Designing has huge importance in today’s scenario. Branding is important tool which decide success of any enterprise, if it is not done with proper care and planning. In a highly customized marketplace, differentiation - how one product stands out from a similar product or service allows customers to make a distinction between competing services. Different organizations will often choose to focus their offers on distinctive qualities of brand attributes

1. A Project Report on Evolution of Design in Skoda
Auto
Submitted To:
Prof Vivek Raina
In Partial fulfilment the requirement for the academic of MBA
program PGPGBM 2010-12
Xcellon Institute
Navrangpura, Ahmedabad
Prepared By:
Kapil Rajput
Roll No: - 52
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2. Table of Content
pg. 2
No Title Page no
1 Executive summary 3
2 Introduction to SDM 4
3 Importance of SDM 5-6
4 History and life cycle of Skoda 7-9
5 Design of Logo 10
6 Evolution of Design 11-13
7 Conclusion 14
8 Bibliography 14

3. Executive Summary
Designing has huge importance in today’s scenario. Branding is important tool which
decide success of any enterprise, if it is not done with proper care and planning. In a
highly customized marketplace, differentiation - how one product stands out from a similar
product or service allows customers to make a distinction between competing
services. Different organizations will often choose to focus their offers on distinctive
qualities of brand attributes.
Whether looking inside or outside the organization, the goal of design research is to
support the objectives and values of an organization, meet the needs of the customers,
and to identify, create and promote opportunities for design. Design can be anything from
product or service innovation to communication design, or information design. The
Strategic Design Management (SDM) programme at NID has evolved around the idea of
Design Thinking as a Strategic Management tool. The programme aims to develop human
resources for the corporate, government and the socially important sectors who would
understand the emerging issues from a context specific and systemic perspective; and
deploy design strategies as a problem solving approach.
Skoda as a brand is the best example for SDM as it changed it design (logo) at time span
to satisfy the ideology of the business in which they are working from a long time. Skoda
had changed 6 logos so far. Every logo is identical and has its own importance according
to business in which it is involve at that time. Skoda started its business from cycle
manufacturing but it evolved in motor-car business and establishes itself as one of the
reputed brand around the globe.
Introduction (SDM): Strategic design management is the application of future-
oriented design principles in order to increase an organization’s innovative and
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4. competitive qualities. Its foundations lie in the analysis of external and internal
trends and data, which enables design decisions to be made on the basis of facts
rather than aesthetics or intuition. As such it is regarded as an effective way to
bridge innovation, research, management and design. The discipline is mostly
practiced by design agencies or by internal development departments. Businesses
are the main consumers of strategic design, but the public, political and not-for-profit
sectors are also making increasing use of the discipline. Its applications are varied,
yet often aim to strengthen one of the following: product branding, product
development, corporate identity, corporate branding and service delivery. Strategic
design has become increasingly crucial in recent years, as businesses and
organisations compete for a share of today’s global and fast-paced marketplace To
survive in today’s rapidly changing world, products and services must not only
anticipate change, but drive it. Businesses that don’t will lose market share to those
that do. There have been many examples of strategic design management
breakthroughs over the years and in an increasingly competitive global market with
rapid product cycles, strategic design is becoming more important. Today's business
environment calls for a leader who not only has sound analytical and business skills
but is also able to think intuitively and look for creative solutions to business
problems.
In India SDM course was first introduce by NID (National Institute of design).
Strategic design management is concerned with integrative and collaborative
business management requiring a new breed of managers who are skilled at
working with a wide range of multi-disciplinary inputs and diverse team members in
order to achieve holistic and sustainable business solutions. The educational
programme in Strategic Design Management (SDM) is conducted within a design
thinking framework. The programme is project-oriented, human-centred, and
interactive in approach. It culminates in an industry-based project with a view to
connect students with the business world, and develop their skills and confidence in
working with the real-life situations. The SDM students can specialize in specific
areas such as user research, branding, retail design and management, new product
development, environmental design, and social development
Importance of SDM:
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5. It's remarkable how often business strategy, the purpose of which is to direct action
toward a desired outcome, leads to just the opposite: stasis and confusion. Strategy
should bring clarity to an organization; it should be a signpost for showing people
where you, as their leader, are taking them -- and what they need to do to get there.
