Further historic research...

(From the book "Designing Brand Experiences" by Robin Landa)

The idea of Branding did not start with the industrial age in Europe. Since the time people created goods to trade or sell, or owned cattle and property, there have been trademarks, signs and symbols, to denote origin or ownership. Cattle were branded with paint, tar or even hot iron. Even people were brands for various reasons. Slaves were branded to designate ownership, slaves to signify disgrace. To explain the kind of goods they traded, merchants in ancient Greece and Egypt used symbols and pictures on the surfaces of their containers or the facades of their stores. Writing was also used, mainly for advertising puproses, as evidence have shown on walls of the ancient city of Pompeii. Dating back 3000 years ago, imagery was used in trade fairs in ancient China by hawkers to inform the public about their wares.

After the Medieval times and with the decline of feudalism, trade, arts and crafts were revived. Merchants started to use imagery and symbols to advertise their goods, make their businesses identifiable and attract customers. Chinese and Korean printing technology flourished, a fact that resulted to early signs of advertising and brand identity.

With the invention of the printing press in 1448, distribution of information accelerated and by within the next 100 yrars the advertising and announcing possibilities became standardized.

"By the 1700s governments saw the need to institute patterns, trademarks and copyrights as incentives to encourage development and progress science, technology and the arts."

The Industrial Revolution in the mid 1700s, and in the United States by the beginning of the 1800s, boosted mass production, and the advertising possibilities reinforced branding. Not only were goods more and versatile, but they started to become affordable as well. The formation of the middle class, an important consuming power, persuades the advertisers to become involved in mass advertising of goods and services. The market "spurred the growth of visual identity systems." Visually bold and contextually melodramatic slogans, titles and headlines fortified the ever growing branding attempts.

Packaging strengthened the branding approaches of the time and offered new challenges to design. Before 1880s people used to buy portions of goods from large containers. An individual package that would carry the name and origin of the product was more practical, and a platform for even more branding and design opportunities. A commodity in a small box gave it more value and a brand name and visual identifier, projected multiple times in stores and markets. Medicines and tobacco were pioneers in unique and lavishly decorated packaging. Branding provided value to products, before they were bought or consumed! As manufacturing of goods intensified, so did the brands. Advertising and design efforts intensified, introducing several new brands, "each vying for a larger share of consumer market."