for further development and concrete ideas.

3: building a design strategy. Combinations of brand insights led to innovation values that in turn led to design guidelines. These guidelines consisted of tips and approaches to all aspects of the company’s design efforts, ranging from product, interaction, and communication to service design. Solution

our solution: What we delivered was a set of interactive tools, meant to help the ETNA team implement and use the research insights in their daily work. The tools can be seen on our Flickr page.

the result: Our work has helped the ETNA team become more focussed, more brand driven, and more aware of the added value they can deliver to dealers and end-users. This leads to a shorter time-to market of new product and services and a better match between brand, offering and target group. Moreover, the project results are used directly in creative workshops, strategic sessions, dealer meetings and design briefings.

The challenge: To give meaning to the values of fashion brand Promiss and translate them to the employees at the head office and in the stores

Our process: Zilver developed and facilitated a process in which store managers and head office employees were actively involved in giving meaning to the values of the Promiss brand. A major part of this course was designing, organizing and facilitating some major creative workshops with all store managers and head office employees. The project has been conducted in close cooperation with brand consultancy Crossmarks.

Our solution: We involved Promiss employees in various assignments and workshops, like customer journey mapping and visualizing the ideal Promiss customer. Next to that, they were encouraged to generate ideas for the Promiss stores and elaborate on them.

The result: The process resulted in 1) a brand that is carried by all Promiss employees, 2) closer cooperation between the head office and store managers and 3) a large amount of short term and long term ideas for the stores, marketing, communication, products and service design.

www.Promiss.nl

the challenge: to discover the shared vision and values of a growing high tech B2B company. To make this shared vision explicit and suitable as a platform for growth through innovation and design.

our process: various workshops with upper and middle management, using our toolbox of visual mapping excercises, data analysis, data visualisation, various feedback and involvement sessions, design management coaching.

our solution: we focused on making explicit what was already there: the company culture, its norms and values, the capabilities and aspirations of its people. We developed the processes and tools to get all this out in the open, and we used our design skills to make it visual and usable.

the result: the Priva brand is now owned by everyone in the company. It has become a guide for corporate behaviour. Priva's brand and design manager now has various processes and tools in place to work with the brand and to translate it into new products and services.

www.priva.nl

the challenge: to help an iconic brand face the future and find a way of innovating that fits its culture

our process: exploring the brand's potential by getting to know its stakeholders: Fatboy users and employees. We used 7daysinimylife.com, housevisits and many workshops to get to amazing insights. Those insights were translated in potential innovation directions for new products and new market.

our solution: The Fatboy Future Brand Interaction game. A game that can be played to explore the potential of the brand in terms of new product possibilities, new markets, and new business models. The core of the game is a set of cards and a playing board. The outcome is up to the entrepreneur his creative team.

the result: a strong sense of direction for the brand, an approach to innovation that fits the founder and his creative team, support from all international agents and sales reps, many opportunities for new directions. Erik was asked to become a member of the Fatboy Advisory board after the project.

The challenge: employ design research to develop online brand concepts based on consumer behaviour, needs and desires. Make these concepts visual, inspiring and usable for the design comunity. Help designers acquire end user insights for on-brand design and concepting.

Our process: design research, design strategy and development in close cooperation with Edwin Rooseman (Designest/Nandooh) and Ralf Beuker.

Our solution: internal and external tools for brand interaction, brand engagement and user insight generation. An on-line design research platform for end user insights. Design research workshops for the design community.

The result: designers cooperating based on a shared understanding of the brand, various social media concepts, various design research instruments and our own research tool www.7daysinmylife.com.

the challenge: Help a clothing brand make the transformation from the mind of the entrepreneur to the shop and design studio floors.

our process: brand building through design research, creative workshops with end users, immersion in rich data, context mapping. Project for André Weenink's graduation.

our solution: visual and rich brand data, consisting of end user diaries, collages, artefacts, context maps, a brand vision and a brand promise.

the result: a new direction and loads of inspiration for the design team, based on our new brand narrative and the visual data.

the challenge: to help a manufacturer of luxury yacht interiors become the best in the world.

our process: we helped our client develop the processes, design methods and information flow to deliver top quality interiors, making use of lean manufacturing. Project executed in partnership with Regine Vroom of the Delft University of Technology. 

our solution: we developed an overall framework for the DKB project structure, with phases, milestones, deliverables and quality control check points. We also developed a structure for DKB's project information management. And we developed a course and syllabus that taught DKB engineers, designers and managers to work creatively and methodologically with demands and specifications and introduced them to various instruments to formulate and work with specifications.

the result: a streamlined process, clear responsibilities, clear workflows, a better understanding of critical to quality processes and an overall increase of design skills and methods.

www.dkb.nl

the challenge: help a high-tech start up in a B2B environment develop their brand, and translate this brand into design guidelines for the furure. Help implement the brand and the guidelines.

our process: brand building through design research, innovation and design strategy development based on rich end user data, touchpoint orchestration.

our solution: a visual and rich brand guide and design guide, a usable brand vision and a brand promise, design guidelines for various design disciplines, coordination/orchestration of the design process. (product design by FAES/total support, orporate identity design by Designest, website design by Exit 127, Martin Raats, tradefair booth design by Fred Montijn)

the result: a focused and motivated team with a shared vision on the future of the start-up. On-brand design and innovation results. Clear cut choices regarding design execution. A very succesful launch. Design Management Europe Award. Dutch Design Award.

www.nlisis.com

the challenge: reconnect Trespa’s main target group, architects, to the new trespa brand, by showing the potential of designing in Trespa.

our process: stretching the application of Trespa towards new design directions, and communicate and showcase these new directions over various touchpoints (tradefairs, prototypes, brochures, campaign, online).

our solution: new conceptual design directions and communication themes based on architectural insights, visualisations, coordinated 2d, 3d and online touchpoints. Visuals by Roy Gilsing.

the result: trespa perspectives, an overall marketing, design and development campaign goes into its 4th sucesful year. Proven image improvement with target group. Design Management Europe Award 2009

the challenge: entrepreneurship! to open up the experience of snowboarding to a new and much younger targetgroup.

our process: with friend and former business partner Fred Montijn. End user driven product development, prototyping, testing and patenting. Brand development. The goal: to build a convincing businesscase for licensing out to leading snowsport brands. And to have a lot of fun in the process

our solution: a product that enables children aged 4-8 to enjoy the thrill of surfing on snow. A convincing and insightful brand. Valuable market research and end user insights.

the result: The first happy users on the slopes of Europe. A cooperation with our businesspartners Harm van Deuren and Ronald Tam). A signed licence agreement with Atomic. Production lined up in Taiwan. Early retirement thanks to huge royalty revenues ;-)

check out the website here.