The history of the emergence of famous brands. Interesting stories of the emergence of the world's leading brands

This is a short article about what the signs familiar to the eye mean and who invented them.

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The so-called Mobius loop symbolizes the three phases of material processing:

• garbage removal
• waste recycling
• production of goods from processed raw materials

Its creator, a Stanford University student and winner of the 1970 Earth Day design competition, did not register his mark, and therefore the symbol is not a trademark. But any manufacturer can use it to avoid claims from the “green” companies. Products marked with this symbol can be recycled.

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CANON

Saburo Uchida and Goro Yoshida in 1933 created a company that was supposed to produce Japanese cameras, which should not be inferior in quality to their German counterparts. They bought and disassembled German camera samples to create their own inexpensive 35 mm camera. They named the company Canon - in honor of the deity of Japanese mythology Kwannon, but due to fear of persecution by religious organizations, the name had to be changed slightly.

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NIKE

In 1971, design student Carolyn Davidson sold her idea, inspired by the winged Greek goddess of victory Nike, to a newly established company for $35. Later, for the sake of economy, the company removes the name from the logo and begins the struggle for dominance in the world sporting goods with only one Swoosh.

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The Marlboro logo was launched in 1924 as a women's brand. In 1955, designer Frank Gianninoto introduced cigarettes into a new pack of red and white flowers convertible, branded it in bold Wild West style and turned it into a design classic. A lone cowboy and the mark of Marlboro County (South Carolina) united in one impulse, and one of the brightest and longest advertising campaigns in the world.

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McDonalds, the symbol of the most famous fast food. The twin golden arches logo first appeared in 1962, when designer Jim Schindler abandoned the speed chef image in favor of a stylized "M" based on two specific arches from the first McDonalds restaurant in Phoenix.

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For thousands of years, the swastika has represented the peace-loving sun sign of almost every ancient culture. To "revive" Germany, the Nazis used this symbol on the flag, eventually turning it into an international symbol of fear and hatred. Back in the 19th century, nationalists borrowed this sign from German folklore, mistakenly attributing it to Aryan culture.

The famous company General Motors suffered a fiasco trying to bring to the markets Latin America mine new car Chevrolet Nova. As it turns out, No va means “cannot move” in Spanish.

Colgate faced an unexpected obstacle in promoting its toothpaste in Spanish-speaking countries. Translated from Spanish, “colgate” means “go and hang yourself.”

The original name of the famous Japanese company Sony was Totsuko. It was changed to make it easier for Americans to pronounce.

In the early sixties of the last century, Porsche company produced tractors for farmers.

Initially, the BMW company produced aircraft engines, and the logo came from its “parent” - RappMotorenwerke. The production of this company was located in Bavaria, and therefore the segments of the circle were painted white and blue. After the “transformation” of the company, marketers came up with a logo legend for BMW - a white propeller cutting blue sky. And only 10 years later BMW became a car manufacturer.

The first mascara for tinting eyelashes was created in 1913 by chemist Terry Williamson. This mascara was based on Vaseline, and was used as a coloring agent. charcoal. According to legend, Williamson created this mascara at the request of his sister Mabel, and it was from her name that Maybelline got its name.

Facebook design blue, because Mark Zuckerberg suffers from red-green color blindness.

The Coca-Cola logo is recognized by 94% of people around the world.

The oldest operating bank in the world is the Italian Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. It opened in 1472 in the city of Sienna. Until recently, the Swiss bank Wegelin & Co, founded in 1466, was considered the oldest operating bank in the world, but it ceased operations in January 2013.

The Coca-Cola brand is known to about 94% of the world's population. The company's marketers claim that “Coca-Cola” is the second word that can be considered international (the first is “okay”).

Mars Company owns the following brands: (confectionery: M&M's, Snickers, Dove, Mars, Milky Way, Skittles, Twix, Bounty, Celebrations, Starburst, Rondo, Tunes), (animal food: Pedigree, Whiskas, Kitekat, Chappi, Sheba, Cesar , Perfect Fit, Royal Canin), (chewing gum: Juicy Fruit, Spearmint, Doublemint, Extra, Orbit), (food products: Uncle Ben's, Dolmio).

