The following is an overview of the Brandless Case Study by Harvard. After discussions and research, this also states whether Brandless should enter the luxury market and why or why not to do so with reasons

1. Group 6
Rohit Dawra - 199278027
Raj Chauhan -199278030
Rohit Bhosale - 199278032
Kunal Singhal - 199278058
Ronit Gaikwad- 199278059
Rohit Patra - 199278114
Brandless – Disrupting Consumer Packaged Goods

2. Brandless - Overview
Company : Brand with an
innovative business model for
consumer packaged goods
Customer : Tech-savvy
consumers looking for value
based products
Competitors : Primarily big
FMCG brands working on
traditional business models
STP
Target Millennials & Generation Z customers through digital marketing. Offer products free
from BrandTax. Make shopping experience smooth by offering single price point.
Product : Assortment of
250 products in
categories such as food,
personal care & home
products
Price : Single Price point
of $3 for all products
Place : Online storefront,
adopting Direct-To-
Consumer strategy
Promotion : Digital
Marketing through social
media & editorial
promotions

3. Business Strategy
Increasing
assortment
to 300
SKUs
Include
Luxury
items
Simple
Price of
$3
No
BrandTax
Shipping
Discounts
D2C
Strategy
User
friendly
website
Sustainable
packaging
Brandless’ key elements of Brand Strategy
 To provide the optimum quality of consumer
package products
 Keep common price for all products to make it
simple for customers
 Everything is BrandTax free i.e. no hidden costs
or markups
 Adopting direct-to consumer model to avoid
mark-up costs
 Using simple and sustainable packaging to
make customers spend less time reading labels

4. Points of Parity Points of Differentiation
 Contains all the ingredients as present in other
consumer packaged goods
 Provides shipping options as other eCommerce
players
 Uses Digital marketing to target the potential
customers
 Has developed a user friendly website to browser
and order the products
 Pricing – Keeps a common pricing of $3 for all
products
 Packaging – Provides simple packaging with just
enough information on the packets
 Did not do advertisements on TV & print media
 Adopted only D2C strategy to avoid markups &
BrandTax
Competitors :
Big Brands
Price – High
Product – Better Quality
Place – Retail & Online channels
Promotion – All mediums
Private Labels – Amazon
Pricing – Medium
Product – Good Quality
Place – Retail/Online Channels
Promotion – All mediums
D2C Brands –
Pricing – Low
Product – Optimum Quality
Place – Online
Promotion – Digital Marketing

5. Brandless – Promise and Identity
Promise Identity
 Free from Brand Tax
 Curated SKUs
 Price fixed at $3
 Better products, fewer dollars, no
nonsense
 Transparent processes
 Value driven approach
 Simple and Utilitarian packaging
 Reflects Just What Matters Philosophy
 White box with general product
descriptor and a checklist of product’s
value-based features
 Brandless name
 Shipped in Brown cardboard box with
emblazoned with Brandless logo

6. Brandless – Brand Value
Cost Based Valuation
• Based on historical
advertising
• Promotional
expenditure and cost
of campaigns
Market Based
Valuation
• Comparison with
similar brands
• Comparable
company
transactions
Income Approach
valuation
• In-use approach
• Uses value of
income and cash
flow
Methods of
measuring brand
value
Selection of valuation method
 Unique value proposition of Brandless makes it different from
competitors so market based valuation is not appropriate
 Idea of Brandless is not to levy the brand cost on the consumers so
using Cost based valuation is not suitable
 The income and cash flow values are available for Brandless, so
income based valuation can be applied

7. Brandless – Strengthening Brand Equity
Current Status
Rooted in Authenticity,
Trust and Transparency
• Change the way we live
• Living More and Branding
Less
Social media and
Editorial media
• #Brandless life
• Tagline on all brand
communications
Democratisation of
Goodness
• Just what matters
• Social mission program
What they can do more
 Include product quality in their communication as
much as the product cost
 Start on after purchase communication to build
consumer relationship
 Incentive the customers to shop on Brandless.com
more frequently and thus improving the stickiness
Assessing their Branding Efforts
 Focus on cutting Brand Tax and making lives
brandless
 Heavy reliance on Social media and Editorial
media for their brand communication
 Lack of Television and print advertising affected
the consumer reach

