Brands say everything about the world, and their history is that of the nations whose values they embody. We love a brand because it represents the best of a country or culture, because we want to stand out, and because we intend to signify our own social status by our ability to choose the best, even and especially from afar. The brands we choose say who we want to be, and how we want to be seen by others.
Throughout history, the rich have loved what comes from faraway lands: in Europe, depending on the period, we loved Turquerie, Chinoiserie, Japonerie, and products from India, Persia or Russia. In the East, we liked products from Venice, Genoa, France, the United Provinces and Great Britain. For a long time, brand names were simply the signature of exceptional craftsmen making unique objects. Five thousand years ago, in Mesopotamia, the best potters affixed seals to their jars to attest to the value of their workshop. A little later, Greek and Roman craftsmen marked amphorae, bricks, fabrics and swords. From the XIIᵉᵉ century onwards, European guilds imposed the first compulsory marks, (hence the word “mark”): trademarks for goldsmiths, hallmarks on weapons, marks on fabrics (notably in Italy and Flanders). The oldest Western brand still in use appears to be Stella Artois, a Belgian brewery founded in 1366. Then came Twinings Tea (1706, UK) and Levis (1853, USA). The first French brand still in existence is Perrier, registered in 1863 on the basis of the first French trademark law of 1857, although other firms, such as Saint Gobain, Ruinart, Hermès and Vuitton, were born earlier, without immediately becoming trademarks.
In the 20th century, the success of brands was still associated with the identity of their country of origin: buying an American product was a sign of quality, avant-garde and modernity. English brands still embodied comfort and tradition; French brands, refinement and social status; German brands, solidity; Italian brands, quality of life.
In each era, the wealthy and upper-middle classes of emerging countries sourced products from brands in the dominant countries. And, as international trade began to expand, the working classes of the dominant countries increasingly sourced low-cost, unbranded products from emerging countries. Until the emerging countries in turn became dominant and their brands became attractive, first to their own elites, then to those of the formerly dominant countries. We’ve seen this happen successively with British, American, Japanese and Korean products. And now China.
Each time, as we saw again recently with Japanese and Korean products, the old dominators start by denigrating the products of the newcomers, saying that they are pale imitations of their own brands, that they are neither durable nor functional, that they are produced without respect for working conditions and the environment. Each time, these new brands progress, become quality imitations, then innovate, astonish, and become fashionable objects: today, no one criticizes the quality of Japanese cars, or Korean beauty products.
The Chinese have understood this. Just as they understood, before many others, thirty years ago, the coming electrification of the world (taking decades of lead in the refining of rare earths and the production of magnets, solar panels, wind turbines and nuclear power plants), they understood the importance of building brands.
Through a conscious and well-executed strategy, the Chinese are now developing their own brands, in all fields. One day, they will stop rushing to the stores of Western brands, in China and Europe, and will assert their national pride and social status by buying their own luxury products. They will privilege their own brands of wine, spirits, cars, clothes, perfumes, fashion accessories and furniture. Very soon, they’ll be drowning the rest of the world not with the cheap products we decry today, but with the refined products of their own brands, competing with ours after conquering their own immense and demanding market.
Before them, this is what the Americans and then the Japanese did. After them will come the Indian brands, and a little later, no doubt, the African brands. Some are already making their mark in certain niches.
For Westerners, and Europeans in particular, the answer lies first and foremost in defending their identity, in all the ecological, political, cultural and tourist dimensions that their brands convey: there can be no brand without a welcome and without maintaining the authenticity and quality of their products. It must also, and above all, be innovative. In particular, after having missed out on the innovations needed for sustainable energies, even though they were within their grasp, Europeans must not miss out on the innovations that will be necessary for the survival of humanity (healthy agriculture, health, education, culture, healthy food, sustainable energy, water, sustainable mobility), all areas in which they already have world-renowned brands; which will remain so only if they don’t rest on their laurels and dare to take the huge turns demanded by the coming century.
Image:source Brand Finance