A century of brand marketing history

Branding is a new discipline.

If you count strictly, it has only a few decades of history, but if you really want to trace it back, there are traces of more than a hundred years.

Because brands play an increasingly important role in social economy and people's lives, brands have become the cutting-edge science of this era and one of the hottest research directions in the entire marketing field.

In the first article, I first talked about the origin of the brand and deduced the origin of the brand from the perspective of information, which can be regarded as a supplement to the section on the origin of brands today. At the same time, the definition, essence, and purpose of the brand are also discussed. First, we need to understand what the brand is, and then gradually study in depth to truly understand the brand step by step.

This article is the second in a series of articles on brands: it takes a general look at the brand's development history, and sorts out the brand's development and main theories in chronological order . Some of these theories have now become marketers' mantras and desk methods to guide brand building.

Some theories themselves have little value, but instead cause cognitive confusion for marketers and entrepreneurs, making them confused and at a loss.

When we understand the history of development clearly, and make clear the past and the future, we will know the whole picture, have a clear idea in our minds, and naturally be able to distinguish, and will not be confused by some current pseudo-concepts.

The logic of this article is divided into four parts, as well as the final summary:

• First, before 1850, the brand of the product
• Second, around 1850-1930, marketing was popular and brands emerged
• Third, brand building really began around 1930-1950
• Fourth, after 1950, brand theory and practice promoted progress

Note: The brand and marketing referred to in the above paragraphs are our current definitions of them.

1. Product brands before 1850

Experts and scholars who study the history of brands generally reach a consensus when segmenting brands, dividing the time period into around 1850. Before that was the era of products and production. Based on our interpretation of brands today, it can be said that there were no brands before 1850, at most they were product brands.

As early as BC, symbols used as markings were discovered on ancient Chinese pottery and Indian products. This was the earliest form of brand existence. The role of symbols and markings in that period was also very clear, which was to distinguish private property.

In 1266, England passed a law requiring bakers to mark every loaf of bread they sold. The purpose was to make sure that if anyone was shortchanged on the bread, they would know it was dry.

At this time, the marking symbol also carries the nature of a promise.

There were generally three types of marks on medieval goods: craftsman name, guild name, and city name. Among them, the name of the craftsman is closest to today's brand. In fact, many of our brands today are people's names.

In the 17th century, American tobacco companies began selling small packages of products directly to consumers, and the exquisite packaging attracted people to buy them. As a result, packaging and graphic labels have become one of the fundamental elements of the brand. Together with the mark symbols that have existed since the early days, these elements gradually formed the basic structure of brand identity.

Brands are a product of society , so why haven’t there been any successful brands before? What about the social context before the mid-19th century?

Before the mid-19th century, the First Industrial Revolution had already broken out. In some fields such as textiles and agriculture, factories gradually replaced workers, but the products were not completely abundant in material terms.

For example, Britain, which was leading in economic development at the time, pursued an open economic policy, but its economy and material wealth did not explode. The middle class at the time was already particular about clothing and personal life, but most of them just had enough and there was no major competition, so the conditions for the emergence of brands were still in the process of accumulating momentum.

During this period, the basic elements of the brand are gradually created, including logo symbols, packaging, graphic labels, decorations, etc.

2. Around 1850-1930, marketing was popular and brands emerged

Once a product has the basic identification elements, it will inevitably develop to the next step.

Human society ushered in the massive Second Industrial Revolution. Science gradually entered the industrial field, and assembly line factories began to appear and mature, which provided technical guarantees for the material of human society.

Therefore, a large number of products are produced at this stage and then used by consumers, and people's obsession with products and brands gradually increases.

During this period, sales promotion gradually came onto the stage, and advertising, as a sales promotion method, was the first to step into the public eye. Mail order advertising, newspaper advertising, and print advertising were popular.

In 1869, Ayer and his son founded the first modern advertising agency and drafted the first "agency fee", which was the prototype of the modern advertising agency.

Hopkins pioneered "scientific advertising" and invented sales techniques such as coupons; advertising giants Rosser Reeves and Leo Burnett were born and grew up during this period.

Claude Hopkins

Advertising became the key means for brands to buy products during this period. Brands such as Ford, Coca-Cola, Heinz, Mercedes-Benz, and General Motors were founded and remain leaders in their respective industries today.

