How did this whole "brand" thing come about, anyway? When Coca-Cola and General Motors became iconic American companies as far back as the 1920s, was anybody talking about the actual word "brand"? In college during the 1970s and in my early years in journalism, I hardly recall the word itself ever being used in normal conversation.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/ownership/that-brand-identity-thing