This Swedish Start Up Disrupts Retail to Sell True-to-cost High Quality Products with a Catch

"Why is quality so expensive and accessible to so few?" The question was asked by the co-founders, Erik Zetterberg and Daniel Herrmann of the Swedish start-up Singular Society – a brand that sells high-quality essential products with a range from home décor to jackets and coffee. But here is the catch: you can’t buy the goods unless you are a member.

With a long retail experience, the duo wanted to find a new business model that challenges traditional production, selling, and consumption. So, turning the retail model upside down, they now offer members access to products as a membership service through subscription. Having the member's fees as their source of income instead of the products makes it possible to sell their high-quality products true-to-cost – enabling its members to buy less by buying better.

”We have completely different freedom from most brands. Since our business model is based on membership our main focus is on quality. The local producers we work with are handpicked and have an incredible craft. We collaborate with them to produce what our members need and want, in the highest possible quality. There are no cuts or margins in-between, so we never need to compromise with the quality for the sake of the price,” says Erik Zetterberg, co-founder of Singular Society.

After a successful first year that started with invites only, Singular Society is now opening up to broader group of people as they release its first campaign – where the products play the leading role to convey the brand’s message. In the film, fried eggs, a petanque ball in a nylon stocking, and baguettes are turned into unexpected installations together with products from Singular Society, as the voice-over asks "What would consumption look like if we could start over?"

"We are impressed by the sheer idea of Singular Society,” says Karin Frisell, creative at Forsman & Bodenfors. ”When we first learned about their business model it looked like nothing we had ever seen, and we got stoked. Then we tried some of their products and we were even more excited. Highly recommend the sheets! So we wanted to create something visually intriguing that mirrors their fresh thinking, product-focused and common sense approach.”

The campaign is Singular Society's and Forsman & Bodenfors’ first collaboration, launching the concept to a broader audience.