Product design

(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- Companies are increasingly willing to seek outside help in dreaming up new products. Design firms like Ideo and Frog do that on a large scale; Johnson figured small-scale product design could be a smart complement to ad services, so he hired designers to work alongside the creatives.

That unusual step is already paying off: Last year Coke enlisted Anomaly's help in designing a bottle for its new Gold Peak iced teas, work usually reserved for Coke's internal product gurus.

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Then came Virgin America, which is merging Anomaly's ideas with its own on plane interiors, uniforms, and in-flight entertainment. Anomaly staffers have also acted as business-development specialists, partnering with designers like Jonathan Adler and Burton to create Virgin-branded suitcases, blankets, and pillows that passengers can purchase through the in-flight system when service starts this spring.

While Anomaly is also creating Virgin's ad campaign, it will get an additional cut of in-flight sales.

"I had no idea how involved they would get in the process," says Virgin's Kramer. "They're in it to share risk. They've become a business partner."

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