The origins of brands and modern advertising: Soap's advertising campaigns

Abstract

In this article, it is analyzed the emergence of brands and modern advertising through the example of advertising campaigns of soap in the early twentieth century. The campaigns of Woodbury’s and Lux are analyzed, stressing the role that the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson had in these campaigns. It is shown that in the early twentieth century there were already two major trends in advertising campaigns, "reason why" advertising and “emotional” advertising. It is finally shown how these two trends are related to two conceptions of the role of trademarks.