8. CPG Brands probable responses to Brandless
•Consumers with strong brand preference will return
•Do not engage with them since their business model may not be sustainable
Wait and Do Nothing
•Focus on the brands points of differentiation
•Emphasis on the value addition that the brand brings
Increase distance from such brands
•Lower the prices such that price gap between your product and Brandless is minimal
•Get into price war
Reduce the price gap
•Copy the competitor
•Be like the competitor
Formulate a me-too strategy
•Introduce a new brand with lower price point
•Target value conscious customers
Introduce a value flanker
Factors influencing the response
 Macro economic conditions
 Consumer preferences
 Role of retailer chains
 Erosion of market share
Objectives in mind
 Gain the lost market share either through
existing brands or by introducing new brand
 Shift the conversation towards quality rather
than price
 Occupy consumer mind share through existing
or new brands

9. CPG Brands probable responses to Brandless
Continued…
Comparison amongst responses
• The strategy of wait and watch can be a better
option in the initial period instead of jumping
the gun and investing a lot on the alternatives
• Increasing the distance from such brands may
cost the brand more in terms of marketing
expenses
• Getting into price war with Brandless may not
be the wisest of the choices since it risks the
brand being compared with Brandless only on
price terms
• Price war also erodes the bottom line of the
company
• Formulating a me-too strategy may be
counterproductive since Brands stands for a
diametrically opposite philosophy
Strategies I would adopt if I were…
Introduce Flanker Brand
• Caters to value-seeking
consumers
• Takes brandless head on
while the premium brand
can continue with its
own communication
Upsides
• Requires substantial
investment
• Margin for such brand
may be lower than the
regular brand
Downsides
• Leverages the high
quality of our product
• No significant investment
is needed. Only slight
change in
communication would do
Upsides
• May not cater to a
consumer choosing
product only on price
basis
Downsides
Play on the Quality-Price Duality

10. Target Audience
Millennials
Generation Z
Core Benefit – Standard Quality at low price
Generic Product – Food products are expected
to provide nutrients without any harmful
substances.
Expected Product Benefit – Though price is
less, customers expect quality to be high.
Augmented Product Benefit – Brandless is
socially responsible as can be seen with the
packaging & ingredients
Potentially Product Benefit – New varieties of
products with improved quality
Core Benfit
Generic Benefit
Expected Benefit
Augmented Benefit R
Potentially Benefit
Benefits Promised

11. Brand Proposition
No Brand Loyalty
Socially Responsible
Satisfactory Customer
Experience
Differentiated Packaging
Lead time is high
Low Price
Quality is not at par with
other consumer
Packaged Goods

12. Geographical Expansion
Location – Developing Countries
Justification : Brandless products offer
standard quality at low prices. Developed
countries have higher disposable income than
other countries. Therefore, People in the
developed countries will compromise less on
quality even if they are getting at lower prices.
While people in developing countries have
lesser disposable income, so people always
look for cheaper options. We believe that
Brandless will have better market in developing
countries based on its business strategy
Risks :
 Lack of understanding of local market
 Less Internet Penetration
 Unavailability of raw materials
Product/Brand Expansion
Brandless should not actively look for
Product/Brand expansion
Justification : Brandless has not been able to
improve the quality of existing products as per
the customer expectations. Loyalty among
consumers has also not been established yet.
Short term focus should be to improve the
market share of existing customers & improve
the loyalty consumers before adding any new
category. Therefore, Product/Brand expansion
at this stage is a very risky proposition.
Risks :
 Threat of new entrant in new category
 Opportunity miss out to enter into faster
growing category

13. Luxury Market
Pros :
 Profitability will be improved
 Risk diversification
 High quality products can be introduced
Cons :
 Against the company’s mission of providing
just what matters
 Ambiguity in Brand perception
 Quality is not the strong competency of
Brandless
 Common pricing strategy will be difficult to
implement
 Changes in existing supply chain
Final Decision :
Brandless should avoid getting into luxury segment as it is
against the underlying strategy behind Brandless & cons
outweigh pros here. If at all Brandless decides to enter into
Luxury segment then it shall be under different brand name

14. Thank You