Secret brand
Encyclopedia
Secret brand is a term used to describe design and manufacture companies, including Muji
, that do not advertise or overtly label their products. The products are generally considered luxury goods intended for exclusive clientele. William Gibson's
novel Zero History
talks about this idea.
. The secret brand creates products with highly specific, unique qualities, usually very subtle and invisible to the casual observer. These qualities do not necessarily improve the performance of the product and can be inefficiencies (i.e. using heavy weight denim for casual clothes). The customer purchases the product for its rarity; to have something that is very difficult to acquire.
The second principle is branding
. Large companies wanting to reach a new demographic may use a secret brand to establish clout among that demographic. This imprint brand may use the distribution network of the parent brand, but ship from a dummy company
. Alternatively, the secret brand may employ individuals posing as independent agents to distribute goods to specialty stores. The theory behind these strategies is that it allows the parent company to expand its demographic without compromising the brand identity of its "open" brand.
The third principle is experimentation. Openly announcing new products often affects stock values in publicly traded companies. If a company is unsure of the real world appeal of a product, it may employ a secret brand to experiment with market reaction on a small scale. This technique may be used after inconclusive focus group
results (i.e. the majority somewhat dislike the product, while the minority is highly enthusiastic about it).
MUJI
, or is a Japanese retail company which sells a wide variety of household and consumer goods.Muji is distinguished by its design minimalism, emphasis on recycling, avoidance of waste in production and packaging, and no-logo or "no-brand" policy....
, that do not advertise or overtly label their products. The products are generally considered luxury goods intended for exclusive clientele. William Gibson's
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
novel Zero History
Zero History
Zero History is a novel by William Gibson. It concludes the informal trilogy begun by Pattern Recognition and features Hollis Henry and Milgrim from Spook Country, the middle book, as the protagonists.-Plot:...
talks about this idea.
Marketing Strategy
The idea of a secret brand works off of one or more of three economic principles. The first is scarcity valueScarcity value
Scarcity value is the economic factor that increases an item's relative price based more upon its relatively low supply. Whereas the prices of newly-produced manufactured products depends mostly on the cost of production , the prices of many goods—such as antiques, rare stamps, and those raw...
. The secret brand creates products with highly specific, unique qualities, usually very subtle and invisible to the casual observer. These qualities do not necessarily improve the performance of the product and can be inefficiencies (i.e. using heavy weight denim for casual clothes). The customer purchases the product for its rarity; to have something that is very difficult to acquire.
The second principle is branding
Brand management
Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand.The discipline of brand management was started at Procter & Gamble as a result of a famous memo by Neil H...
. Large companies wanting to reach a new demographic may use a secret brand to establish clout among that demographic. This imprint brand may use the distribution network of the parent brand, but ship from a dummy company
Dummy company
A dummy corporation or dummy company is an entity created to serve as a front or cover for one or more companies. It can have the appearance of being real but lacks the capacity to function independently. The goal of a dummy corporation can be to conceal true ownership and/or avoid taxes...
. Alternatively, the secret brand may employ individuals posing as independent agents to distribute goods to specialty stores. The theory behind these strategies is that it allows the parent company to expand its demographic without compromising the brand identity of its "open" brand.
The third principle is experimentation. Openly announcing new products often affects stock values in publicly traded companies. If a company is unsure of the real world appeal of a product, it may employ a secret brand to experiment with market reaction on a small scale. This technique may be used after inconclusive focus group
Focus group
A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging...
results (i.e. the majority somewhat dislike the product, while the minority is highly enthusiastic about it).