Sevenwinningvalues

At team scope, we believe that values are a key ingredient in the business success mix. They encapsulate the principles behind your brand essence, affect the way you are perceived by your clients and help you to establish the tone and direction of your business activities. Understanding your values and making them an integral part of your company culture is as essential to your success as any other part of your business strategy.

This book has two purposes: the first is to showcase the key values that are at the core of everything we do, and demonstrate how they help us to establish and maintain our reputation as design and brand experts. The other is to act as a starting point to help you identify the values that comprise your brand essence and how to use them to create even greater success in your business.

ContentsListening gets you results 04Don’t be afraid of change 09Have fun and be silly 16Get involved in the process 20Be passionate, be positive 26You can go above & beyond 29Work as a team 33Contact 36

Onelistening gets you results

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One of the most important values a business can have is the ability to understand what its audience wants and how it deliver it to them – and that means being willing to be flexible about your offering.

Did you know that Fatal Attraction originally ended with Glenn Close’s character killing herself? Or that the killer plant in Little Shop of Horrors originally ate everyone, not just the crazy dentist? If you can’t remember those scenes, it’s not because your memory is going – it’s because they’re a long way from the stories that ultimately appeared in theatres around the globe. You see, the endings of the most iconic films often aren’t the result of what the director wanted, but what the test audiences wanted.

While following your creative vision can be a great start, at the end of the day you’re not your target market, and if you’re the only person who ‘buys’ into your product, you won’t see a lot of return for your effort, because your customers will go to your competition to get what they want.

A customer-focused business is centred on the needs and wants of its customers, taking them into account every time it hits the drawing board to create a new offering – and since it’s producing what people want, it sells its way to success.

And the results speak for themselves: Fatal Attraction ended up becoming the second-highest grossing film of 1987, and Little Shop of Horrors was nominated for two Academy Awards … after the directors changed the final scenes! It turns out ‘the customer is always right’ isn’t just a saying – it’s one of the key values that could take your business all the way to the top.

One of the big secrets to our success is our ability to understand what our clients’ brands stand for and what they need to take their business to the next level. When we start a project, the very first thing we do is identify what makes the business special – from there we’re able to shape a brand strategy that perfectly suits their needs and the needs of their clientele. Because the secret to our success in business is understanding what your business needs to be successful.

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At the start of a trip the Inspiring Journeys bus is sleek, white and clean, but by the end it’ll have collected a whole lot of dust, mud – and memories! And that’s exactly what clients want a travel experience to be!

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When it comes right down to it, the success of your business depends on how your customers feel about your brand, so if you’re looking to revitalise your image it’s vital you know what your customers want. At team scope we understand the value of customer input, so when we were designing the rebrand for Inspiring Journeys (previously Aussie Adventures), we used research from focus groups to find out what real people thought of our ideas.

We discovered that people found the new name exciting and intriguing, and there was definitely a gap in the market for a tour company with a bit of difference. But it turned out that people thought the logo looked a little heavy, so with some fine tuning of colours it became more engaging. The impact of responding to consumer opinion is undeniable – even though the brand is still in the early stages of implementation, Travel Trends has listed the Inspiring Journeys website among Australia’s top 25 travel sites for ‘usability, design, utility, content, sense of purpose, traffic, and usefulness’. Good branding is about creating an image consumers can connect with – and this new rebrand is clearly giving Inspiring Journeys’ clients a reason to feel inspired!

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Everyone wants to be liked – and Inspiring Journeys is no different!

Putting the social media side of its site to good use, this dares-to-be-different travel company has collected 727 Facebook fans in 6 months. These are fans who know what they ‘like’ and have opted to receive regular marketing updates through their Facebook account.

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twoDon’t BE afraid of change

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At some point, all great inventors have had to scratch their head, ditch their latest theory and go back to the drawing board to start again … and again … and sometimes even again! We’ve all heard the famous story about Edison and his light bulb – but the truth is that he wasn’t the only one who had to learn from his mistakes. Some of the most incredible inventions and creations in history have come about either by accident or because their creators lived by the motto, ‘If at first you don’t succeed …’

What’s this got to do with business? Everything! One of the greatest assets a business can have is being willing to get things wrong in the effort to get things right. Did you know that the McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish started out as grilled pineapple on a bun? Or that Virgin Airways’ successful ‘upper-class suite’ only came about because people weren’t happy with the previous offering?