Several characteristics of the products during this period are:

1. Packaged products are gradually replacing bulk products, which directly leads to the fact that packaging, as the basic element of the brand, becomes very important.
2. The emergence of a large number of products has prompted the need to differentiate between products. The Trademark Law was introduced and revised, which provides legal protection for brands.
3. People have begun to consciously design their trademarks and packaging with exquisite designs or clever ideas to attract consumers.

In 1905, Gillette launched its first national advertising program in the United States, which was already doing constructive work for the brand.

Later, advertisements with sales power and creativity gradually emerged, and advertisements began to demonstrate the function of brand building.

The economic development momentum in the United States in the 1920s was very good and was called: the New Era. The influx of global wealth has even brought about "conspicuous" consumption, which is the factor driving the emergence of brands.

All of the above represent the beginning of the budding of brand awareness. In addition to promoting products, manufacturers have begun to consciously build their own brands, which is the core sign of the budding of a brand.

Why do you say that?

Because having advertising does not necessarily mean having a brand. Advertising is purely for promoting products and does not have much significance for brand building.

The brand begins to emerge when you start to manage the brand as a whole using multiple means such as products, advertising, design, and promotions.

3. Brand management first emerged around 1930-1950

The prevalence of advertising in the 1920s pushed consumerism to its peak, with people buying advertised consumer goods and small appliances on credit and in installments.

In the 1930s, the Great Depression, which started in the United States and triggered a worldwide capitalist recession, caused people to return to their frugal shopping habits, buying at good value and cheap prices.

During this period, retailers began to abandon poorly selling manufacturer brands and develop their own brands, and middlemen began to enter the stage of business history.

From 1930 to 1950, during these short twenty years, World War II broke out and then ended, and major countries had no time to focus on the economy. Such an economic and social environment is definitely not conducive to the development of the brand.

In 1931, Neil Michael Roy, who was in charge of sales for Procter & Gamble's soap product line, proposed a management mechanism that has influenced the history of brand management to this day - the brand manager system.

Neil McElroy

In the first few years, no matter how much P&G invested in advertising and promotion, the sales of Camry soap were not ideal. Michael Roy believed that products like Camry soap had neither budget nor focus in management, which would lead to fragmented and uncoordinated market strategies.

So he proposed to the senior management of P&G at that time to set up one manager to manage each brand and be responsible for the sales of the brand. McElroy wrote the "Brand Management Memo".

Propose a brand management system, analyze market sales and profits, and the brand manager is responsible for conducting market research and solving problems.

This proposal boosted sales of many P&G products and extended the life cycles of many products, with some products being sold for decades longer.

The brand manager system can be said to be the creation and beginning of brand management, which has allowed the "brand of the product" to truly become the brand it is today. Before this, the brand was a symbolic mark, and after this it became a management job.

During this period, commercial television was officially launched and television advertising appeared, becoming a powerful medium for building brands.

Advertising agencies have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and professional survey agencies have also matured. The economic recovery after World War II provided the brand with the conditions to get back on track.

4. 1950-21st century: Brand theory and practice drive progress

During the 100 years from 1850 to 1950, a key foundation was laid for the development of brands. Basic brand elements were popularized (logos, slogans, packaging, graphic labels, etc.), brand management began to emerge (brand manager system, brand management system starting from research and analysis), and brand building methods matured (advertising, public relations, discount promotions, sales promotion, etc.).

However, it was only in the next few decades that brands were regarded as the core of corporate competition, became a discipline, were pushed to the forefront of marketing, and truly became brands.

The post-war economy recovered quickly, technology changed and iterated rapidly, goods were in excess in the market, and all countries developed their economies in an all-round way...

In just about 50 years, some theories and practical methods have emerged that can truly help develop and build brands.

Below we make a simple review in chronological order.

In 1955, in his speech "Brands and Image", Ogilvy clearly explained the concept of "brand" for the first time and proposed the theory of brand image.

David Ogilvy

The brand image theory was really a whirlwind, and every brand was talking about its image. In the following decades, brand image gradually became one of the guiding principles of brand building.

In the mid-to-late 1950s, IBM, under the advocacy of its design consultants, first implemented corporate CI design . CI was subsequently introduced to Japan and then to China in the 1980s, and has continued to influence China's brand cornerstone design to this day.

In the 1960s, Grey Advertising Company in the United States first proposed the "brand character philosophy", which later became brand personality.