Brand is trademark and a set of features that make the company recognizable. Translated from English, brand is a symbol. A well-promoted brand attracts customers and creates a positive image. A brand can be a brand name, a logo, an image, a phrase, a melody or a set of sounds, a combination of colors, etc. In the minds of consumers, a brand symbolizes a certain set of qualities of a product or a characteristic of a manufacturer. Rights to use the brand are legally protected.

Procter & Gamble

William Procter and Joseph Gamble became friends because they were married to twins (that is, one each). Actually, it was their father-in-law, whose surname history has not preserved, who encouraged them to go into business.

Hennessy

The most popular French drink in the world was invented by an Englishman of Irish descent, Richard Hennessy, in 1765.

Heinz

You probably noticed that each bottle of sauce says “57 varieties.” it turned out like this. In 1896, the founder of the company, Henry John Heinz, was traveling by train to New York for some unimportant business and saw at an unnamed stop a shop with a sign “21 types of shoes!” Heinz really liked the numerological approach to advertising. That's how the number appeared on the bottles. The most interesting thing is that even then, 114 years ago, 60 products were produced under the Heinz brand (today there are approximately 5,700 - give or take a couple of hundred). The fact is that the number 5 was Heinz’s favorite number, and 7 was his wife’s.

Starbucks

Since the company was founded in 1971 by two teachers ( English language and history) and one writer, don't be surprised that she was named after minor character Melville's novel Moby Dick, specifically in honor of Ahab's first mate, Starbuck. The two-tailed siren (not a mermaid!) on the logo is also borrowed from the Pequod figurehead. By the way, until 1992, the Starbucks logo was brown, and until 1987, the siren was topless.

Hewlett-Packard

Company founders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to determine the order of their surnames in the name.

Nike

This refers to Nike - the Greek goddess of victory. The Swoosh logo was created by student Caroline Davidson in 1971 for a royal fee of $35.

Patek Philippe

During its existence, the company changed several names. The first was “Patek, Czapek & co” (Patek, Czapek & co) - in honor of the founding partners: Polish emigrants and part-time watchmakers Antoni Patek and Francis Czapek.

Nestle

Nestle today is represented by two chicks in a nest and their mother. In the 19th century, when the company was founded, there were three chicks, because that was the number of children at that time that was customary to have in the average European family. Along with traditions, the logo has also changed.

Asus

This means pegasus (Pegasus). It was decided to cross out the first three letters in order to automatically get to the beginning of the alphabetical lists.

Nokia

Nokia started out as a wood processing plant and was named after the area where one of its paper mills was built.

Сhupa Сhups

The author of the permanent Chupa Chups logo is Salvador Dali. The Spaniard Enrique Bernart decided to contact him, who in 1958 inherited a company that produced a bunch of different gizmos (more than 200 products). Bernart came up with the idea of ​​planting lollipops, which were popular at that time, and from now on producing only this type of product. By the way, Chupa Chups is translated from Spanish as “suck the sucker.”

Hugo Boss

The tailor of the same name in his company started a clothing business twice. For the first time - in 1924. The company existed for 6 years and went bankrupt during the German financial crisis. Hugo Boss (this is how his name is pronounced in the original) was so upset that in 1931 he joined the NSDAP, and a couple of years later received an order to sew uniforms for the SS (the design, by the way, was made by an outsider - Walter Heck). In 1945, after the defeat of the Nazis, the Boss began to be stifled with fines. Hugo could not stand all this leapfrog and died in 1948, but his work lives on.

Disney

Walt Disney's real signature has nothing to do with his company logo.

Ikea

The name consists of the initials of its founder Ingvar Kamprad and the first letters of the names of his family farm Elmtard and the neighboring village of Agunnarid.

Coca-Cola

We would be happy to please you with the vile story that the very first recipe for Coca-Cola contained pure cocaine, but this is not true. There was indeed an invigorating extract from the leaves of the coca plant, but it had nothing in common with cocaine in its current understanding. But the first version of the drink contained alcohol and was sold in pharmacies as a cure for insomnia and neuralgia. True, shortly after the start of sales in America, Prohibition happened, and the company’s founder, John Pemberton, had to come up with a non-alcoholic version, modern version which many drink to this day.

Snickers

Snickers was the name of the favorite horse of the Mars family, owners of the chocolate empire.