Many businesses are frightened of the ‘failure’ of admitting a product or a project isn’t quite working, but the truth is that the ideas that don’t work out are a vital part of any rigorous design process: the only time you really fail in business is if you quit before you find the solution.

There’s nothing wrong with experimenting in business and making mistakes – every time you get something wrong, you take one step closer to getting it right. If you’re not willing to experiment, you’ll never move ahead – and you’ll probably find yourself falling behind as your more innovative competitors storm ahead with new ideas.

As designers we’re passionate about what we do, so it’s easy for us to develop strong ideas about what will and won’t work when we first get our hands on a project. But at the end of the day what matters most is that we create the results our clients want – and if the way we want to do it isn’t working out, it’s time to toss the concept in the bin and start over. Part of getting the job right is being brave enough to admit when you’ve taken a wrong creative turn, and we know the best way to succeed is to make a fresh start and try something new. We’re very passionate about what we do – but that doesn’t mean we’re stubborn!

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We’ve never been scared to try something new – and that often leads to some of the most innovative and effective designs. When we designed the Scope Property brand, we decided the visual identity of the brand should step away from the current market standard to make it stand out from the crowd. Take a look at the creative process we used to create the logo ...

The key to change … is to feel the fear and do it anyway.

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We began with a variety of concepts and ideas and then refined them until we came up with one that captured the essence of the brand. This process also revealed a variety of intriguing and elegant patterns that we can keep in the file for interiors. In our design process, nothing is wasted – a good idea can always be utilised later.

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The Scope Property identity is elegant and simple, with layers of meaning that stimulate without distracting. It’s a big departure from the industry norm – this is a brand that speaks up and stands out.

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threeHave fun and be silly

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Richard Branson was once asked whether he worked or played – his response? ‘I just live.’ And it’s a great philosophy – after all, all work and no play makes Dick a dull boy! His purpose in life is to create great companies where everyone enjoys living the dream of loving what they do – and he has started a new generation of corporate success.

Gone are the days when executives had to hide Tetris, Galaga and Solitaire games behind endless spreadsheet windows just to get a bit of downtime between jobs – in today’s market, the smartest companies give their employees an opportunity to relax, have fun and do whatever they need to do to keep them working at the top of their game and adding the greatest value to the business.

Take Google. Its offices have a funky décor, free food and are pet friendly. There are pool tables, indoor meeting ‘yurts’, free gyms, bicycles to get between buildings and plenty of comfy places for employees to kick back and take five minutes to chill out and get their thoughts together. It’s a business that prides itself on giving its employees an environment where they can really unleash their creativity, and in the first quarter of 2011, Google reported that its net income rose by $2.3 billion – so it looks like having a workplace that’s all fun and games has a financial upside as well!

Business is important, but it doesn’t always have to be serious. Embracing a business culture that takes success seriously but has fun with everything else can be great for your bottom line. You really can make oodles of money and have fun at the same time. But you don’t have to take our word for it … Google it and see!

Creativity is the backbone of our business. It’s our job to look at your business and create designs that let your customers know everything you want them to know about who you are and what you can do for them. But creativity isn’t nurtured in a boring environment – if we’re not having fun, then our work is no good! So you’ll be relieved to know that we take our fun very seriously – we’ve got magical meeting rooms, our very own Space Invaders arcade game and a great team that loves hanging out and having fun together: Friday cocktails are company policy (Coconut & Lychee mojitos are our fave ones at the moment!) and we love unleashing our creativity on costumes for our fancy dress parties. Because we know that working hard is only half of the recipe for success – if you’re in the business of being successful you have to have fun as well.

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A typical day in the team scope studio.

(Left to right) Mark, Katie, Christine, Lee and Claire.

