Year: 2022

The Year of the Penguin

From the Brand Historian’s Timeline: 1998 It was a dull, overcast, and humid start to the trip. Normal for the time of year, I learned. As the ferry left its moorings with sky-scraping sentinels looking on and Star Ferries bobbing Read More

The Famously French Brand That Was Built by Brits

From the Brand Historian’s Timeline: 1906 The British have had a long love affair with the South of France. What began with the traveller’s tales of writers like Tobias Smollett in the 1760s was followed by a veritable Brit invasion, Read More

How the Centurion Made It Into Manhattan

From the Brand Historian’s Timeline: 1850 Most nations have their quotient of memorable dates, and the United States is no exception. 1620, 1776 and 1863 come readily to mind. Whilst 1850 may not have such a high profile,it is a Read More

The Age of Plastic

From The Brand Historian’s Timeline: 1966 A wise old banker once told me that financial services were actually very simple and straightforward. “There are only three products,” he argued, “everything else is just positioning magic.” He actually said something else, but magic is polite. Read More

An Extraordinary Pivot

From the Brand Historian’s Timeline: 1893 Pivot is one of the go-to business buzz words grasped by harassed Captains of Industry and their PRs to show strategic chops and to justify a sudden directional change brought about by the usual marketplace Read More

My Life in Yellow Fats

From the Brand Historian’s Timeline: 1886 It’s often said that the secret of a successful career in brand consulting lies in amassing deep knowledge of a category for which constantly job-hopping clients are prepared to pay a premium. And that’s Read More

One can, thousands of uses….Still stuck?

From the Brand Historian’s Timeline: 1953 Choosing a brand name is one of the most frustrating and quixotic of all marketing decisions. Whoever it was who said that brand names are like double glazing because both are sold and not Read More

By Royal Appointment to Queen Victoria and Bridget Jones

From the Brand Historian’s Timeline: 1922 Heading north on the A38 from Lichfield towards Burton on Trent, you will find several small villages that nestle on the border between Staffordshire and Derbyshire, but which more than a thousand years ago Read More