UNDERSTANDING AMERICA BEFORE ASKING AMERICANS TO UNDERSTAND YOUR DESIGN

Great design speaks for itself; it doesn't require explanation or debate. It has the power to change moods, making you want to burst into song, skip, and dance like a 2-year-old in a candy store.

However, if great design isn't profitable, then it simply becomes art.

Design alone can't pay the bills, buy a car, or send your kids to college. If great design were the sole qualification for creating and sustaining a profitable business in the world's largest consumer marketplace, some of my friends wouldn't be surviving on a steady diet of "Mac and Cheese."

Whether you're an aspiring U.S. designer or an established European brand, bringing your offerings to the shores of New York and Los Angeles requires more than you might think. Yes, even you need to adapt.

Within 5 seconds, Americans decide whether to pick up your product off the shelf or move on. So, is it really about great design or great packaging design?

Even successful overseas brands fail within the first 18 months of doing business in the U.S. because of poor planning and assumptions. Three European product design award-winning companies from 2010 are no longer operating in the U.S., casualties of their own decisions rather than the market.

If you want people to buy your design, you're now in the business. And business entails identifying and understanding the people you're selling to. Yes, you're now a salesperson in the art of persuasion.

"If you wish to persuade me, you must feel my feelings, think my thoughts, and speak my words." - Cicero

Opportunity still abounds in the U.S., but you must first become a student of culture and the market. When I moved from Manchester, England to work in New York at the age of 21, I made numerous incorrect assumptions (How different could it be? We speak the same language!). Now, many years later, I still see overseas companies making poor decisions based on the assumption that the U.S. can't be that different from other markets where they found success.

Devote your time to market research: Who are my competitors? Should I establish a business presence? Am I looking for a distributor? Can I set up my business and outsource? What retail pricing can the market bear? What are the pricing expectations and needs of my customers? Can I create a profitable and, most importantly, sustainable business?

By diligently conducting your homework, you'll gather facts instead of assumptions. These facts will determine the probability of success. Creating a business plan based on possibilities alone is an express train to frustration and disappointment.

Those individuals and companies that seek to understand America before asking America to understand their design will emerge victorious every time.