Brandless: a brand that demands attention

We were intrigued by the launch of Brandless – a new brand of food and household products – unveiled in the US this month and available online-only through the Brandless website.

If you didn’t know that a brand – Brandless – was behind the products, at first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking they comprised a non-branded range of lowest-tier goods from a retailer looking to save design and packaging costs.

But things are not as simple as they first appear. There’s that delightful, playful colour palette. That simple white box solution with uniform range-left type (Aksidenz-Grotesk – Sherlock’s own default font). Those simple silhouette bottle and pack shapes.

Then there’s the fact it has a blog. It’s on Instagram. It’s on Facebook. It’s on Twitter. Just like a brand – doing everything one would expect a brand to do… in an attempt to build its brand. The two ‘TM’s featured on-pack are perhaps the biggest giveaway. And suddenly it all becomes clear: it is a range of branded products!

We particularly like how the brand name – Brandless – is subtly listed on the standard front-of-pack tick list as the last product attribute after others, such as organic, or non-GMO.

From a retail perspective, it appeals to us on a number of levels. For example, the beautiful simplicity of the design makes the 200-strong range easy to shop, the tick list mechanic offering an efficient way to identify the salient attributes of the products. We also like Brandless’s BrandTax concept (trademarked, of course), which it defines as “… the hidden costs you pay for a national brand.” It goes on to explain that it’s on a mission to eliminate BrandTax, citing that “…the average person pays at least 40% more for products of comparable quality as ours.”

Main image credit: Brandless