Cambridge Business Association
Built to Love
Book

Built to Love

Creating Products that Captivate Customers

Peter Boatwright and Jonathan Cagan
Berrett-Koehler, 2010
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Well Structured
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Life might seem pretty empty without your Apple iPhone, Starbucks latte or Harley-Davidson motorcycle. There are good reasons for that. These iconic brands understand the value of emotions and design emotional connections into every aspect of their products, including delivery, packaging, website and design. Professors Peter Boatwright and Jonathan Cagan outline the link between positive consumer emotions and product profitability. They clarify the challenges of synthesizing emotion into products, and they present the “Product Emotion Strategy” to help businesses achieve this goal. They support their theories with dozens of case-in-point examples, including McDonald’s fast-food restaurants, Blue Hose plumbing supplies and LoneStar trucks. getAbstract warmly recommends this book to executives, product designers and managers, engineers, and marketers.

Summary

Talking About Emotion

Every product category includes some items that people love. This rare, wonderful connection often occurs by happenstance rather than design. For the most part, people buy products because they fulfill a particular need or function. They might be good products or even the best available, but they don’t necessarily elicit positive emotions from the user.

“The difference between an ordinary product and a captivating product is emotion.” Rather than rely on a happy accident, your company should try from the outset to design products that connect emotionally with the consumer, engendering passion and loyalty. Such products are “built to love.” Many companies offer products and services that arouse strong feelings in their customers. For example, because Navistar’s LoneStar truck so effectively meets every need of long-haul truckers, many drivers sport tattoos of the LoneStar logo. People love their Apple iPods, KitchenAid toasters and waffle makers, BMW cars, or Webkinz stuffed animals. Each of these products fulfills a functional need while making customers feel good about using it.

Companies focus on making emotional connections with consumers...

About the Authors

Peter Boatwright and Jonathan Cagan are principals at Carnegie Strategies LLC, an innovation and product strategy consultancy. They wrote The Design of Things to Come with Craig M. Vogel, with whom Cagan co-wrote Creating Breakthrough Products.

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