From Selling to Creating Products

Agencies go from selling to creating products. Pouring money into development, some may even start brands.

As they try to diversify beyond the 30-second spot, agencies, in addition to getting digital, are vying to be the next place to source hot products.

Ownership is the watchword on Mad Ave, with agencies wanting stakes in everything from intellectual property to marketers themselves.

There are now many shops that take it one step further by creating products themselves out of thin air. These agencies are pouring more and more time and money into product development that has nothing to do with client brands. Some even sell entire lines of merchandise and create viable businesses such as stores and eateries.

Indie agency Mother is, well, the mother of adland's product-making set, hatching numerous kitschy projects including books, shopping bags, candies and comics. But there are soon to be more; several agencies have told Ad Age they're in talks to launch their own brands.

But while agencies are well-qualified -- after all, their lifeblood is coming up with ideas -- no shop has yet come up with a mass-market hit. And a lot of this stuff exists at the level of novelty -- a diversion and way for agency hands to try something new.

Check out the rest of Rupal Parekh's Ad Week piece: Agencies Go From Selling to Creating Products.

And for more info on my limited edition HMK Perpetually Dayzed Calendars pictured above, go Here.

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Muji: Brandless Quality Goods

This blackboard globe is just one of the super cool and affordable items from Muji, which finally makes it's US debut in New York this November.

New Yorkers, used to the egocentric Japanese personalities like Nobu and Masa, may assume that there is a man named Muji behind the Japanese brand that has already seduced design-conscious crowds at MoMA and is scheduled to arrive in New York City on Nov. 16 with its first American store, at 455 Broadway in SoHo. (And a 5,000-square-foot space in the new New York Times Building in January.)

But there is no Muji the man. New York shoppers who can read the characters in the Japanese label (無印良品) immediately get the inside joke. The first character, 無 (mu), means “without.” The second character, 印 (jirushi), means “brand.” “Muji” is simply short for “Mujirushi Ryōhin” or “brandless quality goods.” Muji started out in the early 1980s as a generic supermarket brand for Seiyu but has grown to encompass a huge array of goods including housewares, lighting and clothing.

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