A brief history of brands and the evolution of place branding

• Author: V.-A. Briciu/A. Briciu
• Position: Faculty of Sociology and Communication, Transilvania University of Brasov/Faculty of Sociology and Communication, Transilvania University of Brasov
• Pages: 137-142

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 9 (58) No. 2 - 2016

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BRANDS AND THE

EVOLUTION OF PLACE BRANDING

V.-A. BRICIU1 A. BRICIU2

Abstract: The present work synthesizes the main proofs related to the fact

that the brands and the process of branding are as old as the human

civilization, initially through the appearance and use of the “proto-brands”

concept ever since the beginning of the human existence, and then, in

different forms and different historical periods, brands show a dynamic of

their existence. It is highlighted the aspect according to which brands, in

different historical periods, have two invariable characteristics related to

information transmission to the interested parties: information related to the

quality and information which indicates the origin of the product (that

sometimes includes differentiated information in order to help the marketing

process, such as assortment, storage, transport, etc.).

Key words: proto-brands, marks, place branding.

1. Introduction

The brand term has been used very often in the specialty literature, but the given

meanings have varied with time. It derives from the word “brandr”, from the old northern

Scandinavian language, which means “to burn” (Khan and Mufti, 2007, p.75). It refers to

the producers practice to engrave the brand on their products. In English vocabulary, the

word brand initially referred to anything that was hot or burning, like a piece of

“firebrand” (Rajaram and Shelly, 2012, p.100). So, looking back centuries ago, the proof

of brand existence is founded in the spaces or locations that usually the selling of the

cattle was expected, in places where people were drawing certain representative symbols

of those animals. Starting with the 14th century, when the international commerce has

bloomed, lots of branding forms have been born or developed (the consumer, products,

services, corporative or place branding), and the owners of goods used certain symbols to

differentiate and promote their products..

2. The valences of marks and brands from a historical perspective

For the beginning, we can consider desirable the observation through which, at the

common knowledge level, it is appreciated that “the mark and brand tend to have similar

definitions” (Yang et al., 2012, p. 315), but the similarities are just on the surface, these

are apparent since “mark usage can be traced back to the 5.000 BC, much earlier than the

1 Faculty of Sociology and Communication, Transilvania University of Braşov, victor.briciu@unitbv.ro

2 Faculty of Sociology and Communication, Transilvania University of Braşov, arabela.baican@unitbv.ro.