Thursday, January 10, 2013

British retailer de-brands products to provide "quiet" to consumers



Selfridges, a British department store chain, wants to give customers a break from the overwhelming "noise" of the modern world.

According to their "No Noise" campaign site:
As we become increasingly bombarded with information and stimulation, the world is becoming a noisier place. In an initiative that goes beyond retail, we invite you to celebrate the power of quiet, see the beauty in function and find calm among the crowds.
This idea of an oasis of calm in the middle of retail madness is actually as old as the store itself. When Selfridges opened in 1909, Harry Gordon Selfridge created a Silence Room where busy shoppers could "retire from the whirl of bargains and the build up of energy". The store will soon have a new Silence Room, designed by Alex Cochrane:


But the campaign gimmick of most interest to me is "The Quiet Shop," in which iconic products by Heinz, Beats by Dre, Levi's, Marmite and others have provided exclusive "de-branded" products to promote the initiative.









I love it. And it's really impressive that these classic brands — run by marketers who you would expect to be extremely protective of their established standards and equity — would be willing to participate in a project that basically admits our world is over-branded.

Ahhhhhh...

You can buy the limited-edition products online.

Tip via The Drum

5 comments:

  1. I wonder if the person who thought this up has recently read "Pattern Recognition" by William Gibson.

    The lead character, Cayce, is pretty much allergic to brands and even files off logos from the buttons on her jeans...

    It actually sounds quite reasonable to me and a great way to boost sales. Nothing like a little extra "Limited Edition" incentive...

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  2. What about these products is "de-branded"? Does anyone not recognize that the ketchup is still Heinz and the jeans are still Levis? Taking the writing off something in no way changes it when if you're still thinking about the company when you see it.

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  4. Heinz Tomato Ketchup is a brand of ketchup produced by the H. J. Heinz Company. It is the highest-selling product the company has ever distributed. The "tomato" in the name is because at the time of introduction, ketchup sauces based on other ingredients were common. Hier lernen

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