Muji: A brand that looks like no brand

MUJI, a brand created in 1980, is now a huge empire with annual sales of more than 1,600 billion yen, more than 300 local stores, and more than 70 overseas stores. “No seal” means no design in Japanese. The Japanese name “No Seal” means no brand. The famous Japanese designer and Muji Art Director Hara said: “Muji has no brand strategy. Our original intention is no brand."

30 years before the birth of MUJI, it was the era of Japan’s era. “At that time, the daily household supplies of Japanese families were already very rich and very complete. They began to look for something personalized. At that time, the brands mainly developed in two directions. One was to sell the same thing, and the other was to pursue cheap prices. One is to increase product promotion and use advertising to increase the added value.Muji does not want to go the first route, and does not want to go the second route. We hope to take the user’s point of view and remove unnecessary packaging. Only the most essential thing is left behind.” Muji Kanei, President of Muji, explained the origin of MUJI.

In the context of this era, MUJI searched for the most tolerant materials, production methods and forms, and created a new value and aesthetics from “simple”. It is a natural richness and a good choice for low cost.

In August 2001, Tian Zhongyi, the founder of Muji, invited the original Yankee to join. “A lot of people think that our stuff is 'undesigned'. In fact, it is not without design. Instead, we integrate empty ideas into product design, so that many products appear 'introverted', and the inherent relevance of the product itself makes In the first place, there were only 40 types of Muji, which quickly grew to more than 7000 types."

A closer look at the places where Muji opened stores is a mature market economy. Only in areas where consumer exquisiteness is high enough, people have the ability to distinguish between good and bad qualities, and the pursuit of brands is more concerned with quality, such as the prosperous simplicity of products such as muji, which can be favored.

However, this is not the reason why the brand emulates the “no-brand” approach of muji, “reducing complexity, eliminating vanity, emphasizing the essence, and putting people first”. Muji has a strong core, clear design concepts, and accurate urban distribution. The positioning of the crowd undoubtedly constitutes a successful brand of a successful brand. It is the so-called "no license in the mouth" and the card in the heart. As the international brand gurus, Wally Olins, put it: “Even if MUJI is a No-brand brand, but you can't deny it, it's still a brand.”