Barbie

Designer Jack Ryan, who invented Barbie for Mattel, took as a model the German doll Lily, the heroine of disgraceful comics published in the Bild newspaper in the 50s. By occupation, the doll was a highly paid prostitute, completely devoid of disgust and moral principles. All Ryan did was smooth her nipples and, to put it mildly, wiped his lips.

Land Rover

The Land Rover logo, according to one version, was created from the outline of a can of sardines, which one of the engineers forgot among the drawings, and the designers were right there.

Windows 95

The melody that plays when the operating system starts is written by Brian Eno. It's officially called the Microsoft sound.

Fedex

Remember the famous arrow on the Fedex logo? And it is there - formed by the spaces between e and x. designer Lyndon Leader assures that this is how the logo gradually acts on the subconscious, hinting at the company’s swiftness and perseverance.

Marlboro

Initially, Marlboros were advertised as soft women's cigarettes that (attention!) do not smudge lipstick. After the failure of this venture, the brand reoriented itself towards cowboys and sympathizers. It still lives and thrives in this capacity.

Zara

They say that the brand needs only a couple of weeks to launch the production and sale of a new clothing line, while most other brands take six months to do this. Over the course of a year, Zara designers develop about 10 thousand new models! True, they are often inspired by other people's ideas.

Procter & Gamble

There is a myth that you have to thank P&G for the opportunity to wear whatever you like to work, and not suits. The company, promoting its washing powders, conducted research and proved that employees in ordinary clothes are more useful. Suits stopped being worn and dry cleaned, and sales of powders increased.

Brands that have become household names

• scuba - aqua-lung
• aspirin - aspirin
• Vaseline
• heroin
• jacuzzi
• jeep - jeep
• dictaphone
• diplomat
• dichlorvos - dichlorvos
• yo-yo - yo-yo
• sneakers
• cognac - cognac
• xerox - xerox
• tape recorder - magnetophon
• diapers - pampers
• scotch tape
• thermos - thermos
• teflon - teflon
• toilet - unitas
• popsicle - eskimo

The most expensive Russian brands (according to mpp consulting agency)

• Beeline - $7552 million
• MTS - $6115 million
• Baltic - $2560 million
• Green Mark - $1188 million
• Lukoil - $1040 million
• Prostokvashino - $790 million
• Klinskoye - $680 million
• Rastishka - $550 million
• Putinka - $540 million
• Megafon - $512 million

Brands that will soon disappear (according to businessinsider.com)

Motorola. The company, which three years ago occupied an honorable second place in the global list of manufacturers mobile phones, today boasts a total debt of almost $4 billion. According to some reports, the brand will soon be bought by one of the Asian tech giants and dissolved into itself without a trace.

Palm. Apparently, in the world of smartphones, where with an iron hand iPhone and Blackberry rule, there is no third place.

Kodak. The company never really recovered from the death of film photography. Kodak's entry into the digital printing market was delayed for so long that it ended up being unnecessary.

Canon. This is a Westernized adaptation of the original brand: originally meant Kwanon - the thousand-armed Buddhist bodhisattva of goodness and mercy.

M&M'S. The caramel coating for chocolates was invented during World War II: M&M'S were part of the soldiers' diet. Melting in the mouth, and not in the hands, was then a matter of life and death: fingers smeared with chocolate could prevent you from grabbing a machine gun or putting on a helmet in time.

International brand mutations

You may be aware that the launch of Blue Water mineral water in Russia failed (say it out loud and you’ll immediately understand what’s going on), and Visit condoms were renamed Vizit. This happens in other countries too.

Spain: Mitsubishi Pajero in Mitsubishi Montero. The word "pajero" literally means "bird" in Spanish, but is widely used to mean "passive homosexual."

UK: Nuts in Topic. “Nuts” in English means, sorry, “eggs”, and not in the gastronomic sense.

Russia, Poland, Ukraine: Сrest in Blend-a-med. Agree, toothpaste called “cross”, sold not in a church shop, would look strange.

Russia: Daewoo Kalos in Chevrolet Aveo. The original name of the model was somehow more honest, or something.

Europe: VAZ-2101 “Zhiguli” in Lada. The word “Zhiguli” was too consonant with the international “Gigolo”.

