Personal Branding for Entrepreneurial Journalists and Creative Professionals

3How Brands Began

Brands, as we know them today, have existed only since the 19th century, when mass production changed the way people shopped for and bought things. Gone were the days when people would buy undifferentiated commodities direct from individuals they knew. Through the 19th century, as formerly rural populations began moving to the cities in great numbers, companies could target large customer bases for the first time. And for the first time, customers had choices about what they bought.

That customers had choices also meant that producers had to find ways to successfully compete against other producers, which were now available to customers in the same markets. No longer was it sufficient to simply produce products and wait for ...