Dear CMO:
Brands tend to elevate perceived value in a market segment. Differentiated products are highly brand driven — look at the fashion industry — and even commodities have shown remarkable sensitivity to branding. Just ask Intel. Or Nutrasweet. So when an age old business that has evolved along side humanity since the dawn of time begins to shift towards unbranding, it’s worth noting.
The shift to organic food has given rise to retail (and branded) success stories like Whole Foods, but as “big organic” becomes mainstream, the real growth industry becomes the “unbranded on purpose” farmer’s market.
Think about the difference between what’s happening in organic food and most other industries: perceived value increases if the product carries no label. “Un-brand” loyalty is dramatically enhanced when you know the person who produces it personally, and see them every week. It’s a bit like how the PC industry was pre-Apple.
Pastured, grass-fed beef has authority based in the story, the setting, the experience and ultimately in the product itself.
This is interesting to me: what used to be the preserve of the poor is now a luxury bordering on an elitist choice. What was a nuisance is now aspirational. What comes to mind when you think of urban farming, or organic, or grass fed, or any of the related options?
Why is this? In the language of influence, this is “exclusivity”: time is the new luxury, the control over our time and over the seasons themselves. The luxury of slowing down. Not for nothing, we are frequently finding that the old ways were better than our new ways today.
So let’s temporarily herald the new “new”: unbranding is the new branding. It’s authenticity supported by exclusivity and a healthy dose of consensus. But don’t call it branding, because branding implies marketing, and marketing implies — fairly or not — coersion in the minds of some, the dark side of influence.
By unbranding, we throw off the taint of marketing and show that we have no desire to spin our story. Is there a lesson here for the rest of us?
Regards.
I believe this is a phenomenon with categories that can be perceived as all-natural or craft oriented including: foods, drinks, jewelry, decor, native clothing, textiles, and housewares. Perhaps even some personal care products if we trust its hygenic effects.
It’s an interesting trend: tone down or delete the brand, and tell a story.
Mario: I think there is a strong case to be made for how exclusivity impacts not just branded products but un-branded ones, as well.
Music is a good example: how much cache is attached to “discovering” a new artist that your friend has never heard of? What sort of (unfortunate but true) perverse joy do we get via a quick shot of invidious comparision when they’ve never heard of your new favorite artist? “Oh, you don’t know *them*??”
Wine, types of cuisine, restaurants, vacation spots… not just organic but *grass fed, pastured, organic without hormones or antibiotics or anything else*. We like to be cultural leaders, even if we’re not.
This trend will be amplified by the long tail. More choices mean more differentiation, leading to more opportunities for exclusivity (I think). When will consumer electronics, automobiles and other branded-or-else categories fall into place? “I have a Sansa because iPods are so… so… you know…”
haha, well said. Branded or not, the ultimate high is in that we’ve discovered something special, unique, and different; and now we’re part of a select few who are ‘in the know’ and enjoy being there. We don’t need to be ‘lead users’ by heart, it’s possible by simple reference or chance discovery.
This scenario opens our eyes to the amazing rebranding opportunities out there. Ensure the product/service quality is great, build a great story behind it, and be the local or hyper-targeted specialist. Awesome 🙂 Anybody who’s outside that market, and still loves it, will like it even more because of the exclusive distribution factor.
I think it’s possible with consumer electronics. I see the value proposition as a mix of functionality, industrial design styling, and quality perception of the manufacturer’s home country. Germany’s ‘Grundig’ radios were revered around the world just like the Japanese. Korea and Japan supposedly have the best cell phones. The opportunities with styling are unlimited.
On a similar news note, engineers working on the innards of the OpenMoko cell phone platform, have released the CAD specs so IDs can design their own casings.
Sticking with the food indie for a minute–
When my husband and I went to Maine, our friend there was telling us how lobster had originally been considered ‘peasant food.’ It was fussy and messy, and with all those legs, probably looked creepy to the uninitiated.
Such was also the way with Cajun food going upscale, as well as a Provencale cuisine, and a number of other “peasant foods.” And why not? There’s an alchemy that comes out of taking a tough cut of meat, adding in a great combination of spices and flavors and local ingredients that grew up together, and stewing it down into tenderness and a full stomach. Maybe it’s because soething being ‘discovered’ has that story element y’all have drawn out– with a setting, and characters, and the personal touch that is also organic.
I think that some of the un-branding in the foods is a reaction against everything being parmesan-encrusted, infused with tomato water, sauteed in a demi-glace that took 3 days to make… now a tomato can be enjoyed as a tomato, instead of being foofed up by a million ingredients and processes. And yet, the adjectives continue to proliferate 🙂