I can’t stress the importance of a good logo enough. Logos are on everything your company produces or sells. There are two sides to every coin though. A logo on a good product helps you identify which brand it came from so you can get one yourself. A logo on a bad product allows you to stay away from that brand. The Romans had this figured out as far back as the 3rd century AD. 

When in Rome…

In ancient Rome, bread was a highly regulated item. Rome needed to ship grains in from Mediterranean islands Sicily and Sardinia, as well as from their territories in Northern Africa. The grain was given out to poorer Romans with a program referred to as the grain dole. Romans that did not qualify for the dole were able to buy grain. Grain was highly regulated due to it being a major part of the Roman diet. 

One thing regulated along with the grain was bread. Loaves for sale were required to be a certain weight, which led to some bakers thinking they could skimp on the weight to save money. Of course this came with a punishment, but how can you punish someone if you don’t know who made the loaf?

One roll of stamps, please!

Enter bronze stamps. These stamps would have the baker’s name on it. Bakers would take a bronze stamp, put it on top of the loaf, and bake the loaf with the stamp still on top. The result would be an indentation with the baker’s name directly on the bread. If the loaf was underweight or tampered with, you’d know who was responsible. 

While it’s argued that real marketing tactics didn’t come into play until around the 4th century, this is the start of branding on products. A stamped loaf of bread, while intended to help catch infractions against the law, also doubled as marketing. A good loaf of bread would be easily traceable back to the source. This is also not the only instance of name branding in ancient times. In Pompeii, there’s a mosaic that depicts a bottle of fish oil with a label on it, saying that it’s from the shop of Scaurus. The reputation of this fish sauce reached as far as modern day France. While we can’t study the effects of branded bread in ancient Rome, we can study the effects of branded products in modern society and apply our knowledge to ancient bread. 

Understanding the history of printed products, branding, and marketing helps us to follow trends which in turn helps us to stay ahead of the game.