Packaged brands as we recognize them today only emerged out of industrial mass production. In the short time since then brands have become among the most valuable of assets. However, if you look at them in terms of what they could have achieved, they have fallen short. Brands exist at an early stage of their evolution, developing only a small proportion of their potential. Consider the high mortality rate.
Many brands die young.
Yet some brands live far longer. Just as significantly, they show no signs of loosing their vitality. Take Coca Cola. First introduced in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia yet the strength and potential of the brand is as great as it has ever been. And brands can outlive the companies that gave birth to them.