But the tools executives traditionally use to communicate strategy -- spreadsheets
and PowerPoint decks -- are woefully inadequate for the task. You have to be a
supremely engaging storyteller if you rely only on words, and there aren't enough of
those people out there. What's more, words are highly open to interpretation --
words mean different things to different people, especially when they're sitting in
different parts of the organization. The result: In an effort to be relevant to a large,
complicated company, strategy often gets mired in abstractions.
People need to have a visceral understanding -- an image in their minds -- of why
you've chosen a certain strategy and what you're attempting to create with it. Design
is ideally suited to this endeavour. It can't help but create tangible, real outcomes.
Because it's pictorial, design describes the world in a way that's not open to many
interpretations. Designers, by making a film, scenario, or prototype, can help people
emotionally experience the thing that the strategy seeks to describe. If, say,
Motorola unveils a plan to create products that have never existed before, everyone
in the organization will have a different idea of what that means. But if Motorola
creates a video so people can see those products, or makes prototypes so people
can touch them, everyone has the same view.
Unfortunately, many people continue to think of design in very narrow terms.
Industrial products and graphics are outcomes of the design process, but they do
not begin to describe the boundaries of design's playing field. Software is
engineered, but it is also designed -- someone must come up with the concept of
what it is going to do. Logistics systems, the Internet, organizations, and yes, even
strategy -- all of these are tangible outcomes of design thinking. In fact, many
people in many organizations are engaged in design thinking without being aware of
it. The result is that we don't focus very much on making it better.
If you dig into business history, you see that the same thing occurred with the quality
movement. As business strategist Gary Hamel has pointed out, there was a time
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6. when people didn't know what quality manufacturing was and therefore didn't think
about it. Nevertheless, they were engaged with quality -- they created products of
good or bad durability and reliability. Then thinkers such as W. Edwards Deming
deconstructed quality -- they figured out what it was and how to improve it. As soon
as people became conscious of it, manufactured goods improved dramatically.
The same thing needs to happen with design. Organizations need to take design
thinking seriously. We need to spend more time making people conscious of design
thinking -- not because design is wondrous or magical, but simply because by
focusing on it, we'll make it better. And that's an imperative for any business,
because design thinking is indisputably a catalyst for innovation productivity. That is,
it can increase the rate at which you generate good ideas and bring them to market.
Where you innovate, how you innovate, and what you innovate are design
problems. When you bring design thinking into that strategic discussion, you join a
powerful tool with the purpose of the entire endeavour, which is to grow.
Any real-world strategy starts with having fresh, original insights about your market
and your customers. Those insights come only when you observe directly what's
happening in your market. As Jane Fulton Suri, who directs our human-factors
group, notes in her book Thoughtless Acts? (Chronicle Books, 2005), "Directly
witnessing and experiencing aspects of behaviour in the real world is a proven way
of inspiring and informing [new] ideas. The insights that emerge from careful
observation of people's behaviour, Uncover all kinds of opportunities that were not
previously evident."
