The Rise of Brands [Hardcover]

Brands and logos are all around us - from the clothes we wear and the objects we buy, to the advertisements which cover our cities and the celebrities created by the media. We regard the brand as a new phenomenon, something born with the consumer society, but branding was born with civilization, its earliest examples dating to the Roman Empire.Branding is now a growing industry, applied not only to commodities but to charities, cities, the worlds of sport and entertainment, even government initiatives. Such is the ubiquity and power of branding that it is increasingly taken as a sign of the commodification of everyday life and the rapacity of corporate power. Examining the brand in history, the growth of national and global brands, the changing approaches of the branding industry and the exploration of new spaces for advertising, The Rise of Brands analyses exactly how brands develop and operate in contemporary society.Liz Moor is Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Middlesex University.A terrific introductory text on a highly pervasive phenomenon: well researched, highly accessible, and eminently readable. Moor takes us from the emergence of branding as a mark of origin or ownership to its current ascendancy as an abstract, experiential form of communication that is endlessly promoted and feverishly protected by its keepers--including non-profits and political parties. Matt Soar, Concordia University, Canada

1. Introduction: Branding and Contemporary Culture 2. The Brand in History 3. Intellectual and Other Forms of Property 4. Brands, Culture and Economy 5. The Branded Spaces of Culture 6. National Brands and Global Brands 7. Conclusion.