Russia: Mr. Clean in Mr. Proper. Obviously, marketers were wary of unnecessary connotations with the words “jammed” and “overjammed.”

English speaking countries: Ax in Lynx. Because using an “axe” after a shower would be somehow strange.

The best slogans of the century (according to the site adme.ru)

• Sony - Like.no.other (like no one else)
• Nokia - Connecting people (connecting people)
• Motorola - Hello moto (hello, moto)
• Apple - Think different (think differently)
• Hsbc - The world`s local bank ( local world bank)
• Nike - Just do it (just do it)
• McDonald`s - I`m lovin` it (that's what I love)
• Whiskas - Your pussy would buy Whiskas (Russian creative)
• Mazda - Zoom-zoom (dryn-dygydyn)

Every day we see beautiful posters, posters on television, on billboards, and in public transport. We are surrounded by many names, slogans, logos. Some of them are little known, while others are known all over the world. But have you ever wondered how the logos of the most famous companies in the world were created? Where did the bitten apple of Apple come from, why is the Nike swoosh so popular and who invented it, why are the three stripes of Adidas so simple, but at the same time so popular? Today we will tell 7 small stories, each of which will tell about the creation of logos for famous brands. We are sure that this article will be of interest to everyone who is interested in the history of the development of large corporations, because the life of a company begins with the logo.

The close connection between Chupa Chups and Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali is one of the most prominent and famous representatives of the surrealism movement. The artist, sculptor, graphic artist, director and writer made an undeniable contribution to the development modern world. And, it would seem, what does he have to do with the Chupa Chups company? Not many people know that it was Salvador who created the world famous logo for sweet lollipops.

The idea of ​​​​producing sweet lollipops was so interesting and promising that the company’s founders did not spare a tidy sum of money to attract the then famous artist Salvador Dali to create the logo. If you look ahead, you can easily say that the money invested has more than paid off, because the Chupa Chups logo turned out to be interesting, simple, not intrusive and understandable.

As Dali himself said, work on the logo took no more than an hour - from developing the idea to its final completion. He based it on the colors of the Spanish flag, added rounded shapes to the letters, framed it all, and that was it. Just like that, within one hour, one of the most famous and recognizable logos in the world appeared.

Carolyn Davidson and the famous Nike swoosh

Surely, every time you see the Nike logo, you ask yourself the question: “How did this swoosh become so popular?” I don’t know about you, but this question constantly arises in my head. After all, a damn simple logo, but at the same time incredibly laconic, clear, and memorable. The creator of the Nike logo is Carolyn Davidson. While still a student at Portland State, young Carolyn took part in a competition to design a logo for a new company. Then her “tick” did not cause much enthusiasm among Nike executives. “I don’t really like this logo, but I’m sure it will help us become popular,” said one of the company’s founders.

Very interesting fact, that Carolyn received only $35 for her work. How much do you think this logo is worth now?

Frank Robinson and Coca-Cola

It would seem like this famous brand, such a recognizable logo, it was definitely developed by the team professional designers and marketers. Well, how could it be otherwise? Coca-Cola is known all over the world, and their red logo and unique font cannot be confused with anyone else. But in reality everything is much simpler. The logo for Coca-Cola was invented by the company's ordinary accountant Frank Robinson. At that time they did not yet know what the company would be called, and Frank chose the name “Coca-Cola”. I placed this name on a red background and used the standard cursive for that time. It was this “font” that was considered the standard of penmanship and the beauty of calligraphy. This is how the world saw one of the most famous logos of our time. True, time took its toll, and about once every ten years Coca-Cola changed the design of its logo. But those traditions, the red background and the special font, which were laid down in the very first years, have never changed.

Milton Glaser and the world famous "I Love NY" sign

You can often see young people on the streets wearing T-shirts with the inscription “I Love NY”. It is noteworthy that the creation of this inscription led to the emergence of a whole fashion for “love confessions.” Now in every city you can meet people with inscriptions telling how they love their city. In Moscow you can often see “I LoveMoskov”, in London “I Love UK”. Yes and in others big cities This is not uncommon.

