*Advertisement Feature

Listen to the full interview with Jorge Hernandez in a special bonus episode of The kbbreview Podcast using the player above. You can also go straight to it in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube or by simply searching ‘kbbreview’ wherever you get your podcasts.

In a marketplace full of products that can feel remarkably similar, standing out in bathrooms isn’t easy. 

But for Jorge Hernandez, head of design at Bathroom Brands Group – home to Crosswater, Burlington, Britton, Clearwater and Showerwall – the answer lies firmly in the power of design. Differentiation, he argues, is what gives brands their identity, retailers their edge, and consumers the confidence to invest in a bathroom that reflects their personality.

Hernandez oversees every stage of product design for Bathroom Brands Group, from concept through to manufacture and that means managing a diverse house of brands, each with its own mission, style and tone and, for Hernandez, it is like being multilingual: switching seamlessly between each style and market. 

What unites them all, though, is an approach Hernandez calls the ‘democratisation of design’. 

“Whoever is taking on a bathroom renovation is effectively doing interior design, whether they like to acknowledge it or not,” he says. “Our role is to empower them to make those decisions with products and services that bring the best of luxury interior design thinking into the mid-market.”

So why does this matter for retailers? Hernandez believes differentiation through design, both in products and showroom interiors, is crucial to creating an experience that can’t be replicated online.

Curation

What consumers need, he argues, isn’t more information, but guidance and inspiration, and that’s where design comes in.

By curating well-designed ranges, retailers offer something consumers can’t simply “add to basket” at home: the chance to imagine how a coherent collection might transform their space, with the advice of a trained designer to steer the process.

“By going into a store, customers are choosing the experiential part – seeing, touching and imagining how it will work in their home. That’s where design-led ranges and an exceptional in-store experience give retailers real value.”

Collaboration is also an essential part of  getting design right. The group’s new Design House in Dartford (pictured) is a dedicated space where the team works alongside retailers, designers and installers to shape future products.

It is, Hernandez says, simply mirroring what happens in showrooms every day. “Retailers sit down with customers to co-design their space. We do the same with our partners – sharing ideas, listening to their feedback, and working out how we can solve real-world problems together.

“And if the installer experience isn’t considered,  too, we risk losing their trust. They’re the ones on the front line.”

Of course, design trends matter too but Hernandez is wary of simple replication.

“The problem I see in the industry is people going to trade shows, bringing something back, and presenting it as the next big thing. For us, design is about identifying consumer pain points and developing solutions that deliver value as well as distinction.”

That, he argues, is the true heart of differentiation: not straying so far from familiarity that customers feel alienated, but adding the distinct edge that makes them take notice.

“Design isn’t about things – it’s about people and how things can better serve them.” he says.