The brand is ‘the’ buzzword of the 21st century. It is the consumer bible we live by to distinguish what is “right” about certain products and services and what is “wrong.” The brand is there to create a connection to our inner being, and just as we as humans are infinitely varied and different, so are the brands we are exposed to. However, what if you turn your back on brands, or at least say you have? If a brand is a corporate identity, isn’t it turning its back on identifying itself to the general public? With the first Muji store opening in the New York Time Building later in the year, I think the time is right to introduce the antithesis of the consumer, the ‘no-brand’ brand, to the American public.
A lady, sitting next to Raymond Loewy (many call him the father of Industrial Design) at dinner, struck up a conversation.
‘Why,’ he asked, ‘did you put two X’s in Exxon?’
‘Why ask?’ I ask
‘Because,’ he said, ‘I couldn’t help noticing?’
‘Well,’ he replied, ‘that is the answer.’
If ever there was a quote that best expressed the brand that Muji is, this would be it. Yes, I called Muji a brand, so before you take twice and make sure you read the same article, let me tell you a little about Muji.
Muji is essentially a lifestyle store, specializing in providing simple and affordable products with production and environmental impact in mind, selling everything from wall-mounted CD players to a repurposed yarn elephant stuffed animal. . The company is huge in Japan, with more than 285 stores and 3,400 employees and a variety of offspring within its core business, including Cafe Muji, Meal Muji, Muji Campsite, Muji Opticians, and Muji+Infill, an “innovative architect designed plan, energy efficient house. Muji is all about minimalism, avoiding waste in packaging and production, and a strict no-logo policy. Even the name Muji is derived from the much longer ‘Mujirushi Ryōhin’, which translates to ‘Unbranded, Quality Goods’.
The big date with Raymond Loewy is a perfect example of why Muji’s success is growing exponentially and why I can’t help but be drawn to one of the 3 London stores every time I’m there. This corporate entity from a different land, exotic, mysterious with its indecipherable descriptions of Japanese products, sucks you like a fly into the light. Normally, the only legible text in the store is the exterior name, although for the Japanese, the store must be like an Ikea. A lifestyle shopping with affordable solutions for modern living. In the West, the identity of the company changes dramatically, it really lives up to its name as an ‘unbranded’ brand, so inadvertently but completely understandable, Muji has made a brand of the unbranded. Why? Simple human nature. As a human being, we remember things by association.
We remember the last time I saw someone in a hoodie top was that violent young man at the bar the other night, or the last pair of Doc Martins I saw loose, by a guy with a shaved head and a swastika tattoo. We brand things by associations in our lives that are often interpreted by the companies and retailers themselves through promotion and advertising. You can argue that the ‘unbranded’ brand allows for openness in interpretation and association, so you can brand Muji as an environmentally conscious retailer, the next see it as a Japanese company with a philosophy with ancient oriental teachings, or to another person like the boys. who sell those cool t-shirts that come in 4 inch cube packs.
The real question is whether an ‘unbranded’ brand is more beneficial than a ‘branded’ brand. This is, of course, completely contextual. For a business, a brand is beneficial in making money and provides them with a consumer base that cares about what it means to buy certain items, whether it’s clothing or electronics. However, people grow and move on, as do their tastes and ideals. I know many people who refuse to wear overt physical brand clothing because as much as the clothing is high quality, the brand association doesn’t fit who they are as a person or they don’t feel the clothing needs to. say anything about them as a person. This is the ‘no brand’ audience, or at least tries to be. Brands evolve over time, often exploiting certain aspects of their character to carve out a niche market. A good example is American Apparel. Over time, their vertically integrated system of manufacturing, distribution, and promotion has become synonymous with being non-sweatshop and environmentally conscious.
In our visually saturated environment, simplification can often physically “unmark” something. Anonymous design, as promoted by the Super Normal Exhibition, is a very powerful factor in creating something that is accepted and used, rather than idolized or displayed. However, there needs to be a degree of availability and accessibility to the idea that means that people don’t aspire to this kind of design and feel they need to belong to a certain kind of ‘design conscious’ class. A good example of this paradox is the Japanese design studio Plus Minus Zero, run by superstar Japanese designer Nauto Fukasawa. The available products exude simplicity and elegance, but mainly due to its availability, the design only satisfies the ‘design conscious’ or those who appreciate the design ideals and theory that Fukasawa offers. Hopefully, retailers like Muji, which combine simplicity and accessibility, will pave the way for a new conscious consumer, who knows what they want and knows where to go to get it.
One morning I was in a Muji store on Carnaby Street in London’s Soho district, browsing the huge variety of stationery on offer. I picked up each of the tools and was in awe of how simple, yet beautiful they were, when behind me burst in a young Japanese woman, in her early 20s, grabbing a large handful of very specific pens as she walked by. her with me, she walked straight to the counter, paid and left. It was at that moment that I realized Muji’s success in providing people with what they need, rather than what they think they need.
Needless to say, I bought at least 3 of those pens.
