Design's new blueprint

One of the first things we had to do was create the materials that would sell the vision that raised money to build the building," she says. "So in that sense, the power of design to create an experience of an intangible building was an integral part of making the whole thing real." Once the architect (Daniel Libeskind) was selected, his vision became the inspiration for everything from the museum's kids' programs to its restaurant, magazine and foundation. All this well before advertising was considered. "Frankly, people are tired of strategy in a vacuum," says [Jeannette Hanna]. "People have been consulted to death, and now they want 'Something I can actually work with and that I can see bringing to life.' "Design thinking is also a great galvanizing tool when you're talking to frontline troops. You can say, 'We want an experience that feels like this,' and they know what you're talking about." Back in the marketing realm, companies like P&G are overhauling their business models to incorporate design. In 2005, CEO A.G. Lafley raised design thinking's status on the corporate radar when he said, "I want P&G to become the number-one consumer design company in the world, so we need to be able to make it part of our strategy. We need to make it part of our innovation process." At John St., that's meant a restructuring. "We're going to have five- person teams: copywriter, art director and designer partnered with strategist and account person," says [Arthur Fleishmann]. "We're not going to try to shoehorn design thinking into every project, but where there's an opportunity to help the client solve a bigger problem." Like the Bay. Design thinking was central to the agency's winning pitch in February, and the resulting recent campaign, Boom. Fleishmann uses the words "celebration," "retro" and "fashion revolution" to describe the work inspired by and targeted to the baby boom generation. Elements include TV and radio spots but also interactive store windows, a bra-burning promotion and a chance to win a Boom-inspired car - fittingly, a Mini Cooper. "We looked at it holistically," says Mikey Richardson, CD at AmoebaCorp, to describe the evolution of the campaign. "Everything it would have touched: all of the in-store and packaging. It wasn't led by advertising.