De-branding is the new branding.

Whether we’re talking about a store, a mall, or an office space, everyone—designers, developers, architects—have joined Tom Brokaw, Malcolm Gladwell, and Paco Underhillin the discussion of generations and demographics and their wider implications onour society. Pretty much any place designed today has been crafted with the preferencesand needs of its users categorized according to generation.

That said, GenY is going to be the most powerful generation yet, in terms of numbers–80 million–and spending power. Just a tad larger than the Boomers’ 78 million, GenY will hit peak spendingat the average age of 47, around 2027. So designers need to spend the next 15 years or so honing howwe can help our clients tweak, realign or overhaulhow they attract GenY to their stores, malls, offices, and hotels.

De-branding is the new branding. One thing that’s important to GenY is (perceived) authenticity and community connection. They’re sick of being branded to. One strategy of retailing and marketing that addresses this is de-branding. De-branding is a return to authenticity and community involvement, but, perhaps cynically, it must be acknowledgedthat de-branding is really a new branding technique.

A good example of de-branding in a retail environment is Starbuck’s new coffee shop, named 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea, in Seattle’s trendy Capitol Hill neighborhood. Opened in summer 2009, it’s a Starbucks very well camouflaged as a local coffee shop, and yet this "secret" Starbucks has been very well publicized by the company. 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea has no typical Starbucks signage. Its website is http://www.streetlevelcoffee.com/, not a subpage of starbucks.com. It sells no Frappucinos. It offers no drip, but French pressed coffee instead.

Those who don’t know about its Starbucks ownership would be none-the-wiser once inside the eco-friendly store. A well-known local Seattle breadmaker supplies bread for the store’s fresh-made sandwiches, and a local foodbank receives its leftovers. All in all, the new non-Starbucks Starbucks hearkens to its original 1971 store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Today, its 15th Avenue store nods to that more authentic coffee house experience, strategically de-branding before the company veers into McStarbucks territory.

A good example of this in terms of branded goods is Muji, a Japanese retailer with the motto "lower priced for a reason." Muji’s high quality, basic product, from office supplies to socks, offers clean design with minimal packaging. Muji’s "no brand" strategy—a premise of authenticity—funnels the money Muji saves from not advertising and relying on word of mouth into R&D to develop better products. Of course, it’s ironic that this "no brand" is now an international brand.

But will it work? Muji’s "simple, functional, affordable" strategy appeals to the marketing-weary, design-savvy consumer who hates logos, supports the environment, and wants value–also hallmarks of GenY. The brand started out as authentically generic; now it’s a brand cultivating its non-brand in the name of authenticity. 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea points to a nostalgia for mom-and-pops of yesteryear. But old school authenticity could mean poor service and bad lighting. (By the way, 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea is incredibly well-done and intentional, with impeccable merchandising and plenty of daylighting, even in Seattle.)

So, does GenY want the real, or a real mediated by what we’ve come to expect of all retailers because of our "Starbucks expectations," which, ironically, even tempers the "authentic" experience of the new stealth Starbucks?

Let’s talk about it: Are you sick of being branded to?