Whether you’re heavily involved in marketing or a business owner who relies on professionals like m design to handle it all for you, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with branding. In fact, the word is often wrongly used interchangeably with marketing and advertising. What is branding, and how has it developed over time to become the essential piece of marketing it is today?

The Origins of Branding

The term branding comes from the word brandr in Old Norse, which referred to the practice of branding livestock. The branding that you use at your business is probably a little different than identifying your cattle, but that’s due to the evolution it had over the centuries to describe businesses.

Around the same time that branding was used to identify animals, artisans started using it to identify their goods in Rome, Greece, China and India in the form of engravings. Masons and potters used special markings to identify the creator of the piece. In the Renaissance period, Michelangelo and other artists started signing their names to their pieces, which represented another new type of branding.

The first instances of mass branding emerged during the Industrial Revolution when companies started growing and needed mass appeal. Many famous American brands like Juicy Fruit, Aunt Jemima, Campbell’s Soup and Coca Cola all came onto the market and grew thanks to excellent branding during this period.

The emergence of brands led to a need for protecting brand names, which is how the Trade Marks Registration Act came about in 1875. Over the next decades, companies dedicated themselves to making distinct brands that attracted and retained customers. Advertising and marketing soared beyond what a product was to how it made customers feel.

Today, branding represents more than just the identification of a product or service. Branding defines the mission, vision, personality, and values of a business, as well as the feelings customers or clients associate with that business.

Craft Your Brand Identity and Marketing Plan with M Design

M Design utilizes smart, sophisticated graphic design to elevate your business, whether you’re on the trade show floor or ordering new business cards. To learn more about our broad range of design services and get in touch, please visit our website or give us a call at (410) 728-5007.