Selling the past. The use of history as a marketing strategy in Spain, 1900-1980

ABSTRACT

History can represent an effective marketing resource because it can establish an emotional relationship with consumers. This article examines trademark applications in order to show how Spanish companies used the past in their branding strategy during the twentieth century. The article analyses which historical themes were used the most, over which periods, for what types of products and services and according to which Spanish regions. The study indicates that this commercial use of the past was closely linked to the spread of Spanish nationalism. Brands try to connect emotionally with consumers by evoking historical national myths and, therefore, their use increased during the periods of intensive nationalist expression.

KEYWORDS:

• Branding strategy
• brands
• Business History
• historical myths
• marketing
• nationalism
• Spain
• 20th century
• trademarks
• use of history

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 However, in the 1990s some relevant studies on the development of brands already appeared, such as the works included in the book edited by Jones and Morgan (1994) or the articles of Wilkins (1992) and Higgins and Tweedale (1995). A historiographic review of the research on brands is found in Sáiz and Castro (2018) and in Castro and Sáiz (2020).

2 Alberto Grandi (2018), on the other hand, has shown how the historical origin of many Italian products has been falsified in marketing strategies.

3 Sáiz, P.; Llorens, F.; Blázquez, L.; & Cayón, F. (Dirs.): Database of trademark applications (Spain, 1850-1919), OEPM-UAM, Madrid, 2007-2017, http://historico.oepm.es.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of the Government of Spain and the European Regional Development Fund under Grants HAR2015-64769-P and PGC2018-093896-B-I00.

Notes on contributors

José Antonio Miranda

José Antonio Miranda is a full professor of Economic History at the University of Alicante (Spain). He is specialized in Industrial and Business History and he have published widely on these subjects. His most recent publications are ‘Industrial districts and technological innovation in Spain during the first third of the 20th century’ [Revista de Historia Industrial, 2017, 66, pp. 127-157] and ‘The country-of-origin effect and the international expansion of Spanish fashion companies, 1975–2015’ [Business History; DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2017.1374370).

Felipe Ruiz-Moreno

Felipe Ruiz-Moreno is an associate professor of Marketing at the University of Alicante (Spain). His main areas of expertise are competition, strategic marketing and international marketing with published articles in a variety of journals, like Strategic Management Journal, International Marketing Review or Journal of Business Research. His most recent publication is ‘How Strategic Groups Act Competitively Within and Across Markets’ [Managerial and Decision Economics, 2017, 38-7, pp: 1017-32].