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Fourget involved in the process20

Have you ever played ‘Six degrees of Kevin Bacon’? It’s a trivia game that challenges you to link Kevin Bacon to any other actor in the world through film roles – and it should only take you six people to get there. As well as being a great dinner party game, it’s also a good metaphor for the way businesses work – because your business is linked to your clients, their businesses and even their clients and businesses. And in order to deliver the best results for your clients, you need to get inside their brand and get ‘hands on’ to find out what they need, what they want and how they want you to give it to them.

But how much difference does it really make? Let’s look at a real success ‘story’ and see … before starting Amazon, Jeff Bezos spent time getting his hands dirty finding out why the top 20 mail order businesses were so successful, and by 2006 Amazon.com had gone from an innovative start-up to achieving annual sales of over $10.7 billion. And that’s a pretty big difference by anyone’s standards.

Your business is connected to your clients, and finding out what they do and how you can help them do it better, faster and more easily can really boost your success. You’re never more than six steps from greatness – you just need to get in there, get your hands dirty finding out how to give your clients what they need and make sure you deliver it.

A new project or innovation in the industry means it’s time to pack up our stuff and get out of the studio to learn as much as we can about how everything works – and how to get the most out of it. We’ve examined the presses and wide-format printer at Digital Press, learnt the ins and outs of letterpress printing, got up close and personal with rt’s new office outfitting, and headed out to every paper show that comes to town so we can talk to all the reps to find out how our designs will translate onto different stock. Because a design is only great if it translates well in the real world.

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After the architects were finished with the new rt headquarters, it was time for team scope to bring the brand story to life inside the building, making it appealing and engaging for staff and members alike. Chalkboard trees, whiteboard walls and personalised ‘escape hatch’ graphics on the inside of manager’s doors bring a sense of fun to the branch, while custom-designed lamps and fittings pay homage to the fund’s 120-year history.

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Not only did we oversee every aspect of the environmental graphics, the team even got in and helped to put the new furniture together.

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fiveBe passionate, be positive

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What would you rather do – work or play?

The funny thing is that this might be the wrong question. The real question is why do they have to be different? Successful people love what they do, and it’s not really surprising – passion improves your focus, your energy and your drive to get things right. Loving what you do makes you good at it, and that means great results for you and your customers.

KatieA good design is a great adventure – every client and every job is unique and requires its own style. I get to transform people’s dreams and ideas into tangible designs that can make a huge difference to a company’s bottom line. Best of all – I love seeing our work help our clients succeed, it’s a fantastic feeling!

LeeThe great thing about design is that it can be anything. When you say ‘design’, most people automatically think of brochures or magazines – but design applies to everything: services, experiences, products … even a whole business! Great design should be unique and surprising, combining form with function to create something that’s amazing on every level, be it an iPod, a Porsche or even something from nature.

MarkAs a kid, I’d get in trouble for drawing pictures in the margins when I was meant to be writing essays. And as I grew up I learnt there’s more than one way to communicate effectively: a good design tells a brand’s story and inspires change, and both are critical to success. And when I discovered the power of design, the words started to flow too – these days writing is a big part of what I do.

ChristineThe longer I work in the industry, the more I appreciate things that are, or are destined to become, classics. A really good piece of design doesn’t need to shout or jump up and down to get your attention. Even the simplest things can be really amazing. I love being a part of the industry that makes design like that happen.

Claire I love the challenge of taking on a new project – bringing all the pieces together to create a finished product that’s easy for the end user to understand and incredible to look at. Design is part of who I am – drawing and creating make me happy and I love learning about topics through design and researching for new projects.

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A collection of items that team scope draw to for inspiration.

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sixYou can go above & beyond

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What scares you most?

The Blair Witch Project? Paranormal Activity? Nightmare on Elm Street? Forget ghosts, ghouls, zombies and the other nightmare creations by Stephen King and Wes Craven – if you’re in business, the most frightening thing in the world is an unhappy customer! Social networking sites, blogs and internet forums have created an extensive word-of-mouth network, and if you become known for giving customers the run-around, you’ll have a whole lot of work to do to earn back their trust. As billionaire businessman Warren Buffett says, ‘It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that you’ll do things differently’.

