Organized groups of people have differentiated themselves since hunter gatherer times. To do so they took on shared symbols, colours, and patterns of identification such as face painting, tattoos, and scarification to set themselves apart from their competitors. In the Middle Ages, European trade guilds used marks to identify the origin and content of their products. A hallmark wasn’t just a greeting card, it was the identifying stamp of a particular guild hall. With industrialization came mass production and the ability to send products to faraway markets. Corporate trademarks accompanied a company’s products and told the story of the products’ reputation and origin.
Corporate brands (yes, the term is from the brand applied to cattle and other livestock) have one, two, or three elements: the lettering (also called a logotype or wordmark) of the organization’s name; an image (also known as a symbol, logo, or trademark), and finally the combination of symbol and logotype known as a brand’s signature.
Just 10 years before the first accountant opened for business in BC, England established the commercial worth of trademarks through the 1875 Trademark Act, which set forth a central registry, the recognition of trademarks as exclusive property, and legal protection.
The effectiveness of a good brand is said to rest on seven pillars:
- Distinctiveness
- Visibility
- Usability
- Memorability
- Universality
- Durability,
- Timelessness.
Take a look at some of our legacy brand signatures and decide how well each fares against these standards. But don’t judge these old signatures too harshly. Even the best selling beer in the world in the 19th century is little recognized today. Bass Brewery, whose red triangle was the first ever registered trademark, lost its logo when Coors purchased Bass Pale Ale, but Interbrew kept the famous red triangle.
If you have examples of other brand signatures from the legacy organizations not shown here, and are willing to share them, please contact us so we can add to the samples below.