At the same time, Jerome McCarthy proposed the great 4P marketing theory in his book "Basic Marketing", which provides a combination of marketing tactics for brand building that every brand can use.

Later, Philip Kotler further improved 4P on this basis and proposed the STP marketing strategy.

In the 1970s, Ries and Trout proposed the positioning theory , which was initially used for advertising communication and later gradually evolved into the brand positioning theory, guiding brand building and is one of the important components of brand strategy.

Today, almost all brands talk about positioning, and some brands even upgrade their brand positioning every once in a while. Brand positioning is also one of the tests for the strategic ability of brand marketers . Brand positioning plays a vital role in brand building.

In 1989, the American journal Marketing Research published a report titled “Managing Brand Equity” written by Pete Farguha. Two years later, David Aaker published a monograph of the same name with a more complete and holistic theory, framework and examples.

David Aaker

Brand asset theory became an important theory guiding brand building in the following decades. It transformed the brand from an illusory and intangible thing to a tangible thing that can be calculated and measured, and at the same time pointed out a visible goal for brand building.

This concept is great for branding.

Later, Kevin Ryan Keller proposed the customer-based brand asset theory based on this. Keller believed that the brand ultimately belongs to the consumers.

Kevin Ryan Keller

In 1994, Fournier proposed the concept of brand relationship quality, and a year later Blackstone proposed the brand relationship model. Blackstone believed that brand relationship is based on consumers' brand attitude.

Just like the relationship between people, it exists in each other's mind.

Brand relationship is the last theory that had a significant impact on brands in the 20th century. Even though some new theories have emerged in the 21st century, they are not as inductive, conclusive, indirect, and useful as the above theories, so they are of little use and only exist in academic research.

In these 50 years, with the explosion of material goods and information, brands must become increasingly important.

Entrepreneurs and marketers use their practices to drive brands forward.

Big brands have risen from local growth to transnational domination. For example, the top 100 brands in today’s list of brand values ​​almost all achieved their leadership position during this period of time and are leaders or even monopolists in their respective industries.

Brand development, unprecedented.

Other useful concepts

In addition to the theories mentioned above, there are also some general concepts in brand development, which are also practical weapons to guide brand building, such as: brand strategy, brand strategy, brand architecture, brand portfolio, brand extension, brand association, brand awareness, etc.

These concepts are general and are used more often in actual combat.

Among them, brand strategy is almost one of the most important concepts in today's corporate practice and academia, but there are differences in definitions among scholars and among many companies.

At the same time, Keller's brand resonance pyramid model and brand value chain model are also very useful for brand practice and are important reference frameworks for formulating brand strategies.

The brand platform proposed by Chinese scholar He Jiaxun is also worthy of study and research by enterprises and marketers. In addition, there are some cutting-edge concepts of brands, such as the brand ecology concept proposed by Moore; the customer asset concept proposed by some scholars based on brand assets, etc.

Upon closer examination, these concepts still lack practicality.

In addition, I would like to say that in addition to the above-mentioned, there are some pseudo-brand concepts that can be completely abandoned , such as brand attributes, brand concepts, brand attitudes, brand propositions, etc. These concepts are useless and instead confuse people and make them confused.

The core brand theories are the five mentioned above. Others, such as those proposed by some marketing companies today, are mostly useless . They are just a new set of rhetoric established by themselves. You need to have your own discernment.

Summarize

Over a hundred years of brand development, experts, scholars and practical entrepreneurs have left behind these essences. After sorting out the whole thing, the essence is brilliant. Learning these well is enough to guide brand building.

In the more than 20 years from the end of the last century to the present, the path of brand building has undergone some changes, but no new methods and theories with significant impact have emerged in these 20 years, which shows that the old methods are still effective.

The Chinese market is a great testing ground for the rise of brands, and companies should seize this opportunity. How to choose a marketing method and how to choose a marketing company to help you grow is a test of the entrepreneur's own judgment.

From the century-long history of brand development, we can also glimpse some principles and laws:

• Brands are a product of society;
• Branding is a huge management exercise;
• Branding is a continuous work of construction;
• The more information explodes, the more material goods become abundant, and brands become more important.

Understand the brand development history, improve the ability to discern information from the development of historical time, and grasp the true essence.

Author: Jia Tao

Source: Jia Tao Jia Tao (ID: jtjt3456)