History of Skoda:
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7. Skoda was established in 1859 as arm manufacturer. The origins of what became
Skoda Auto go back to the early 1890s where, like many long-established car
manufacturers, a company started out manufacturing bicycles. It was 1894, and 26-
year old Václav Klement, who was a bookseller in Mladá Boleslav, in today's Czech
Republic, which was then part of Austria-Hungary, was unable to obtain spare parts
to repair his German bicycle. Klement returned his bicycle to the manufacturers,
Seidel and Naumann, with a letter, in Czech, asking them to carry out repairs, only
to receive a reply, in German, stating: "If you would like an answer to your inquiry,
you should try writing in a language we can understand. A disgusted Klement,
despite not having technical experience, decided to start a bicycle repair shop,
which he and Václav Laurin opened in 1895 in Mladá Boleslav. Before going into
business partnership with Klement, Laurin was established as a bicycle
manufacturer in the nearby town of Turnov. In 1898, after moving to their newly-built
factory, the pair bought a Werner "motorcyclist", which was produced by French
manufacturer Werner Brothers. Laurin & Klement's first motorcyclette, powered by
an engine mounted on the handlebars driving the front wheels, proved dangerous
and unreliable—an early incident on it cost Laurin a front tooth. To design a safer
machine with its structure around the engine, the pair wrote to German ignition
specialist Robert Bosch for advice on a different electromagnetic system. The pair's
new Slavia motorcycle made its debut in 1899. In 1900, when the company had a
workforce of 32, Slavia exports began, with 150 machines shipped to London for the
Hewtson firm. Shortly afterwards, the press credited them as makers of the first
motorcycle. The first model, Voiturette A, was a success and the company was
established both within Austria-Hungary and internationally. By 1905 the firm was
manufacturing automobiles. Rear of a Škoda Popular Special on display at the Sport
auto Museum, Lány, Kladno District, Czech Republic After World War I the Laurin-
Klement company began producing trucks, but in 1924,after running into problems
and being hit by a fire, the company sought a partner, and was acquired by Škoda
Works, an arms manufacturer which had become a multi-sector concern and the
biggest industrial enterprise in Czechoslovakia. Mostly later production was under
the Škoda name. After a decline during the economic depression, Škoda was again
successful with models such as the Popular in the late 1930s.During the World War
II Occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Škoda works was turned into part of
Reichswerke Hermann Göring serving the German World War II effort.When, by July
1945, the Mladá Boleslav factory had been reconstructed, production of Škoda's first post-
World War II car, the 1101 series began. It was essentially an updated version of the pre-
World War II Škoda Popular. In the autumn of 1945, Škoda (along with all large
manufacturers) became part of the planned economy, which meant it was separated from
the parent Škoda company. In spite of unfavourable political conditions and losing contact
with technical development in non-communist countries, Škoda retained a good reputation
until the 1960s, producing models such as the Škoda 440 Spartak, 445 Octavia, Felicia and
Škoda 1000 MB. In the late 1980s, Škoda(then named Automobilové závody, národní
podnik, Mladá Boleslav or AZNP) was still manufacturing cars that conceptually dated back
to the 1960s. Rear engineered models such as the Škoda 105/120, Estelle and Rapid sold
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8. steadily and performed well against more modern makes in races such as the RAC Rally in
the 1970s and 1980s. They won their class in the RAC rally for 17 years running. They were
powered by a 130 brake horsepower (97 kW), 1,289 cubic centimetres (78.7 cu in) engine.
In spite of its dated image and being the subject of negative jokes, the Škoda remained a
common sight on the roads of UK and Western Europe throughout the 1970s and
1980s.Sport versions of the Estelle and earlier models were produced, using "Rapid" as the
version name. Soft-top versions were also available. The Rapid was once described as the
'poor man's Porsche', and had significant sales success in the UK during the 1980s.
In 1987 the Favorit model was introduced, and was one of a triumvirate of compact
Western-influenced front wheel drive hatchbacks from the three main Eastern Bloc
manufacturers around that time, the others being VAZ's Lada Samara and Zastava's
Yugo Sana. The Favorit's appearance was designed by Italian design company
Bertone. With some motor technology licensed from western Europe, but still using
the Škoda-designed 1289 cc engine, Škoda engineers designed a car comparable
to western production. The technological gap was still there, but began closing
rapidly. The Favorit’s were very popular in Czechoslovakia and other Eastern Bloc
countries. They also sold fairly well in Western Europe, especially in the UK and
Denmark; they were regarded as solid and reliable, as well as having good value.
The Favorit's trim levels continued to improve, and it was sold until the introduction
of the Felicia in 1994.The fall of communism with the Velvet Revolution brought
great changes to Czechoslovakia, and most industries were subject to privatisation.
