What it takes to be in our shoes today

Excerpt from the talk given by Nathalie Fallaha at Beirut Design Week, 2012

You are entering a space where what you already know is but an infinitesimal fraction of what you really need to know. We live in an age where thinking processes and technology have surpassed what anyone of us was ever taught in design school.

The speed of the marketplace has changed. Everything seems to be happening at a faster and faster pace. New technologies, new apps, new companies – they seem to pop up every day. The options for executing campaigns and engaging with consumers seem to be endless.

Design is now at the center of business planning, restructuring... due to the emergence of all those new direct and 2-way communication channels. Brands cannot afford anymore to just rely on a one-off billboard in the street corner, but they need to address man other aspects of how comsumer lambda will interact with the manifestation of the brand, be it digital, tactile or experiential.

Clients used to come to us with everything pretty much done (....). We were then asked to dress it up after everything was planned was set. Clients come to us with an initial idea and our input helps shape their business model: how they should talk, have they thought about this, that...

Now, the emotional aspect of a brand is equal and sometimes more important than the functional aspect of a brand. A tv set is chosen according to how it will fit best into the tv room, and not how good it is... We are always reflecting on why and how this is taking place.

our business has changed. Like other many other creatives agencies around the world, we are constantly revisiting who we are, what we do, what services we offer.