Branding can be traced all the way back to early 16 century in agriculture where farm animals were raised in a common ground.
When mixed with the other animals, famers found it was hard to identify their own animals without signs to tell which was which, they figured out a way to put marks on the animal skin, the side of their bodies. It’s called hot-iron cattle branding.
With the help from the marks, it was also much easier to identify animals in the market for trade. Buyers could identify the cows they wanted to buy and took home.
And the story didn't stop there.
Once the buyers got the cattle and consumed the meat, they received the feedback on whether it was a good purchase or not. And this experience helped the buyers to decide if they wanted to seek out the cows with the same mark from the same farmer or different mark for the future purchase.
Slowly, the buyers who received positive feedback started to learn more about the farmer who raised the cows: the farmer’s name, origin, the feed they used and the care process they followed raising animals.
As matter of fact, the buyers loved the cows so much, they didn’t mind paying higher price for the premium cows raised by certain farmers.
Slowly, their brands not only make it possible for the farmers to charge more for their cows, but also grew loyal customers who loved their businesses and products.
At this point, the mark on the cow’s skin was not only for the purpose of identification, but also connecting all the separate stories about the farmer, the cows, the feed, the process and the buyers into one integrated story.
We call this integrated story: brand.
