GO GREEN MUJI
CH 11. Developing and Managing Products
“No Label. Good Products”, which is at the core of what the
business is about.
Delicate
products for a simple lifestyle
The
quality more than quantity
Product development and management is significant but difficult part for
marketing strategy. Once the company has the objective, they have to find a
good method to promote the product into the marketplace, and the products
represent the image of the brand. MUJI
always wants the products to have good coordination with their philosophy
because the all the products are the media to promote the abstract philosophy
and improve the individual life and society.
----Innovation Management Project Video-----
At beginning, Muji sold only 40 household and food products, and 3 years after they provided additional product line; now MUJI has various merchants in the retail store such as home products, fashion products, and foods. MUJI adds new products because they know what customers want. Simplicity is the point to start stretching out and provide what people want within affordable price. In idea generation, MUJI product developers would survey 1000s of customers to understand what they needed. And then they would try to meet these needs in the simplest, cheapest ways possible. The slogan for “R&D” was to “make what you want, as a customer”. As well as, they are not only get the idea from customers but also their own employees. MUJI has a systematic way to constantly harvest the best ideas and present them, ultimately to the design team, for he creation of new products. The process makes use of all touch points. In stores, employees are encouraged to make and collect notes. MUJI.net has almost 500,000 members and is used as another source of ideas. To get even more ideas, the Muji Award has been running for 3 years. The entries are solicited globally and have resulted in a number of products that have found their way into stores. After, for test marketing, MUJI takes advantage of many opportunities to figure out what people want. But it goes a step further. Even when MUJI has a design, it takes the final step of checking who will by it, before it is produced. It is an easy way to avoid a complete flop. Sometimes, they will cooperate with other company as an integrated marketing communication in product development because they want more people use their idea to create more meaningful products.
For example, the products of the Muji manufactured by Thonet collection are available in Europe at
selected Muji Stores from Spring 2009. Thonet,
the oldest furniture brand in the world and the German manufacturer of
high-quality furnishings, is producing a simplified form of bentwood and
tubular steel furniture for the Japanese retail chain Muji. The products are
manufactured completely at Thonet’s headquarters in Frankenberg, Germany to the
company’s customary high quality standards.
Besides, MUJI company found out how technology affect the world which is an important element in this new age, so they try to cooperated with Apple's products.
So, MUJI is observing the social phenomenon and get to know what the customers and the world want, and they develop their products according to that.
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