Concept code: how to create meaningful concepts - Tapa blanda

VISION, VALUES AND CONCEPT

In order to explain ‘concept thinking’, it is first vital to elaborate on the most important terms related to concept thinking. Previous definitions demonstrate that the term ‘concept’ is not clear, as in our everyday language it is used for a wide variety of things. Sometimes it stands for a rough version of something, but it can also stand for a philosophy or stage leading up to a scientific theory. As a marketing term it stands for coherence between ideas or views. If you look at it that way, everything with coherence is a concept, because behind each object lies a principle, an idea. Think of a cup, a car, a table… After all, you use the object as the maker intended it to be used. A cup does not bring you from A to B and you do not drink your coffee from a car. This book focuses on the definition of concept as a way of thinking, in which differences between ideas or views are summarised at a high level of abstraction. These abstract ideas or views are in turn translated to increasingly concrete levels, in other words: to the awakening concept and the concept carriers.

Imagine you are on your way to Disneyland with your family. Afters hours in the car, you arrive at the park in a cranky mood. A parking clerk checks in with you: ‘Are things all right? Have you had a long journey?’ After some moaning from you, you are kindly escorted to your parking spot. Disney demands that all their employees place themselves in the shoes of their visitors as much as possible, because if you pay attention to you visitors and receive them hospitably, they will quickly forget all about that long and tiring journey. ‘Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy.’ Disney strives for a three-dimensional environment in which the guests are immersed in a story and have fun. Disney wants to create a world in which the guests can physically step into the well-known Disney stories. Each and every day they manifest this vision with their concept. This is apparent from everything the company does, makes, and communicates. Even the frequently asked questions, such as ‘Where is the toilet?’ and ‘What time does the three-hour parade start?’ are kindly and patiently answered by the employees. After all, people that wish to have fun leave their ‘brain’ at home. Employees respond to this. Not only do they tell you what time the parade starts, but also how to get there, and where you can go for a nice bite to eat. ‘When you go to the park, there is no horizon, just Disneyland.’

This chapter will focus on the terms ‘concept’, ‘values’, and ‘vision’. These three terms are an extension of each other and are interdependent. Without strong values, you can have no vision, and without a solid vision, you cannot have a strong concept: the concept will then have no meaning. Moreover, a concept lacks direction when it has no vision, as a vision steers. The values are the markers with which you indicate the direction of your vision. In order to arrive at a thorough understanding of the terms ‘vision’ and ‘concept’, we will therefore start by considering the term ‘values’. What exactly are values and why are they important?