And it all started with the fact that the young designer Milton Glaser in the mid-70s, on a voluntary basis, completely free of charge, created a simple, but at the same time incredibly popular logo. Thus, he expressed his love for one of the most beautiful cities in the United States, and supported the initiative of city authorities who sought to attract more tourists to New York. Over time, this sketch came to the liking of many citizens, who happily bought T-shirts, caps, jackets, and other things with this inscription.

An interesting fact is that Glazer sketched one of the most famous logos on a piece of paper while riding in a taxi. Now this first prototype of the “I Love NY” logo is kept in the museum contemporary art New York.

The NeXT logo was created in literally 2 weeks

Founder of the company Apple Steve Jobs also faced great difficulties in his life. If you don’t know, he was even fired from the company that he founded. But Steve never gave up, and even after leaving Apple he founded another computer hardware company, NeXT. The symbolic name is next. Probably, in this way Jobs wanted to emphasize that he was not stopping and was ready to develop the next company with even greater fervor. But today we are not so much interested in the founding and development of NeXT as in the creation of the company logo.

The famous graphic designer Paul Rand was assigned to develop the logo. He gave Jobs a strict ultimatum: “You pay me $100,000, and I will provide one version of the logo that suits you.” As a result of this collaboration, the world saw the NeXT inscription made in the style of Jobs.

The work was accepted immediately, without any edits. The only thing Steve noticed was the need to highlight the letter “E” in yellow.

It is worth noting that Paul Rand had previously designed logos for IBM (a huge computer corporation), UPS (a worldwide delivery service), and a dozen other medium and small companies.

Rob Yanov and the Rainbow Apple

I am sure that each of you knows what the Apple logo looks like. And everyone knows and has heard about the company’s founder, Steve Jobs. But few people can name the name of the one who created the world-famous logo. We are sure that 9 out of 10 will say that Steve himself invented the bitten apple, but this is absolutely not true. Apple Company had an original logo that showed Newton sitting under a tree and writing something. Steve didn’t like this option, because since his youth he had gravitated toward simplicity and minimalism. As Jobs said: “Icons should be something you want to lick.” This is exactly what he demanded from Rob Yanov, the designer working on the new Apple logo. The only advice he received from Steve Jobs was: "Don't make it soppy."

A few weeks later, several options were presented to the court, among which were rainbow apples (bitten and not bitten). Steve chose the option that seemed more original and interesting.

Now Apple products are used by hundreds of millions of people all over the world, and their logo is one of the most famous and recognizable.

The most popular three stripes in the world

Adidas is a company that is a leader in the market sportswear. This is no longer just a brand, it is an entire industry that dictates the style of more than one generation of sports fans. For a very long time, the Adidas logo was a trefoil and three stripes. It is noteworthy that no designers or professionals were involved in creating the logo, and the concept itself was proposed by the company’s founder, Adi Dassler.

For almost 22 years, from 1972 to 1994, the logo remained unchanged. But in the early 90s, dictated by new trends in fashion, the company slightly reworked the “trefoil”, already loved by the whole world. Now the clothes featured an angular logo, which was made in the old traditions, while maintaining the theme of the three stripes. Since 2008, Adidas has been releasing a separate line of clothing and shoes called “Adidas original,” which combines 80s fashion and the original logo created by Adi Dassler.

Mercedes three-pointed star

The Mercedes company was founded in 1926. But the logo that became famous throughout the world appeared decades earlier. The official version says that the Mercedes logo means the trinity - earth, water and air. It was on land (in cars), on water (in boats and yachts), and in the air (in airplanes) that engines produced at Mercedes factories were used. There is also an unofficial version that says that the three-pointed star was first used by the founder of Mercedes-Benz, Gottlieb Daimler. He wrote a letter to his wife, and it was with this symbol, a star with three rays, that he designated the place where their new home. Gottlieb's sons slightly modernized their father's star and placed it on the company logo.

Pavel Durov and Vkontakte

And I would like to finish our review with the logo of one of the most popular social networks in the world, VKontakte. It is incredibly simple, concise, and conveys the essence of the company and its purpose. As Pavel himself said, it took no more than 10 minutes to create the logo. He took unobtrusive colors, blue and white, and made the inscription in a standard font. The result is a simple logo that is seen daily by more than 50 million visitors. social network"VKontakte". Over time, the logo was further simplified and just the letter “B” was left against the background of the already well-known company colors.

