Learn how to build a brand from the Japanese

MUJI, a Japanese brand, is a big deal. They sell all kinds of stuff from furnitures to kitchenware and travel goods. They have 385 stores in Japan, and 255 more overseas. They made more than $200 million in revenue last year.

They have quite a weird name for such a big company. MUJI, an abbreviation for “Mujirushi Ryōhin” translates to “No Brand, Quality Goods”.

One of the biggest brand in Japan is literally branding themselves as “NO BRAND”. How does this work?

Their product packaging is interesting too:

There are only 3 colors on their labels — black, red and brown. Simple lines and Helvetica text. I think this is what their design assets might look like:

Amazingly plain design for such a huge global brand. Why do they even need designers?

Let’s have a look at another Japanese brand, Uniqlo. They are in the clothing business and its owner is currently the richest man in Japan. They made $14 billion last year.

In May 1984, they opened a unisex casual wear store in Fukuro-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima under the name “Unique Clothing Warehouse”. Initially, from the contraction of “unique clothing”, the brand was going to register under “uni-clo”. However, in 1988, during administration work between Hong Kong in relation to the brand, staff in charge of registration misread the “C” as “Q”, and that is how the brand name was born. From then, Tadashi Yanai changed the store name to “uniqlo” across Japan.

How funny. The biggest brand in Japan right now was born out of a spelling mistake.

So, what can we learn from these Japanese mega-brands?

You build a brand not by getting the name right, but by doing the right things.

When you deliver quality and value to your customers, you earn their trust. You build a reputation, a brand.

I really love this quote by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon:

When I talk about kitchenware bought from MUJI, or clothes from UNIQLO, I don’t talk about how good their brand campaigns are.

I talk about quality. About how much I love the finishing on my handcrafted wooden MUJI bowls.

I talk about innovation. About how much I love the fact that I can use this one rod from MUJI with 5 other cleaning tools.

I talk about design. About how I can relate to the hard work of the designers. How they meticulously make thoughtful decisions for me.

Branding was never about the name, logo, colors, or the font. It was always about quality, innovation and design, delivered consistently to the customer. This is what we should learn from the Japanese.

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