In the case of Škoda Automobile the state authorities brought in a strong foreign
partner. Volkswagen was chosen by the Czech government on December 9, 1990
and, as a result on March 28, 1991 a joint-venture partnership agreement with
Volkswagen took place, marked by the transfer of a 30% share to the Volkswagen
Group on April 16, 1991. In the following years, Škoda became the fourth brand of
the German group, as the Volkswagen Group raised its equity share first on
December 19, 1994 to 60.3%, followed on December 11, 1995 to 70% and finally
taking 100% ownership of the company on May 30, 2000. In the competition for
Škoda, Volkswagen was pitted against French car-maker Renault, which lost
because its strategic plan did not include producing high-value models in the Czech
factories: Renault proposed to manufacture the Renault Twingo city car in the
Škoda factories.At the time the decision was made, privatisation to a major German
company was somewhat controversial. However, it could be argued that the
subsequent fortunes of other Eastern-Bloc automobile manufacturers such as Lada,
AutoVAZ, and of Škoda Works itself – once Škoda Auto's parent company –
suggested that Volkswagen's involvement was not necessarily a result of poor
judgement.Backed by Volkswagen Group expertise and investments, the design—
both style and engineering—has improved greatly. The 1994 model Felicia was
effectively a reskin of the Favorit, but quality improvements helped, and in the
Czech Republic the car was good value for money and became popular.
Volkswagen AG chairman Ferdinand Piëch personally choose Dirk van Braeckel as
head of design, and the subsequent Octavia and Fabia models made their way to
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9. the demanding European Union markets. They are built on common Volkswagen
Group floorpans. The latest Octavia is based on Golf Mk5 floorpan, and Fabia is
based on the A0 floorpan, although the Fabia was released a year before
Volkswagen released their new Polo, based on the same floorpan.
The perception of Škoda in Western Europe has changed completely since the
takeover by VW, in stark comparison to the reputation of the cars throughout the
1980s—often described as 'the laughing stock' of the automotive world. As technical
development progressed and attractive new models were brought to market,
Škoda's image was initially slow to improve. In the UK, a major turnabout was
achieved with the ironic "It is a Škoda, honest" campaign, which was started in the
early 2000s. In a 2003 advertisement on British television, a new employee on the
production line is fitting Škoda badges on the car bonnets. When some attractive
looking cars come along he stands back, not fitting the badge, since they look so
good they cannot be Škodas. This market campaign worked by confronting Škoda's
image problem head-on—a tactic which marketing professionals regard as high risk.
Before the advertising campaign, it was common to hear tour guides in Bratislava
making jokes about the Škoda, saying "How do you double the value of a Škoda?
Fill up the petrol tank!" By 2005 Škoda was selling over 30,000 cars a year in the
UK, a market share of over 1%. For the first time in its UK history, a waiting list
developed for deliveries by Škoda. Škoda owners in the UK have consistently
ranked the brand at or near the top of the J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey
since the 2000s.As of 2010 Škoda has several manufacturing and assembly plants,
including one in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Škoda also has an assembly
plant in the city of Aurangabad, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra which
was established in 2001 as Škoda India Private Ltd.In 2006 Škoda presented its
brand new model Roomster, a small MPV with a unique design, which reflects future
trends. At the end of December 2006 Škoda released the first official pictures of the
new Fabia, a model that would replace the Fabia in 2007.Later in 2008 Škoda
released the first pictures of the face-lifted Octavia with new headlights, front grille
and bumper, and a slightly restyled rear and interior. The revised car also features a
new selection of engines including the 1.4 TFSI and new common rail diesel
engines.A new concept car was presented at the Paris Auto Show in September
2006. The concept, a three-door compact car targeted at young drivers, was called
the Joyster.In 2005 the company produced 494,637 vehicles, and on 22 November
2006, produced the 500,000th vehicle of 2006, the first time in Škoda's long history
that this figure had been reached. By the end of 2006, over 550,000 vehicles had
been produced.Volkswagen Group's Australian arm, Volkswagen Group Australia
(VGA), announced that they would be returning Škoda, last sold in Australia in 1983,
to the Australian car market in October 2007. As of 2012 the Fabia, Octavia, Superb
and Yeti are available in Australia and India.
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10. Design of Logo:
“Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up
expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product.”
