MUJI Lower priced for a reason
MUJI is a Japanese retail company which sells a wide variety of household and consumer goods.
MUJI's full name is 無印良品 Mujirushi Ryōhin which literally translates to "No Brand Quality Goods".
MUJI began as a product brand of the supermarket chain The Seiyu, Ltd. in December 1980. The MUJI product range was developed to offer cheap good quality products and were marketed using the slogan “Lower priced for a reason."
Branched out to MUJI to Go, Café MUJI, MUJI Campsite and MUJI architecture.
MUJI was born out of 2 major reasons:
- Oil shocks in the 1970s, with many foreign companies taking prominent positions in the retail market. Japanese consumers were concerned about Japan’s self sustainability.
- Poor quality goods that were in the market. Hence MUJI was born, with the vision of effective products while maintaining simplicity and functionality.
MUJI in essence is distinguished by:
- Design minimalism
- Emphasis on recycling
- Avoidance of waste in production and packaging
- No logo or brand policy.
MUJI's design philosophy
The MUJI philosophy is to deliver functional products that strive not to be the best, but enough.
Enough does not mean compromise and resignation but a feeling of satisfaction knowing that the product will deliver what is needed but no more.
Primary goal is to ensure customers do not pay for what they cannot use, hopes to be a compass always pointing towards the necessities in life.
Wabi Sabi - A Japanese aesthetic that emphasized on transition and subdued refinement. In other words, value that increases over time and blends with the owner’s lifestyle.
Similarly, MUJI products are designed such that they get better with use.
Average people participate in refining the product designs, allowing them to better understand their consumers needs. Give customers individuality and creativity for further options
No-brand positioning strategy
Sells itself as Simple, Functional and Affordable
A no-brand that delivers emotional and self-expressive benefits.
The phenomenon of MUJI becoming an international brand is “accidental” as it did not set out to build a brand consciously.
However accidental, four factors has made Muji identifiable as a brand: Style, Simplicity, Value and Uniformity
Differences in Marketing:
- MUJI Japan: Uses cost leadership, selling quality products at affordable prices
- MUJI International: Uses adaptive marketing and market themselves as uniquely designed products which are superior with premium prices.
MUJI’s visual identity and feel is derived from its philosophical views to reduce waste and create products that are no-frill and functionally designed.
This results in items that are earthly coloured and to some, mundane looking. The packaging and labelling is also reduced to as simple as possible, and logo branding is removed from the labels.
MUJI tends to not run too many advertisements as it slightly goes against the ‘no-brand’ policy, however if there are good products MUJI will not hesitate to promote them. Usually these advertisements run very minimalistic and close to MUJI’s visual identity.
So why is MUJI successful?
MUJI's popularity is from word of mouth, and the increasing popularity of the anti-brand movement.
Consumers have seen the downside of the debt-driven commercialism excesses of today’s society. There is almost a craving for the simple, away from the prideful and self-absorbed brand benefits and toward more satisfying values.
MUJI can also adapt and shape itself to a variety of styles and preferences and as wide a group of people as possible. This is the most important reason why people embrace MUJI.
MUJI not only provides consumers with items, but also a lifestyle that the consumers buy into and believe in.
It is this application of design from a consumer viewpoint and unique sense of problem solving that is MUJI’s strength and best driving force.
Case Study
Previously, MUJI suffered a period of downturn when store managers ran each store as their own. The original philosophy of MUJI was then lost in translation.
It was only until the new CEO came up with THE MUJIGRAM that would provide a direct set of guidelines for all employees to follow.