The Codevelopment of Trademark Law and the Concept of Brand Marketing in the United States before 1946

Abstract

Brand marketing became a marketing ‘‘buzz word’’ in the 1990s and continues as one today. However, the concept of brand marketing dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century when it was usually described as trademark advertising. While marketing historians have long noted the popularity of national marketing of branded products at this time and even earlier, this article argues that in addition to the practice of brand marketing, the concept of brand marketing and the beginning of the brand marketing literature developed at this time. Technical trademarks had recently been distinguished from descriptive trade names and were easier to protect, so both marketers and lawyers promoted the use of trademarks and their support by consistent advertising to build what today is called brand equity. They urged that the trademark (brand) had become the key sales connection to consumers rather than the product itself or the company that sells it. In the first half of the twentieth century, the scope of brand marketing expanded to include descriptive brand names and brand extensions when trademark law changed to protect these expansions. The concept of brand marketing expanded to include brand equity as a business asset based on advertising that developed a brand’s social meaning or personality.