This list could be continued by adding more than one hundred famous logos of the most popular companies in the world. But we tried to choose the most interesting brands And unusual stories creating their logos. We are sure that the article was interesting to you, and now you know how the logos of famous companies appeared.

Photos from open sources

Our past makes us who we are. Everyone has a story behind them that has somehow changed their worldview and life. Some stories are quite boring, while others you can listen to with bated breath and wonder what is even possible. This also applies to brands, such as those described below.

1. FedEx Rescue
In the early 1970s, just a few years after FedEx was created, the fledgling company was already in dire shape, losing up to a million dollars a month. At some point it seemed that they would not be able to fulfill their financial obligations. While waiting for his plane, Fred Smith, the company's founder, impulsively boarded a flight to Las Vegas, where he won $27,000 in blackjack. The company was saved.

2.Lamborghini sports cars were born thanks to the pride of Enzo Ferrari
Lamborghini was originally a tractor manufacturer. Its owner, Ferruccio Lamborghini, was interested in luxury cars, especially Ferraris. While performing a routine check, Lamborghini discovered that the clutch in his Ferrari was broken. He also noticed that the car used the same clutch as his tractors. When he suggested that Enzo Ferrari replace the clutches in his cars with better ones, Ferrari simply kicked him out, saying that he was a tractor manufacturer and knew nothing about racing cars. We all know what happened next.

3. BMW started producing cars because Germany lost the First World War.
BMW was originally an aircraft manufacturing company. After Germany's defeat in World War I, all aircraft manufacturing companies were required to cease production as part of one of the many conditions of the Armistice Treaty signed at Versailles. When the company faced bankruptcy, BMW switched to producing motorcycles and soon after, in 1928, began producing cars. The company's current logo is a tribute to its aviation heritage.

4. Coca-Cola and American Prohibition
Coca-Cola was originally created by John Pemberton, a wounded Confederate colonel who wanted to find something that would help him overcome his morphine addiction. He called it the French Vin Coca, a nerve tonic. When Atlanta passed prohibition legislation in 1886, Pemberton had to redo the formula and make a non-alcoholic version of his tonic. He named the drink Coca-Cola, the drink we all know and love.

5. History of the McDonald's logo
The McDonald's logo is one of the most recognizable in the world, probably second only to Coca-Cola. But the truth is that the name of the owner of the company was not taken into account when creating the logo. The architecture of the original store had golden arches on both sides, because the owner wanted people noticed McDonald's from a distance. Therefore, when creating the logo, this was precisely what was taken into account. architectural feature restaurant.

6. The meaning of the Nike icon
Originally called BRS (Blue Ribbon Sports), the company was renamed Nike, the winged Greek goddess of victory. The famous symbol symbolizes her wings and speed.

7. The Apple logo is not a tribute to Alan Turing
The truth of creating a logo for a famous company is far from poetic. The most popular version is that Steve Jobs' favorite fruit was an apple. This also explains why their first computer was named after his favorite apple, McIntosh.

8. UPS Was Founded By 2 Kids With A Bicycle And $100
United Parcel Service, or UPS, as it is known, started from scratch. In 1907, 19-year-old James Casey founded the company with only $100 borrowed from a friend and a bicycle. The teenager took over as president general director and the chairman of the company. Today, UPS is one of the world's largest package delivery companies.

9. Fanta was created in Nazi Germany
At the height of World War II, Nazi Germany was subject to several trade embargoes. Due to a shortage of raw materials and ingredients, the head of Coca-Cola Deutschland. Max Keith decided to create a new drink for the German market using what they had - "leftover leftovers". The name comes from German word for fantasy (Fantasie).

10. Puma and Adidas exist because of a family feud.
In the 1920s, brothers Rudolf and Adolf “Adi” Dassler ran the successful shoe company Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. However, during World War II, misunderstandings became noticeable between the brothers. Rudolf was captured by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS, although in fact he was not. Rudolf was sure that his own brother had told him. The split saw the emergence of two companies, Rudolph founded Ruda (later renamed Puma) while Adi founded Adidas. They never reconciled, and were buried in the same cemetery, but as far away from each other as possible.