Brilliantly Mundane: 9 Ways Boring Brands Turned Ugh, Meh, and Bleh into Big Business

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By: Fast Company

Health insurance. Bras. Tax prep tools. Investment products. Chinos. These aren’t products that people are typically excited to talk about, let alone shop for. Yet these product categories have enjoyed a surge of youthful relevance, and a handful of "boring brands" are attracting loyal—and in some cases outright fanatical—consumers by designing shopping experiences that can actually border on pleasant.

I’ve sorted nine modern brands into the very scientific categories of Ugh, Meh, and Bleh to denote shopping categories that are typically considered complicated, boring, or inconvenient, respectively. Yet these nine Ughs, Mehs, and Bleh brands have created entertaining, cohesive, and easy-to-use digital experiences, thoughtfully using digital experiences to behave with a bit more humanity. What choices did they make that allow them to stand apart from established category players? What insight informed or inspired those choices? What’s the benefit for the consumer?

A quick word on millennials—they’re getting old. Which means they’re forced to deal with shopping for even boring stuff that probably didn’t make their teenage vision boards. Almost half (46%) of today’s B2B consumers are now millennials, according to a 2015 study commissioned by Google. Understanding exactly how to make the mundane romantic for this audience is increasingly critical across industries.

By digging into the shopping experience of these nine brands, as well as talking to some of the people who designed their websites, nine specific design choices emerged. Few brands ticked all nine boxes (and that’s okay), but the Ugh, Meh, and Bleh brands average between six to seven of these defining behaviors.

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