Brands

The Power of Brands

Although they have existed since the earliest days of urban civilization and commerce, brands made their debut, in the modern sense, during the European Renaissance as the “trade names” of businesses and enterprises.

However, it wasn't until during the 17th and 18th centuries that brands began to be used commercially as “brand names” to market goods and services and thus to have an increasingly commercial existence. It was with the arrival of their use for commercial purposes that brands began to achieve their modern significance as a valuable enterprise asset. By the end of the 19th century, with the passage in the United States of the federal trademark legislation of 1870, “trademarks” acquired rights similar to those of real property, and these early brands became formally acknowledged and protectable under the law.

Throughout the 20th century, brands became recognized for their ability to distinguish one product or service from another, impart intangible value, convey quality, and eventually, in a world increasingly populated with brands, enable consumer choice in the marketplace. Most notably, during the 20th century, with the rise of marketing as a business discipline, it became clear that branded products and services commanded higher prices and delivered greater margins to their enterprises, as consumers often chose one nearly or actually identical product over another because of what its respective brand stood for in their minds.

By the end of the 20th century, business leaders and corporate executives had become aware of the power of brands to deliver competitive advantage and build wealth. Thus, “branding,” now understood as the articulation of a compelling identity and the successful positioning of an enterprise within a market, became a theory of brands that formalized the principles of creating and strategically deploying these powerful new assets.

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