Brands are like machetes.

They blast their way through the jungle of goods on offer. They are like mantras opening doors to inner spaces of deep memories and intense associations. Where religion and ideologies fail as meaningful systems brands at times offer identity and meaning. They give orientation and support. They are crash barriers on the motorway of consumption. They convey value and make value tangible. They make group affiliation and individuality possible at the same time. Often brands are more important than the identification in people’s wallets because they allow them to move in the public sphere proclaiming without excessive modesty: “Here I am. That’s you. Forget about the rest“.

All that would be exciting enough for several thick books. Design pundits could reflect on logos and composite marks, colours and typography, packaging and aesthetics. Economists could argue splendidly about how to calculate brand value – worth billions in the case of large brands – precisely enough to make it appear on the asset side of the balance sheet. Psychologists could develop a categorical framework from the pillars relevance, currency, identity, authenticity, tradition and uniqueness to help comprehend the myth of the brand. Managers could tell us how far a brand can be stretched and how they handle the relation between corporate brand and sub-brand. Marketing experts could explain why good brand management can allow brands to charge higher prices and thus lower the high price sensitivity of bargain-loving consumers.

The phenomenon brand and its changing relevance will continue to occupy the minds of economic journalists and publicists in ever new ways. This book, covering a wide range of aspects of the display like its development and history, is a perfect case in point. Especially since, according to my knowledge, it is the first publication to cover a subject of importance for brand success in such a comprehensive and historical way. For it is its visual immediacy that makes the display such an exciting and important medium. In the seconds preceding the buying decision the display is often the last possibility to present a brand in an exciting and often astonishingly creative way. That is why I believe the present book to be an important contribution to brand culture. I am sure it will find a wide and interested circle of readers.

Dr Florian Langenscheidt
Publisher of Deutsche Standards Editionen and partner of the
Langenscheidt publishing group Munich in spring 2010