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  • January 2020 (Revised April 2020)
  • Teaching Note
  • HBS Case Collection

Brandless: Disrupting Consumer Packaged Goods

By: Jill Avery
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:27
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Abstract

Brandless, an online direct-to-consumer seller of upscale private-label consumer packaged goods (CPG), offered consumers a limited assortment of values-conscious products delivered directly to their homes with the simplicity of one fixed $3.00 price point that promised an average savings of 40% versus national brands through the elimination of the BrandTax™, the hidden costs the company claimed consumers paid for a national brand. As the venture-funded startup entered the fiercely competitive CPG industry, it was simultaneously taking on both the world’s greatest brands and the world’s most dominant retailers. Could Brandless change the way consumers bought the essential items that filled their pantries and medicine cabinets? Industry pundits had long predicted both the death of brands and the death of brick and mortar retailing in the contemporary marketplace. Would Brandless be the final nail in the coffin?

Keywords

Brand; Brand Management; DTC; Private Label; Groceries; Packaged Food; Personal Care; Startups; Retailing; Amazon; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Business Startups; Disruption; E-commerce; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; United States

Citation

Avery, Jill. "Brandless: Disrupting Consumer Packaged Goods." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 520-058, January 2020. (Revised April 2020.)
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About The Author

Jill J. Avery

Marketing
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Related Work

    • January 2020 (Revised April 2020)
    • Faculty Research

    Brandless: Disrupting Consumer Packaged Goods

    By: Jill Avery
Related Work
  • Brandless: Disrupting Consumer Packaged Goods By: Jill Avery
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