• Adweek, Friday, November 11, 2005 3:15 PM

Design is becoming more important to marketers as consumers become increasingly accustomed to stylish products. As such, ad agencies are trying to play catch-up by establishing new relationships with design firms or hiring more designers for their creative teams. "[There are a] handful of iconic brands that have the most charisma," says Arnold Advertising Executive Creative Director of Design Robert Wong, who spent two years as creative director at Starbucks before joining Arnold in Boston last year. "They've all figured out that design is a strategic advantage. It's the smell of the coffee shops, the touch and feel of the iPod packaging. Everyone wants that now." Perhaps the most important sign that design is playing a bigger role than ever in the minds of major marketers is the fact that the big daddy of them all, Procter & Gamble, is jumping on the bandwagon. No long ago, P&G Chairman A.G. Lafley declared that the company's point of difference is to go beyond price and technology and become the No. 1 design company in the world.

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