What Milan Design Week taught me about branding.

BY RONIKA MARANDI

This past spring, I took a leap into the unknown and spent four & half months in Italy studying international business at Kent State University in Florence. One Monday in April I decided to take a train to Milan and attend the Milan Design Week 2025!

All I have to say is move aside Fashion week, the new buzz is Design week. A brand's haven for environmental marketing, a week where city of Milan is filled with creative installations and transforms into a center of creativity, branding, and cultural influence. Brands and designers from all over the world visit to showcase their new designs, products. What I liked the most is: unlike Fashion week, DW is not only luxury clothing brands but also other industries, from electric cars, new Samsung air conditioner, crystal chandeliers, chair furniture shows, art, to toilets. yes Toilets, we'll get into that a bit later on. Design week expands to multiple districts around the city, I did not have the chance to look at them all however lets discuss some of the brand installations that remained memorable.

Lexus, took a different route by collaborating with Tokyo-based creative agency SIX and design studio STUDEO. They had crafted a multi-room exhibit to unveil their new electric car Black Butterfly (new dream car unlocked btw) "A-Un, an immersive installation exploring the future of next-generation human-machine mobility." A-un comes from the Japanese cultural concept representing the harmony of opposites. What do you think Lexus' take on this concept is?

The first rooms' installation comes to life as visitors approach, responding to their heartbeats to create a unique, immersive experience. - Lexus Europe. Each room you enter unfolded another chapter of their electric car’s story. Initially it was a "massive hand-woven screen that emerges within the installation, one room highlighting live data of how much air their electric innovations had already cleaned the air. The anticipation built as you walked through, until the final reveal room, the car itself, glowing in a darkened room. THIS IS HOW YOU launch a product.

Next up, Samsung presented The Gentle Room, an immersive installation created in collaboration with global platform for Architecture and design: Archiproducts. Samsung unveiled its exclusive WindFree™ technology.

An immersive installation, an immidiete play on your senses as you walk in. The concept is built around the theme of air as invisible comfort, the space showcased Samsung’s WindFree™ air conditioning, which diffuses air gently and evenly through thousands of micro-holes, creating a still and even airflow. I still remember stepping into Samsung’s model room. A pleasant almost non-existent scent along with a still quiet breeze, neutral colors on the walls and futuristic furniture, the air quality was noticeably cooler, a sharp contrast from the hot bustling streets of Milan outside. There was no salesman trying to show you features of the AC. You walked in, felt the difference immediately, and knew. This was environmental marketing at its simplest and strongest: don’t tell me your product works, let me experience it working. Samsung did a great job highlighting how this innovation can integrate into everyday life.

Next, drum roll please: the toilet exhibit

I walked into this not knowing what to expect, Geberit had transformed a functional product, their new toilet and gravity sinks into a sensory journey with its “Where Water Meets Design” installation. The multi-room exhibit celebrated the element of water, turning its movement into an immersive almost meditative experience. I LOVED IT, very on brand for a bathroom I will say. Though features of this product weren't the main attraction I had to physically look for product specs which showed up on smaller screens occasionally on the side walls, the focus was on the interactive water dynamics clearly elevating a utilitarian item into a moment of pause and reflection tapping into the consumers' sensory system. As you stepped into the room, you were met with illuminated waves and water in motion displayed in a dark room, ambient relaxing water sounds, and the movement made the familiar look of the simple element of water feel elevated.

All Together, walking through the city left me with so much inspiration and a new vision I’ll carry into my own career in marketing, the strongest brands are the ones who create experiences and little moments in people's lives. I saw this sign on a desk designer storefront on the way back to home " the way we experience design is the way we experience life!"

Hope you enjoyed my blog and recollections of yet another impulsive trip.

✨For more photos and videos of the event, check out my LinkedIn post!

Innovation

What Milan Design Week taught me about branding.

Want to see more like this?

Subscribe to our mailing list