Uniqlo named World’s Simplest fashion brand

Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo has been named the World’s Simplest fashion brand in the annual study from Siegel+Gale, which ranks companies who deliver on their promise for simple, clear, and intuitive experiences.

For this 2018 study, Siegel+Gale asked more than 15,000 people across nine countries in the US, Europe, Asia, India, and the Middle East to evaluate brands and industries on their simplicity, and Uniqlo was the highest ranked fashion retailer coming in at number nine in the global ranking.

Topping the overall ranking was Netflix, followed by German discount supermarket, Aldi, then Google, Lidl and Carrefour.

In the report, Siegel+Gale stated that Uniqlo was the World’s Simplest fashion brand due to its philosophy of “simplicity, quality and longevity,” which it added “resonates around the world”.

Siegel+Gale names Uniqlo Simplest fashion brand, followed by Amazon, and Asos

The next fashion retailer in the global ranking was Amazon at 13, closely followed by Asos at 19, while Levi’s came in at number 36, sportswear giant Adidas were ranked 41st closely followed by Nike in at 46, while H&M were at 50, Reebok took 53rd spot, Gap came in at 62, Zara were at 64 and Puma took 73rd spot.

British retailer Marks and Spencer was ranked 77th, followed by department store chain Debenhams at 85, while sportswear brand Under Armour were 87th, and Topshop were ranked in 94th place.

"World's Simplest Brands quantifies the substantial monetary value of investing in simplifying," said Howard Belk, co-chief executive and chief creative officer, Siegel+Gale in a statement. "Now in its eighth year, our study reaffirms an increasing demand for transparent, direct, simple experiences that make peoples' lives easier. Once again the data proves that simplicity pays.”

Other key findings in the report found that 55 percent of people are willing to pay more for simpler experiences, while 64 percent of people are more likely to recommend a brand that delivers simple experiences.

Siegel+Gale also reveals that a stock portfolio of the simplest global brands shows they have outperformed the average of the major indexes by 679 percent since 2009, and that companies that fail to provide simple experiences leave an estimated share of 98 billion dollars on the table.

David Srere, co-chief executive and chief strategy officer at Siegel+Gale, added: "The top performers in our study operate in crowded, highly competitive marketplaces. That said, their ability to consistently deliver their brands with simple, compelling experiences sets them apart. Companies will benefit greatly by keeping it simple for customers…or suffer the consequences.”

Photo: Uniqlo Facebook