Logos are the centrepiece of a company's brand. People are exposed to way too
many concepts and ideas on a daily basis to remember them all. So our minds
organize all of that information into categories. Your company's logo should be the
symbol for everything that your company represents. When a customer sees your
logo, they should be able to quickly connect with what it is you do. However, it is all
too common to find companies that either do not have a logo or do not put their logo
on all of their promotional and advertising materials. Logos are the centrepiece of a
company's brand. People are exposed to way too many concepts and ideas on a
daily basis to remember them all. So our minds organize all of that information into
categories. Your company's logo should be the symbol for everything that your
company represents. When a customer sees your logo, they should be able to
quickly connect with what it is you do. However, it is all too common to find
companies that either do not have a logo or do not put their logo on all of their
promotional and advertising materials. If you are a company that does not have a
logo or are thinking about redesigning your logo, there are a number of important
points to remember. Since your logo will become the centrepiece of your brand, it is
worth taking the time to understand a little bit more about what makes a good logo.
A logo is a symbol, word or combination of the two that a company uses in
conjunction with its products or services. Many well-known companies have iconic
logos. For example, McDonald's uses a large golden "M" as a logo and Apple uses
a stylized image of an apple with a bite taken out of one side. Designing and
displaying logos is a way that business get consumers to remember and recognize
their products and services. Companies can register logos as trademarks with the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; trademark holders are granted the exclusive right
to use a registered mark.
Skoda as brand has great understanding of logos in the value and ideology of
business enterprise. This made them change logo design as and when required to
match with the companies various models and their reach to new emerging markets
of the world.
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11. Evolution of Design:
1) Slavia Logo (1895 – 1905)
Bicycles and motorcycles were made at the Mladá Boleslav workshop under
the Slavia brand. The logo was based on a wheel with lime leaves, which
were to symbolise the Slav nations. The names of the company’s founders
(Laurin & Klement) were added and later became the main motif for the new
logo
2) L&K Logo (1905-1925)
The design of the L&K logo was influenced by Art Nouveau, an artistic
style at the beginning of the 20th century. The initials of the company’s two
founders are (probably in connection with the name Václav Laurin or laurel,
lat. laurus nobilis) surrounded by laurels in the shape of a wreath, which has
been associated with victors and the famous since antiquity. The laurels
possibly foretold the success of L&K.
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12. 3) Škoda Logo (1926-1933)
Cars were produced in Mladá Boleslav under the Škoda brand from 1926.
Although the brand’s name changed completely, the form of the new
product logo shows continuity with the previous stage. The Škoda logo has
a new, oval shape, but the brand name is still the dominant element in the
centre and is surrounded by laurels.
4) Skoda Logo (1933-1990)
The logo with the famous “winged arrow” was first used in 1926. Its origin
is shrouded in mystery, sometimes the author of the idea (the stylised head
of an Indian wearing a headdress with five feathers) is said to be the
commercial director of Škoda Plzeň, T. Maglič. The blue and white circular
logo, which is completed by a right-moving winged arrow with a stylised
pinion, is currently used on some original Škoda parts (e.g. on window
glass and engine blocks).
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13. 5) Skoda Logo (1999-2011)
Although the Škoda logo is viewed as one of the most original and
stylistically clean manufacturing company trademarks in the world, the
author is not yet known. The black and green logo, which has been used
since 1994, gives the Škoda brand a greater degree of originality – black
symbolises the hundred-year tradition, green signalises environmental
production.
6) Skoda Logo (From 2011)
Skoda is the only automobile manufacturer who had changed Logo more
than 6 times in 2011. They unveiled their new logo.
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14. Conclusion:
According to me designing hold great importance and Skoda as brand inspire me to
understand its significance in creating brand value and identity of one among
groups. Logo is the first thing which strikes in the mind whenever anyone of us is
expose to new brands The ultimate purpose of branding and designing logos is to
create a sense of loyalty among customers. If a customer is satisfied with certain
company's products, he might eventually come to favor its products over
competitors, even if he has not tried the competitors’ products. Logos can act as a
stamp or seal of quality that loyal customers seek out. In some cases, customers
might be willing to pay more for a product branded with a logo that they associate
with quality, even if the product itself is actually no better than the products offered
by competitors.
Bibliography:
1)www.dinesh.com/history_of_logos/car_logos_-_design_and_history/skoda_logo_-
_design_and_history.html
2)www.wikipedia/Skoda
3) www.Skoda.com
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15. pg. 15