Humans are inherent storytellers. Our evolution depends on it. Each one of us has a different story to tell. Some are quite boring and some are so interesting you might not believe them at first. The same is true for our most well-known brands.
Brandemic has compiled for you a list of lesser-known facts and stories of some of the biggest brands in the world.
Contrary to what many people believe, the Nike Logo isn’t actually a tick. Originally called Blue Ribbon Sports, the company was renamed after the Greek Goddess of Victory, Nike. The famous “swoosh” logo actually represents the Greek Goddess’s wings and speed.
Related blog: Early Mornings And Nike!
The name “Fanta” comes from the German word for imagination, “Fantasie”. When World War II was at it’s peak, the trade in Nazi Germany was subject to a number of obstructions. Owing to these obstructions, Max Keith, the head of Coca-Cola Deutschland, created a new drink for the German Market using whatever they had. Thus, Fanta was born.
In the pursuit of capitalizing on Finland’s huge forestry industry, Frederik Idestam set up a papermill near a town called Nokia. A few years later Fredrik was approached by a man, who had grander visions than running a couple of paper mills. This man was Leo Mechelin.
Red Bull entered the market almost a century after the invention of Coca-Cola. Although it was introduced in an almost saturated market, it quickly took over by creating altogether a new product category for itself. Today, Red Bull is the most expensive non-alcoholic drink in any convenience store.
Reliance Jio is one of India’s biggest telecom players. Ever wondered about the meaning behind Jio? Jio actually stands for Joint Implementation Opportuities. The logo of Reliance Jio however has a hidden meaning. It reads as ‘oil’ when we look at its mirror image. ‘Oil’ represents the past and future of Reliance.
Not many people are aware that besides owning castles, luxury hotels, and racetracks, Queen Elizabeth II also owns herself a very Royal McDonald’s. However, we’re not sure if The Queen has ever eaten at this very regal McDonald’s in her entire life.
Through the 1920s, brothers Adolf and Rudolf Dassler ran a shoe manufacturing company called Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. However, during the Second World War, a growing rift between the two widened. When the two split, Rudolf formed Ruda(later renamed Puma), while Adolf formed Adidas. The two brothers never reconciled and are buried in the same cemetery.
The luxury car company got it’s melodious Spanish name from Mercedes Jellinek. 120 years ago, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft landed on the name after meeting the 11-year old daughter of Austrian businessman Emil Jellinek. Emil Jellenik traded in Daimler vehicles and registered them for racing. The name was changed to Mercedes-Benz in June of 1926 after the merger of Daimler and Benz companies.
Levi Strauss was an American Businessman, who founded the first company to manufacture jeans. However, Levi Strauss was also an aristocrat. And he didn’t wear his own brand of pants as he believed they were for the common people of the lower classes.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page had named their research project BackRub in their Stanford days. In 1997, it was renamed to Google, the popular search engine we all know and love. Google is a play on ‘Googol’ which is a mathematical expression for the number 1 followed by 100 zeroes.
Must read: What Makes Apple The World’s Most Valuable Brand?
