Kranz On Copy: Insights and answers on copywriting and writing copy

Here's the way things usually work: Some people make stuff, then hand the stuff over to other people to sell it. But what if the sale began as the product was conceived and designed?

That's exactly what they're doing at Design Continuum, a consulting firm of industrial designers, mechanical engineers, graphic artists and assorted anthropologists featured in today's Boston Globe.

Instead of making what you will then cramming the results down the consumer's throat, they begin with a most radical (in the original meaning of the word -- "at the roots") design approach: They observe real people in real life situations. Then they apply what they learn to products that solve real problems or meet real needs.

One of Continuum's fundamental beliefs? An approach to research that's akin to Alexander the Great's attack on the Gordian Knot: "If something is really important to at least one-half of the population, the chances of not finding it after closely interviewing seven people is less than 1 percent."

The proof is in the pudding and Continuum has a heck of a lot of pudding to be proud of. The Swifter Mop. The Reebok pump sneaker. The Cambridge SoundWorks T-300 Tower speaker. (The latter grew from an observation that while men buy speakers, women "try to hide them." The T-300 is a beautiful blonde-maple piece of furniture intended to blend into a room's decor.)

What if that same "observe-learn-solve" approach were applied to our own products and services? Suddenly, marketing wouldn't be an afterthought, but a starting point -- a place to begin.

What if?

(P.S. A big thanks to David R. for catching and correcting a typo in this post!)