The History of Branding
Stumbled on this super-cool site earlier this morning, a great online library of the world’s well-known brands.
Sifting through the sea of logos, I’m trying to figure out what unites them. What branded these brands into our collective consciousness? Sure, they all met a particular need at a specific time…for starters. But what maintained the momentum? Perhaps the answer is different for each one, but could the common thread be that consistent, intelligent messaging leads to conspicuous market (and ultimately cultural) presence?
Diverse industries aside, each one of these brands had to face a moment of emerging popularity, when decision makers realized it could become an identity that carried weight well beyond the product or service with which it was originally associated. Companies that take control of that insight are appropriately enshrined.
Of course, I do have a favorite.
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Cynthia Creelman said,
on April 12th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
I’d have to say the two that jumped out at me are Atari & the Linux penguin! Of course I happen to live with (and enable) a classic game and Linux freak! (we love our penguin beer glasses)
Lenika Shah said,
on April 13th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Branding is truly cool. Back home in Kenya, majority of people actually call toothpaste ‘Colgate’ and vacuum cleaners ‘Hoover’. How’s that for effective marketing?
Jay Ferrari said,
on April 13th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Lenika: So true. We wipe our eyes with a Kleenex. We Xerox documents–the brand as verb! In the American south, all soda is known as Coke. I remember ordering a hamburger in Alabama one time, and the person taking my order asked, “What kind of Coke do you want, Pepsi?” Talk about product placement.