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No-Frills, No Sales was a 1986 New York Times article that tracked generics — products sold at a discount by avoiding flashy branding.
no name (brand) launched in March of 1978 with 16 unbranded items in the infamous black lowercase Helvetica text and yellow packaging. It was promoted as basic products in plain packaging at low prices, essentially, no branding but simply descriptions: “chocolate hazelnut: spread”.
So how can a brand, whose entire brand is not having one, have a genuine grasp of branding?
no name has never faltered, the reason being that it has one of the most solid foundational grasps of its brand. There’s nothing inherently special, and their understanding of that is what makes their branding genius. no name has been omnipresent for more than 40 years, whose branding has gained Canadians’ affections.
Their most recent marketing tactic was to label everything in their classic forthright approach — that bright yellow covered any available surface in Toronto. Its brand presence has been a Canadian staple making the generic black text on blinding yellow immediately recognizable. Virtually everything became ad space, Union Station labelled as “subway platform with assorted commuters and trains” or a two-story labelled “building: may contain people”, but the gag becomes more effective virtually.
Launched in June 2019, @NoNameBrands on Twitter has perfectly translated online. While it continues to be a Canadian institution, the gag has become globally appreciated — and the best marketing is virality. Their website is called “website”, their Twitter is “twitter page” and their first tweet was
The pure comedic value of seeing a box of apple juice labelled as “apple beverage” is the exact amount of deadpan humour and stark simplicity that online communities crave.
Since June 2019, the brand has garnered a cult following of over 58k on Twitter. A simple picture of Maria biscuits with the caption “can also be eaten by karen” received 6.2k likes and 1.3k retweets. They connect with their consumers through witty replies or retweets,
and the dialogue they have created has led them to branch out on brand. This following has even encouraged them to release merch, with their “t-shirt” t-shirt selling out overnight.
Their brilliance lies within a deep understanding of their schtick executed with precision. It delivers everything “on brand” and works within their strengths to build a global brand association. They infamously live-tweeted the Emmys, Oscars, and most recently, basketball games, announcing: “i will now live tweet the game.”
And that they did.
This over-simplified commentary stayed true to their nature while having understood the structure of Twitter as a social media platform. While starting on Twitter was risky, they have a better understanding of their brand online and hopefully, their social media expansion will stop there. The humour will translate well in Instagram stories or even a very yellow no name x Snapchat campaign. The future of their social media presence can be as bright as their packaging, let us hope they can hold tightly to their global following as they have their Canadian.
While some brands use it as a way for consumers to reach out, other brands use it to create a genuine dialogue. Only a few brands have successfully done this, adopting a brand persona that people want to engage with. Famously, Wendy’s has become brand Twitter’s template, starting with promotion tweets to becoming viral through roasting their consumers. This type of interaction has given Wendy’s thousands of average engagement, and not just on Twitter. Wendy’s has over 8 million followers on Facebook, but Twitter is where their growth online became publicized.
While no name hasn’t gained the same traction as Wendy’s (3.7 million followers on Twitter), it arguably has the best social media presence of any generic grocery store brand. Costco Kirkland Signature, another classic, doesn’t even have a social media presence. What no name lacks in overall followers and reaches on other platforms to other food brands, they make up for in branding. They don’t pretend to be anything else because they hold strongly to what they stand-for. Which is why their move to social media branding has been effective; no-nonsense, no-frills.
