Instant icons and the beauty of invention

8th Aug 2012

Photo credit: Dyson Ltd

As the nation remains glued to the screens (or for the lucky few- stadium seats) of the second week of Olympic sport, with Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis already clutching gold medals for their efforts, Detail on Retail takes a look at the making of another thoroughly British icon: the Dyson.

From being perishable details supporting the mighty brand, products are regaining their position as the sub-stance behind the brand promise and drivers of long-term consumer interest. The global push for increased consumption has for years meant, reducing product life to promote fast replacement. This has diminished quality to achieve lower cost and fast repurchase. The development is not going to stop. No doubt, fast fashion retailing is moving beyond the apparel sector and becoming a dominant business model – but the Tiffany/Walmart phenomena is still going strong, and consumers are picking the fast as well as the slow, sustainable option. Products with iconic qualities are built to last for generations, but because they are both cool and complicated, they generate instant global interest.

“Say goodbye to the bag” was the powerful slogan which, almost 25 years ago, introduced James Dyson´s G-Force vacuum cleaner to a market which had not seen fundamental innovation for100 years. Today it is on exhibit in museums, still going from strength to strength in traditional trade as well as designer shops world-wide, and still creating curiosity. Apart from completely reinventing well known products, Dyson deeply believes that education is the root to success, and his foundation promotes engineering in schools and universities. Detail on Retail asked Dyson to share his recipe for success. Failure, he said.

To read the full Detail on Retail article please click here.

Detail on Retail frequently publishes insightful articles across all sectors from the retail industry, including food and grocery, fashion, home entertainment and electronics, health and beauty, home and DIY, department stores, luxury, sports, jewelry and leisure. The articles are geared to professionals working within the industry or those creating for it.

Helle Katholm Knutsen

Detail on Retail