Can being design oriented really change the face of your company? Companies like Apple, BMW, Whole Food Stores and Target are proving that design isn't only cool it's profitable. As marketers we can learn all the latest tools for optimizing results online marketing results, but what does all this mean for your marketing and branding strategy. These tools teach us "how" to build things but not necessarily what we should be building. The experience a consumer has with your brand goes beyond marketing messages, advertising, PR and social media. What they see, interact with, do - all the things they experience about a company are used to form opinions and make buying decisions. More and more companies are realizing that you have to "design" this type of experience. Today, design isn't just a "nice to have", it's a fundamental component of marketing strategy and organizational cornerstone. Market leaders of the future understand that "design thinking" is everyone's job and will be as important as anything else in your marketing arsenal.