The “No-Brand” Brand
August 19th, 2009
posted by: Craig Johnson | 7 Comments »

I recently read this interview with Rick Klotz, owner/designer of the apparel brand Freshjive.  It’s a really interesting read in which Rick explains his growing distaste with the concept of branding and how he’s decided to not use any logos on any of his new products.  He’s not sure what the outcome will mean, but he’s following his heart with this move.

I would like to make an argument that he still has a brand, he’s just changed his brand strategy and let the visual identity flow out of that strategy.  It’s not possible to not have a brand, but you may base your brand on having little “logo” value, which is fine.

What I love most about what he’s done is that he has built his brand to be authentic to who he is on the inside.  Anytime brands try to be something that they aren’t, they lose the power of great communication.

What do you think?  Is it possible to have no brand at all?  Or is this just a “no-brand” brand strategy?

Thanks to my good friend and old co-worker, Mike Scully, for making me aware of this.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Rebrand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Comments

"Reminds me of the scene from "Singles" where the main male character decides he won't have an "act". He says that to one of the main female characters and she says something like, "you're not having an act, is your act."

Of course it's not possible to have no brand at all. Your brand might be a "no-brand", but it's still a brand. Just like in the movie - not having an act was his act.

It is possible though to have no brand awareness..."
- Steven Winokur
"Up to the point of literally not putting their name on the tags, this is essentially what American Apparel has always done. And countless other shirt-makers. (I can't think of any shirts in my closet WITH a logo on it).

While I commend the intention of "FreshJive", if that black-rectangle-with-white-border stays consistent on their shirts (on that third photo it looks like it's visible from the outside), it will become their "logo"."
- Alvin Diec
"More than anything, it's something that has a lot of people talking about Freshjive. From that perspective, it's brilliant."
- Craig Johnson
"Total no-brand brand. I think it's cool, but I can see through it like a bottle of Crystal Pepsi."
- Mike Landman
"I'm always impressed with anyone that can slip in a Crystal Pepsi reference."
- Craig Johnson
"Pretty interesting topic. You could create a "non-brand" if you absolutely controlled it, but you don't. A brand is what "they" say, not what "you" say. I guess if you were your only customer then that might work."
- Blake Howard
"This reminds me of Metallica's Some Kind of Monster where Kirk wanted to have a guitar solo in a song on the St Anger album and James said no. James said he did not want to date the music, date it back to a specific period. Kirk said with no solo, they were still dating the music to the current period. You may notice St Anger does not have a single guitar solo!

I say this to say, as Winokur pointed out, by saying you are not going to have a brand, you are creating a brand. Your brand is no brand. As Craig says, it gets your attention and gets people talking!!!"
- Andy Leonard

Leave A Comment