Miniso: Rebranding & Repositioning

global smiles

Curated

by: Kartik Khemani Mihika Maheshwari Nitya paul

miniso

A Japan-based designer brand, co-founded by Japanese designer Mr. Miyake Junya and a young Chinese entrepreneur Mr. Ye Guofu in Tokyo, Japan, with the former serving as chief designer.

MINISO is the promoter of global “intelligent consumer products”

MINISO actively explores the international market and has opened over 2600 stores till now. At present, MINISO has reached strategic cooperation agreements with more than 60 countries.

miniso

MINISO strives to provide consumers with smarter, simpler and stylish products, making the consumer experience happy when shopping.

MINISO devotes itself to creating a culture of quality service, to convey features such as intelligence, leisure, quality and creativity through a great shopping experience.

problem

While their products are well received, consumers remain confused by the brand’s backstory.

Miniso claimed to be a famous Japanese brand, despite operating in Mainland China and had no outlets in Japan.

Then there’s the name. In Japanese it’s written as Meiso but in English it’s called Miniso.

It claims to have found success in Japan with the name “Meiso” but it apparently, does not exist in Japan.

problem

Chinese? Japanese? Sorry, please. Besides its questionable brand origin, talk of ethics and cultural appropriation remain at the heart of the controversy as critics say the brand is trying to portray itself as culturally Japanese.

Miniso uses “Japanese Designer Brand” below their logo everywhere. They take their inspiration from japanese culture but have proven to be unauthentic several times.

problem

Miniso has often been accused of copying several Japanese brands and brand identity.

When the retailer first appeared, with its now-ubiquitous red-and-white logo featuring a stylised shopping bag, many found its shopfronts and branding uncannily similar to Japanese fast-fashion brand Uniqlo. Miniso’s minimalist homewares are viewed as being of a similar vein to Japanese lifestyle brand Muji. And finally, its business and retail model are often compared with Japanese discount chain Daiso.

solution

Miniso being a “chinese low- cost retailer” as well as “Japanese Designer brand” can now perceive themselves as “Global” instead of being authentically chinese or japanese.

Since Miniso’s logo has resemblance to an already known brand, Uniqlo, and it’s aesthetics being similar to that of Muji, they can create a new brand identity.

To change their look and position themselves differently in the market by putting a full stop to the constant questions that have been raised about their brand perception.

our profile

a global brand and variety store chain specializing in household and consumer goods that includes: cosmetics, stationery, toys and kitchenware

our proposition

we provide excellent product design and quality along with aesthetic beauty and adapt ourselves wherever we go

our philosophy

we pursue a simple life philosophy, design and manufacture excellent goods at honest prices, taking into account of earth resources, environment, recycling and other issues, keeping the essence of all our products and thus, taking this idea forward to a global platform.

our vision

we advocate the philosophy of quality life and have always been in the brand spirit of “respecting consumers” and would like to keep up with it by gaining a global outreach, connecting with our consumers and providing them with a memorable and satisfying experience.

our mission

we dedicate ourselves to provide consumers with products of “high quality, competitive price and creativity”

our values

we aim at promoting global consumption alongisde intelligent consumption by concentrating on five fundamentals:

1. The simplicity of the products, goes to the essentials.

2. Authencity of the product, keeping it basic.

3. Quality of the product, best quality with honest prices.

4. Material selection and appearance of the product, keeping it as natural as possible.

5. Respect, for consumers and nature.

market segmentation

Demographics: Age: 18 - 35 years Gender: Male and Female Occupation: Professional and technical, students, homemakers and craftspeople Generation: Millenials Psychographics: Social class: middle class personality and self concept: Global and Efficient Behavioural: Benefits: Quality and Convinience User Status: potential users and first - time users Loyalty Status: Strong

our new look

what has changed?

our color: we kept our color as red to symbolise auspiciousness and this color has been largely associated with our brand from its initial stage.

Although, we brought a subtle shift in the contrast and saturation to sooth the eyes of our consumers.

what has changed?

our typeface: we moved from a squarish and structured typeface in all uppercase to a more rounder and gentler typeface in all lowercase. The shift in the tyepface is to highlight our new personality that is: we are now a global and dynamic brand and are warm, welcoming and adaptable.

Truth FB Helvetica Neue

what has changed?

our tagline: emphasizing the fact that we care for our customers and are now expanding globally, our tagline is “global smiles”

Along with the tagline, we use a stylised version of the original smile from the previous logo. Giving the term “smile services” a playful and friendly graphic rerepresentation.

global smiles

what has changed?

our logo: The design of our Logo is about the image of a shopping bag, which is simple but fashionable. While showing the industrial features perfectly, it also emphasizes the concept of consumption, which is of strong identification and memorable. we took the shopping bag from the original logo and tried to change it according to our new identity. It’s more round and compact now, promoting brand’s portable and dynamic nature. we also got rid of the incorrect japanese script used in the logo to detatch our brand from any specific culture. We want our logo to be recognisable even when shown without it’s name.

Before Now

our

market strategy

Since now we are a global brand, where ever we base ourselves, our design team will adapt accordingly. For example, Miniso India, can use India’s national language Hindi and Devnagri script in their logo. Alongside, their product definition would also change according to the utility, need and demand of the country. For example, Miniso’s famous noodle bowls would not hit off in India because of lack of need and usage. And this product could be replaced with a tea cup as it holds more relelvance in the Indian market.