Designing For Impact: Why Designed Experiences Are The Next Competitive Advantage
This article was originally publish via B&T, you can read it here.
What’s a memory you never want to let go of? It’s likely that an impactful experience played a role in shaping that memory, and it’s why designing experiences with memory in mind is central to the direction, impact and success of experiences. In a screen-saturated world where attention is currency and trust is scarce, the real power move for brands isn’t louder campaigns – it’s designing for deeper experiences. And for the multi-awarded Designteam, Australia’s powerhouse of experience design, creating value though experiences has never been more in focus.
With a client portfolio spanning diverse sectors and experience design solutions for brands like Telstra, Polestar, OPPO, BAE Systems and both State & Federal Governments, Designteam isn’t just responding to growth in the experience economy, it’s helping to design it’s next chapter.
B&T sat down with Designteam to unpack their belief that great experiences don’t just happen, they are intentionally designed to move people, build culture and deliver results.
“Creating live and digital solutions that have set the industry standard for over three decades, design has been a guiding principle for our team and today we carry the principles of experience design into the future for bold and ambitious brands…’ Dominic Le Roy, Creative Director & Owner.
Celebrating a 35th anniversary milestone, Designteam believes the future of experiences will be designed: shaped by insights, data, inclusivity, collaboration, creative technologies and strategic design thinking. Hybrid formats, multi-sensory storytelling and scalable intimacy are all on the rise, alongside a growing expectation for accountability, performance and impact.
“We get that it’s complex yet brands that don’t design for impact will be forgotten. Experience design is an act of care and in someways it’s timely to design for relevance, authenticity and meaning. Designing for what connects us more than what separates us…”. Adam Mortimer.
Designteam is embracing the future with optimism. They’re re-engineering the way we think about experience design, putting people at the centre, measuring outcomes, and guiding brands toward experiences that turn moments into memories.
Ready to design experiences for impact?
Reach outThe Designteam philosophy is grounded in depth, emotional value and purposeful creativity. In their view, experiences should be participatory and memory-making rather than passive and in some cases forgettable or totally missable.
Built around empathy, advocacy and cultural relevance, their live and digital solutions span large-scale and micro-activations to intimate, shareable brand moments, each one designed with a strong emotional centre.
“Don’t just design to be seen. Design to be felt. We are in the business of memory making and interaction builds memory. Audiences don’t want the homogenous or the ho-hum. Audiences want awe, involvement, authenticity, connection and belonging. Where many activations fall short – forgettable, transactional or disconnected – the experiences that are driving real value are those that are designed with purpose, emotion and memory at their core.’ Adam Mortimer, Head of Experience Design, Strategy & Brand.
This thinking is backed by the numbers: 97% of the world’s top 100 brands actively invest in experiences, with the global experience economy on track to hit $30 trillion annually by 2030.
In Australia, the experience-sector is already worth over $90 billion a year, spanning everything from iconic events like the Australian Open Tennis and Vivid Sydney to brand activations, business events, cultural festivals and beyond.
“Ultimately, experiences are about people, regardless of the scale or size, we believe design is at the heart of great experiences. Designed customer journeys that align brand purpose with emotional sensory cues: sound design, content design, sensory design and environment design all playing a role in success…”. Says Adam Mortimer.
Recognising the growing complexity within the experience space, Designteam has created a strategic creative framework specifically to guide high-performing experiences that balance creativity with commercial and cultural impact.
“There is both challenge and opportunity, our aim is to bring clarity and confidence to complexity. Our roadmap is several years in the making working with some of the brightest minds from across the globe. We’ve worked to create a framework to support experience programs of all sizes”. Says Adam.
The experience framework exists to support marketers, creatives and brand leaders as they navigate heightened expectations and tighter metrics. It addresses everything from creativity and emotional connection to measurable outcomes, helping teams design original experiences with intention, clarity and purpose.
“Our framework is an enabler. Clients and partners are seeking both efficiencies and excellence from the experiences they create; we get it. Great experience design captures attention, builds emotional resonance, leaves a positive imprint and drives aligned behaviours and desired outcomes - purchase, advocacy, loyalty…” says Adam Mortimer.
In an attention-starved landscape, it’s not enough to just capture interest alone; brands must also create meaning and value. Increasingly, brands are being asked to play the role of culture makers, crafting experiences that connect people to ideas, values and one another.
Designteam solutions centre around creating moments of shared relevance. Whether through a sensory-rich event, a purpose-led campaign or a hybrid digital-physical solution, they design experiences that bring people into the story, not just as observers, but as active participants.
‘Moving from clicks and scrolls to connection, audiences want to participate and to be involved so we need to design with depth - for awe, belonging and inclusivity. When it comes to IRL that’s the time to make it… Make it meaningful, cultural, distinctive, shareable, commercial and memorable. Make it impactful...” says Adam Mortimer.
Australia has long punched above its weight in the global experience economy. Our event IP and creative production teams are both world-class and recognised. The people shaping the experience sector are globally respected, ranging from independent creatives to in-house creative leads who pioneer the industry.
Designteam sits at the heart of this strategic and creative engine. Over the past three decades, they’ve helped shape the evolution of the local industry and continue to push forward with bold ideas, new tools, and a deep understanding of what audiences want.
“For over three decades we’ve never stood still. Working to bring our clients closer to their goals through the diversity of the experiences we create. Pioneering solutions and making the impossible, possible. From the ground up, we design for value - moving beyond the soundbite and the screen grab to deeper levels of engagement, understanding and performance…”. Dominic Le Roy.
