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

The revolutionary sect that set the bar for brand innovation

From the Brand Historian’s Timeline: Bristol, 1822 Amongst the brands that defined my over confected youth and won my heart was the fruity fondant deliciousness of Fry’s Five Centre – a pocket-sized dark chocolate slab containing seams of pineapple, raspberry, lime, orange Read More

Keep Calm and Eat Your Sausage Roll

From the Brand Historian’s Timeline: 1939 There was not much to smile about in Britain in 1939. With the possibility of war with Germany becoming ever more likely, in London, the nation’s art treasures were being packed up and transported Read More

From Also Sprach Zarathustra to Everybody’s Favorite Disruption Ride

From the Brand Historian’s Timeline: 2010 Whilst brands are special kinds of words that tend to have their meanings curated carefully by communication professionals, there are many more words in the dictionary whose meanings seem to have a life of Read More

Mäarketing Myöpia versus Maslöw

The Brand Historian’s Timeline: 1960 1983 1991 In the early 1980s, the Brand Historian’s mentor was David Bernstein, one of the most characterful and creative of British admen. Part JCR punster and wit, part song-and-dance man, David was a generous Read More

Salute the Queen and Eat the Flag!

From the Brand Historian’s Timeline: 1889 June 11th, 1889 was an important day in the history of pizza, for this was the day Raffaele Esposito paid tribute to his Queen at Pizzeria Brandi by naming his latest creation pizza Margherita. Read More

So, are we all officers now?

Marketing Misc An A to Z of Modern Marketing O is for Officer   Marketing has not escaped the great inflation of titles that is such a characteristic of the modern business world. Far from it, marketeers have been in 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

The Brand Historian’s Holiday Cracker

Bored with all the usual festive challenges? Then try the Brand Historian’s Yuletide Brands Quiz which celebrates the founders and the inspiration for 16 iconic brands. All you have to to do is to identify the ‘brand managers’ featured below, Read More