ARROTS ONCE CAME IN EVERY COLOUR but orange. There were red, black, green, white, and purple varieties. Then sometime in the sixteenth century Dutch growers decided to give this root vegetable a patriotic edge. Using a mutant seed from North Africa, breeders began developing an orange variety in honor of their monarch, William I the Prince of Orange, who led them to independence against the Spaniards. A country with an orange flag now had an orange carrot. You might call this one of history�s most superbly successful branding exercises, albeit one that was never capitalized on. Very few people who munch on a carrot - not even including Bugs Bunny - are aware that they�re biting into one of the greatest missed branding opportunities of all time.

To place too great an emphasis on a brand�s logo carries risks. Least of all there is a danger of neglecting all the other potential brand-building opportunities. If paid due attention, many other aspects may become recognizable in their own right. Colour, navigation, texture, sound, shape. Even blindfolded, you�d know you�re holding a classic Coke bottle. In 1915 Earl R. Dean of the Root Glass Company was given a brief to design a bottle which could be recognized by touch in the dark. And then, even if broken, a person could tell at first glance what it was.... more