Sam’s Club evolves its Member’s Mark brand to become purpose driven

The retailer is introducing a new identity for its Member’s Mark brand — “Made with Our Member and Planet in Mind.”

4/19/2022

Sam’s Club’s Member’s Mark private brand has officially been transformed to be a purpose-driven brand.

The company shared that throughout the past two years, Sam’s Club has worked behind the scenes to strengthen its assortment of Member’s Mark items. It has launched, renovated and reformulated more than 1,200 items since 2020, and as a result, "more and more members are citing Member’s Mark products as a reason they renew their memberships."

To build on this momentum, Sam’s Club is introducing a new identity for its Member’s Mark brand — "Made with Our Member and Planet in Mind" — that comes with an aspiration for all items to be of the highest quality while featuring trend-right innovation and a focus on people and the planet, the company said.

“The Sam’s Club member is at the center of everything we do, so as we continue to evolve the Member’s Mark brand, we intend to develop items that are reflective of the ingredients, processes and materials they want — and don’t want — in their products," said Prathibha Rajashekhar, senior vice president of private brands and sourcing at Sam’s Club. "Now, as we introduce new Member’s Mark items and renovate existing ones, we are making decisions that not only focus on quality, innovation and value, but on the impact we are making on the world around us."

In 2020, Walmart announced its goal to become a regenerative company, which inspired Sam’s Club to re-evaluate its Member’s Mark brand. With many highly rated Member’s Mark items already including sustainable attributes like the Fair Trade Certified Member's Mark Colombian Supremo Coffee, Sam’s Club said that it saw an opportunity to continue evolving its private brand in a way that serves people, climate and nature while reducing waste.

In addition to a set of new goals that it aspires to achieve by 2025, Sam’s Club aims to remove certain ingredients from Member’s Mark food and consumable products while boosting its assortment of items that are made using practices that promote animal welfare, help support land and ocean health, mitigate deforestation, utilize more sustainable textiles, and come from renewable sources.

It also aims to incorporate more recyclable, reusable and industrially compostable components in Member’s Mark items and packaging. Additionally, Sam’s Club plans to take an active role in reducing the brand’s environmental footprint by calling for suppliers of Member’s Mark items to participate in Walmart’s signature private sector consortium, Project Gigaton, to reduce or avoid 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Sam’s Club also has set an aspiration to source Member’s Mark items more responsibly and to create inclusive economic opportunities by diversifying its supplier base over the years. Above all, Sam’s Club aims to embrace a regenerative mindset as it develops Member’s Mark items, placing nature, humanity and its members at the center of item innovation and renovation, the company said.

To celebrate the new brand identity, Sam’s Club is introducing a new Member’s Mark logo and design construct featuring a subtle checkmark, helping to communicate the high quality of Member’s Mark items and its focus on people and the planet. Members will begin to see the new logo and check design included on packaging over the next 18 months.

As it continues to innovate Member’s Mark items, Sam’s Club will partner closely with the Walmart Sustainability team and leverage the My Member’s Mark Community, a group formed in 2019 that includes more than 40,000 Sam’s Club members who provide feedback and input on Member’s Mark items throughout every phase of a product’s lifecycle.

Member’s Mark was founded by Sam’s Club in 1998 and, in 2017, Sam’s Club consolidated its 20 proprietary brands into Member’s Mark. Member’s Mark items are available across a variety of categories, including grocery, health and wellness, baby, apparel, home and furniture products, office, technology, and more.

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