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Amazon owns a whole collection of secret brands

qz.com

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Re: Amazon owns a whole collection of secret brands

#51

Post by derefr »

discreditable wrote: post #47

It's almost unfortunate they'd hide that the products are made by Amazon. Amazonbasics products have treated me well enough that I am more inclined to buy Amazon brand where the price is right. I remember looking over some tools recently and I might have given Denali more thought if I knew it was them.

Presumably, whether it's truly unfortunate or not will be discovered by A/B testing equivalent products under both the AmazonBasics and the more pseudonymous brands. (And even if it does turn out that AmazonBasics has more cachet right now, the brand might be destroyed at some point by negative press—at which point the pseudonymous brands will act sort of as a hedge.)

Re: Amazon owns a whole collection of secret brands

#52

Post by mcwm »

x2398dh1 wrote: post #10

What's funny about this article is: 1. It's obvious clickbait - "secret" brands - how salacious! Yeah, as though a company wants to keep things it sells secret. 2. Each time you click on a link from the Quartz article, you are given a url with a link tracker tag. For example, for the Arabella brand, you get: 16352060011?tag=quartz07-20 So basically someone sat there behind a computer, authoring an article while using…

Hello: author here! I honestly have no idea what that tracking tag is, but 07/20 was the date I started writing this story! Guessing it's just Amazon tracking to see where traffic is coming from. But if you have any other questions about the story or my journalistic integrity, I'm here to answer them!

Re: Amazon owns a whole collection of secret brands

#53

Post by justicezyx »

komali2 wrote: post #41
justicezyx wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> somehow the writer has no integrity because they want money for their work? Writers job is writing article, spread news and knowledge, and make money. If you write ads and claims it an article or news, you loss your integrity? Does this sound reasonable to you?

Before you ask whether that sounds reasonable, I'd need to be convinced this is an ad. To me it is an article, one that apparently someone had to thumb through a couple hundred patent applications to write, among other research.

I used ads as an example.

The article can be described as an article embedded with Amazon afflicted links.

Put that in the disclaimer.

Re: Amazon owns a whole collection of secret brands

#55

Post by gehwartzen »

The title is a bit misleading. It should say "Amazon secretly owns a whole collection of brands".

It is the ownership of the brand that the article suggests Amazon is keeping a secret. Almost by definition a "brand" cannot be secret in the eyes of the consumer. A "brand" is not necessarily the same thing as the owner or the manufacturer of a product.

Re: Amazon owns a whole collection of secret brands

#56

Post by derefr »

criddell wrote: post #27
whipoodle wrote: post #6

Makes sense, brands don't mean anything themselves.

Isn't the entire point of a brand name to mean something?

The point of a brand is to acquire cachet over time as people have experiences with products marked with those brands. Brands start out meaningless, and continue to be meaningless by default unless/until they become respected as a reliable signal for something.

Re: Amazon owns a whole collection of secret brands

#58

Post by whipoodle »

criddell wrote: post #27
whipoodle wrote: post #6

Makes sense, brands don't mean anything themselves.

Isn't the entire point of a brand name to mean something?

Brands have meaning only through the associations people make with that brand over time. This is determined by advertising, PR, word of mouth, products/services the brand offers, and more. The actual brand is just an empty container for these associations.

Re: Amazon owns a whole collection of secret brands

#59

Post by specialist »

komali2 wrote: post #33
x2398dh1 wrote: post #10

What's funny about this article is: 1. It's obvious clickbait - "secret" brands - how salacious! Yeah, as though a company wants to keep things it sells secret. 2. Each time you click on a link from the Quartz article, you are given a url with a link tracker tag. For example, for the Arabella brand, you get: 16352060011?tag=quartz07-20 So basically someone sat there behind a computer, authoring an article while using…

I don't understand this kind of callous judgement of writers trying to make money. We don't see judgement here for the Amazon engineers that wrote the ref system, or Amazon for, well, selling product. I find it frustrating - somehow the writer has no integrity because they want money for their work? What, to you, would have been an acceptable way for this writer to present their research? Raw data handed to the inter…

I, for one, am keenly interested in all things Amazon.

I've been following L2 Inc for a few years now. Their analysis suggests switch to voice is enabling Amazon to diminish brand value.

"How Amazon is Dismantling Retail"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MOwRTTq1bY

Any independent analysis that confirms, refutes, or adds nuance piques my interest.

Re: Amazon owns a whole collection of secret brands

#60

Post by RyJones »

mcwm wrote: post #52
x2398dh1 wrote: post #10

What's funny about this article is: 1. It's obvious clickbait - "secret" brands - how salacious! Yeah, as though a company wants to keep things it sells secret. 2. Each time you click on a link from the Quartz article, you are given a url with a link tracker tag. For example, for the Arabella brand, you get: 16352060011?tag=quartz07-20 So basically someone sat there behind a computer, authoring an article while using…

Hello: author here! I honestly have no idea what that tracking tag is, but 07/20 was the date I started writing this story! Guessing it's just Amazon tracking to see where traffic is coming from. But if you have any other questions about the story or my journalistic integrity, I'm here to answer them!

Small Parts used to be an independent store - it was acquired in 2005[0]. I wonder how many of the other brands came in via purchase? Not that it matters; it's been 12 years, I'd expect Small Parts to be fully integrated.

[0] https://www.geekwire.com/2012/amazoncom-push-nuts-bolts/

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