Fortunately, transforming a potential horror story into a heroic victory for your business is just a matter of wanting to make your customers happy. Research shows that customers really do appreciate businesses that care about their wellbeing and go above and beyond to get the job done – and they’ll pay more for the service as well. The American Express Global Customer Service Barometer of May 2011 found that 70% of people were willing to spend around 13% more to give their business to companies that provide excellent customer service.

While the information age might be scary for businesses that haven’t got their customer service strategy on track, it’s great for the ones that are getting it right. When United Airlines secured an early seat opening for Freakonomics author Steven D Levitt to make up for a cancelled flight, he jumped right on his blog to boast about it, letting countless readers know where they could turn for a good customer service experience.

At team scope we commit to getting our clients’ brand out there no matter what it takes. When The Ortho Practice wanted us to create a new campaign for them, we came up with a solution that delivered fantastic results … Easter cupcakes that let their clients enjoy their sweet tooth! And when RT couldn’t get the bookshelves for its new headquarters we specified delivered onsite, we piled into the van, picked them up and put them together in their new offices (we even worked out the instruction manual!). It goes without saying that we work on a job till we get it right – but once we’ve done that, we go one step further, and then a step after that, to see what else we can do to give our clients far more than they could ever expect.

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Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. – Albert Einstein

Advertising is a vital part of getting your business out there. But what happens when the most obvious form of advertising just isn’t allowed? City Commercial sells property in a lot of areas where pavement signs aren’t allowed – creating seemingly insurmountable difficulties for open inspections. So we designed an eye-catching ‘advertising bike,’ carrying property descriptor on the wheel. Not only did this neatly circumvent council restrictions, chaining the bike to a post really sold the natural look of life in the city!

This was just one of the great ideas we’ve used to help businesses get their brand message out there. Check out our website to see some of the other ways we’ve got businesses thinking outside the box.

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team scope’s City Commercial advertising solution. When the council told our client their signs needed to take a hike, we told them to get on their bike!

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sevenwork as a team

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History is full of famous, successful teams: Lewis and Clark, Gilbert and Sullivan, Hewlett and Packard, Batman and Robin … okay, you’re right, that last one is fictional! Still, history shows that you can achieve more when you work as a team than you can on your own.

Teamwork gives you the benefit of having many different points of view on a project and helps you find flaws in your plans before you implement them by bouncing ideas around until you get everything right.

Working as a team can be the difference between your business achieving good results and achieving great ones – and that difference can have a huge impact on profit margins, customer satisfaction and, ultimately, your company’s success.

It turns out that company team-building activities aren’t just an excuse to spend an afternoon playing paintball: creating a high level of teamwork in your company can propel you toward your business goals. The Hawthorne Experiments demonstrated that the relationships between people working in a business and the workplace ‘culture’ could have a greater effect on employee productivity than reward systems and working conditions – so to really give your business a boost, start team building!

Even when it comes to fiction, people do better together: Batman and Robin aren’t just an unstoppable crime-fighting duo, they’re a big success for their creators – Bob Kane and Bill Finger. And just in case you’ve got any doubts that great teamwork works, here’s one more vital fact: Batman’s comic sales almost doubled when they brought his Boy Wonder partner on board!

Ever wondered what happens behind the scenes at team scope? It takes an amazing mix of skills and talents to achieve great results for our clients, and everyone has a key role in that success.

As founder of team scope, our noble leader Katie is backed by years of experience and has incredible organisational skills – she always has her finger on the pulse of the studio! Next is Lee, who uses his incredible knack for understanding what makes a business tick to create fantastic experiences for clients and define the vision behind a company. Then there’s Mark – he’s a geek in the best sort of way: whether it’s broken or could be better, he can make just about anything work. Christine’s love of design and her eye for beauty shines through everything she does, and finally there’s Claire, our resident ‘woman of the stars’ who always knows how to shape creative ideas into perfect images.

Working together, we form a strong team with formidable skills and specialities – making the most of our individual talents – to create great design solutions for our clients that get results.

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Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.– Michael Jordan

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Call +61 2 9281 1000 or email team@teamscope.com.auStrategy | Brand | Design | teamscope.com.au

team scope – your brand experts.

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