Sohrab Vossoughi: How to Create Experiences to Bring a Brand's Story to Life

Sohrab Vossoughi believes in love - the love marketers must create when trying to connect with consumers.

Mr. Vossoughi, the founder and principal of Ziba Design, said his job is to help clients create experiences for their customers, because the "experience is what brings them back for more."

He launched Ziba, a product-development firm, in 1984 and directs projects for marketers including McDonald's, FedEx, Hyundai, Whirlpool, Xerox, Black & Decker, Samsung, Microsoft, Nike, Pioneer, Sanyo and Coleman.

"We design experiences in multiple platforms - object, communications, environment interaction / interface and the combination of all of those," he said.

One notable achievement for Mr. Vossoughi, who also held industrial and product-design positions at Hewlett-Packard Corp., has been the work his firm did a few years ago for Oregon bank Umpqua Bank, which wanted to reinvent the retail-banking experience.

Ziba redesigned everything from furniture to fixtures to layout to environmental graphics and collateral materials, including gift cards and coffee coasters.

"It was a very holistic kind of experience that was in line with what they really were about, the essence of their brand, and connected them to their core customers," Mr. Vossoughi said.

In an interview with Advertising Age, at a time when connecting with value-seeking, penny-pinching consumers has never been more critical, he discussed the necessity for marketers to create authentically designed experiences for them, from media platforms to in-store environments to products.

more: adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=138503 (154)

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